Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey will return from a strong first half performance to once again host the Three Rivers Classic at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The home of the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins will welcome the Colonials and a trio of teams for the 5th annual holiday tournament, December 29-30. No. 6 Boston College and No. 14 Quinnipiac will face off in a Frozen Four rematch to open the tournament, followed by the hometown team Robert Morris in action against Ferris State.

THREE RIVERS CLASSIC
SCHEDULE
Thursday, December 29
Boston College vs. Quinnipiac 4:30pm  |  Robert Morris vs. Ferris State 7:30pm

Friday, December 30
Consolation Game 4:30pm  |  Championship Game 7:30pm

TICKETS   Ticketmaster.com or call the Box Office at 412-642-1800 

ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS
The Colonials are coached by Derek Schooley (13th season) and are coming off back-to-back Atlantic Hockey regular season championships and a conference tournament finals appearance. Robert Morris was chosen sixth in the preseason Atlantic Hockey coaches poll but finished the first half of the season in second place in the conference, tied with RIT (16 points) and behind first place Army West Point (18 points). Robert Morris' last victory was the program's 200th win, all under head coach Derek Schooley. After starting the season 2-3-1, RMU has gone 7-3-2 in its last 12 games.

Robert Morris comes into the series with the top 3 scorers in Atlantic Hockey in Brady Ferguson (14G-18A-32P), Alex Tonge (10G-14A-24P) & Daniel Leavens (6G-18A-24P). Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte leads the nation in save percentage with a .942 mark. Eric Israel is the leading scoring defenseman in Atlantic Hockey (5G-12A-17P), tied for 4th among all NCAA defensemen.

FIRST PLACE FRANKY
Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte is #1 in NCAA men's hockey with a .942 save percentage. Marotte is fourth nationally with a 1.87 goals against average (2nd in AHC) and holds a 7-3-2 record, making 11 starts and playing in 13 of the team's 18 games. Marotte has stopped 356 of 378 shots.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Brady Ferguson is riding a 12-game point streak, scoring 9 goals and 13 assists for 22 points in that span, dating back to RMU's 6-2 win over #11 Ohio State.

INSIDE THE STREAK - BRADY FERGUSON
12 GP  |  9G  |  13A  |  0.75 G/PG  |  1.08 A/PG  |  1.83 P/PG  |  6 PPG  |  9 PPP  | .549 FO

POWER UP
RMU's power play is 3rd in the nation & 1st in Atlantic Hockey (24.4 %), trailing only #4 Harvard and #20 Omaha on the national level. Robert Morris leads in the league in power play goals with 25, 2nd in the NCAA, and is averaging 1.39 PPG per game. Ferguson is #1 in the NCAA in power play goals with 8, tied for 1st in power play points with 16. RMU's 25 power play goals account for 43.1% 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 have successfully killed 90.5% of penalties in the last 14 games (67-for-74), third-best in the NCAA. RMU has gone three consecutive games at 100%.

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

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Robert Morris is 2nd in the conference and 19th in the nation in goals per game, scoring at a 3.22 g/pg clip.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Ferguson (.556) leads RMU in faceoffs, 3rd in AHC, 41st in NCAA (min. 100 faceoffs)

GOAL BREAKDOWN
The Colonials have scored 35 goals in winning efforts, 15 in losses, 8 in ties. RMU has only scored 9 goals in the first period, with 28 coming in the second, 21 in the third. 37 of RMU's 58 goals have come on the road (10 road games, 8 home).

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