Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey closes the first half of the season with a home-and-home series against I-79 rival Mercyhurst. The Colonials (9-5-2, 7-4-1 AHC) and the Lakers (6-9-0, 6-6-0 AHC) are the only Atlantic Hockey conference teams in action this weekend, and Robert Morris will have a chance to gain four points in the standings before the break. RMU (15 points) sits in third in the Atlantic Hockey standings and has a game in hand against Army West Point (18 pts.) and RIT (16 pts.), who are first and second.

GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Dec. 17, 7:05pm at 84 Lumber Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.
LIVE STATS  |  VIDEO ($)  |  AUDIO  |  ESPN Pittsburgh 970 AM
First 800 fans will take home an RMU Tree Ornament, courtesy of Sewickley Savings Bank













Sunday, Dec. 18, 4:05pm at Mercyhurst Ice Center, Erie, Pa.
LIVE STATS  |  VIDEO ($)

GAME NOTES
Robert Morris (.pdf)  |  Mercyhurst (.pdf)

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THE BULLET
Robert Morris is 21st in the USCHO.com PairWise rankings, used to mimic the criteria for assembling the at-large portion of the NCAA tournament field.

Robert Morris enters the weekend after picking up the program's 200th victory, all under head coach Derek Schooley. After starting the season 2-3-1, RMU has gone 7-2-1 in its last ten games.

The Colonials are 6-8-7 all-time vs. Mercyhurst, including a 5-5-6 record in conference play. Six of the last ten meetings between the teams have gone to overtime. RMU is 2-3-5 in those ten games.

Robert Morris comes into the series with the top 3 scorers in Atlantic Hockey in Brady Ferguson (13G-15A-28P), Alex Tonge (10G-13A-23P) & Daniel Leavens (6G-17A-23P).

Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte leads the nation in save percentage with a .943 mark.

Eric Israel is the third-leading scoring defenseman in Atlantic Hockey (3G-11A-14P), tied for 15th among all NCAA defensemen.

FIRST PLACE FRANKY
Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte (7-3-1) leads NCAA men's hockey with a .943 save percentage. Marotte is fifth nationally with a 1.87 goals against average (2nd in AHC) and holds a 7-3-1 record, making 10 starts and playing in 12 of the team's 16 games. Marotte has stopped 333 of 353 shots.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Daniel Leavens & Brady Ferguson are each riding 10-game point streaks.

POWER UP
RMU's power play is 3rd in the nation & 1st in Atlantic Hockey (24.4 %). Robert Morris leads in the league in power play goals with 21, 6th in NCAA and is averaging 1.31 PPG per game, 7th in the NCAA. Ferguson is tied for the NCAA lead in PPG (7), tied for 3rd power play points. RMU's 21 power play goals account for 39.6% of the team's goals.

THE KILLERS
After allowing 10 power play goals in the first 4 games of the season (20-for-30, 66.6%), the Colonials penalty kill has allowed only seven power play goals in the last ten games (56-for-63, 88.8%).

TOP TRIOS (Most Points in NCAA)
86 – Mike Vecchione, Spencer Foo, Sebastian Vidmar (Union)
74 – Brady Ferguson, Alex Tonge, Daniel Leavens (Robert Morris)
70 – Tyler Kelleher, Patrick Grasso, Matias Cleland (New Hampshire)
70 – Zach Aston-Reese, Dylan Sikura, Adam Gaudette (Northeastern)

SHARPSHOOTER
Alex Tonge leads the Colonials in shooting percentage and is 14th nationally (.283).

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Robert Morris is 2nd in the conference and 16th in the nation in goals per game, scoring at a 3.31 goals/per game clip.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Ferguson (.561) leads RMU in faceoffs & is 3rd in Atlantic Hockey, 37th in NCAA (minimum 100 faceoffs)

GOAL BREAKDOWN
The Colonials have scored 35 goals in winning efforts, 12 in losses, 6 in ties. RMU has only scored 9 goals in the first period, with 23 coming in the second, 21 in the third. 35 of RMU's 53 goals have come on the road.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Rick Gotkin is in his 29th season as head coach of the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team.

Sophomore forward Derek Barach leads the Lakers with 17 points on 2 goals and 15 assists. Junior forward Johnathan Charbonneau leads the Lakers with 8 goals. Sophomore defenseman Lester Lancaster is the team's second-leading scorer with 3 goals and 14 assists, tied for the Atlantic Hockey lead in scoring among defensemen.

The Lakers have split time in goal between Colin DeAugustine (3-3-0, .912 sv%, 2.87 GAA) and Brandon Wildung (3-6-0, .896 sv%, 3.64 GAA). The junior Wildung, played the first five games of the season (2-3-0) before DeAugustine played the next three (1-2-0). Wildung returned for the next four games (1-3-0) and DeAugustine has been back in goal for the last three games, posting a 2-1 record.

Sophomore Taylor Best returned to the ice last weekend, netting his first two goals of the season in his first game back. Best had an impressive freshman campaign with 9 goals and 12 assists.

Mercyhurst is sixth in Atlantic Hockey in scoring, with 42 goals and 116 points as a team. The Lakers are 9th in power play scoring (12G-35P).
The Lakers have the worst penalty kill in Atlantic Hockey, ranked second to last in NCAA (73.9%).

Mercyhurst has been shut out twice this season, a 7-0 defeat by Penn State and a 3-0 loss to New Hampshire.

Mercyhurst's power play is ranked 44th in the NCAA at 14.3%, producing 12 goals. Matthew Whittaker, Johnathan Charbonneau, Kyle Dutra and Zach Todd each have 2 power play goals.

Junior Tyler Ennis and sophomore Jeremy Wu lead the Lakers in blocked shots with 22 apiece.

ROAD TO REVOLUTION
Your all-access pass to the Colonials is "Road to Revolution," a video series that gives an inside look at Robert Morris men's hockey. Catch up on this season's episodes with the full season playlist and watch the latest episode below.


 
PLAYING FOR PUPS
Robert Morris men's hockey is undertaking a new initiative to raise money and awareness for shelter dogs, "Playing For Pups." The idea started with senior defenseman John Rey, a dog-lover with a passion for making sure shelter dogs find a good home and receive proper treatment. Funds raised through "Playing For Pups" will go to the Western PA Humane Society. Donations can be made on the "Playing For Pups" GoFundMe Page.

MUST-READ MATERIAL
Prisuta on Pucks: Reaching No. 200 Together

COLONIALS IN THE PROS
This week, the program's all-time leading scorer Zac Lynch '16 was promoted to the AHL, Florida Panthers affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds. Class of 2015 graduates Cody Wydo and Scott Jacklin continue to impress this season. Wydo has 8 goals and 10 assists in 22 games for the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers. Jacklin has 7 goals and 6 assists through 21 games for the ECHL's Brampton Beast. Keep up to date on where Colonials are playing professional hockey on our Colonials in the Pros page.

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