Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey begins the second half of Atlantic Hockey conference play, welcoming American International (4-9-6, 3-5-5 AHC) to 84 Lumber Arena for a two-game set. RMU (16 points) is tied for third in the Atlantic Hockey standings with RIT, trailing first-place Army West Point (18 pts.) and second-place Air Force (17 pts.) coming into the weekend.

After starting the season 2-3-1, RMU has gone 8-3-1 in its last 12 games. Robert Morris (11-6-3, 7-5-2 AHC) is receiving votes in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. The Colonials are 25th 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 coming off the program's third Three Rivers Classic tournament championship.

Robert Morris comes into the series with the top 3 scorers in Atlantic Hockey in Brady Ferguson (14G-20A-34P), Daniel Leavens (7G-19A-26P) & Alex Tonge (11G-14A-25P). Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte leads the nation in save percentage with a .947 mark. Eric Israel is the leading scoring defenseman in Atlantic Hockey (5G-12A-17P), tied for 7th among all NCAA defensemen.

GAME INFORMATION
Friday, January 6, 7:05pm
LIVE STATS  |  RADIO 970 AM & Online  |  LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, January 7, 7:05pm
LIVE STATS  |  RADIO 970 AM & Online  |  LIVE VIDEO

Robert Morris Game Notes (.pdf)

FIRST PLACE FRANKY
Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte is #1 in NCAA men's hockey with a .947 save percentage. Marotte is fourth nationally with a 1.74 goals against average (2nd in AHC) and holds a 9-3-2 record, making 13 starts and playing in 15 of the team's 20 games. Marotte has stopped 431 of 455 shots.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Brady Ferguson is riding a 14-game point streak, scoring 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points in that span, dating back to RMU's 6-2 win over #11 Ohio State.

INSIDE THE STREAK
14 GP  |  9G  |  15A  |  24 P  |  0.64 G/PG  |  1.07 A/PG  |  1.71 P/PG  |  6 PPG  |  10 PPP  | .548 FO

ATLANTIC HOCKEY AWARDS
Conference honors handed out this week for the month of December go to Francis Marotte and Brady Ferguson. Ferguson was named Player of the Month, leading Atlantic Hockey in scoring in the month of December with 13 points on four goals and nine assists in eight games. Marotte is Rookie of the Month after ranking 6th in the NCAAl in save percentage in the month of December at .953, second in the AHC. Marotte's 1.65 GAA in December is third-best in AHC, 11th nationally. Marotte twice recorded 40-plus saves, amassing 200 saves for the month. The freshman posted 41 saves in a win over Sacred Heart and 43 in a winning effort against No. 14 Quinnipiac in the Three Rivers Classic championship game.

POWER UP
RMU's power play is 6th in the nation & 1st in Atlantic Hockey (23.9 %). Robert Morris leads in the league in power play goals with 26, 3rd in the NCAA, and is averaging 1.30 PPG per game. RMU's 26 power play goals account for 40.6% of the team's goals.

NATION'S BEST
Ferguson is #1 in the NCAA in power play goals with 8, tied for 1st in power play points with 16. The Lewisville, TX native is two goals shy of tying the Colonials single-season record of 10 power play goals (Chris Margott - 10, 2008-09).

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 90.2% of penalties in the last 16 games (74-for-82), fourth-best in the NCAA. RMU had four consecutive games at 100% before the Three Rivers Classic Championship game, allowing a PPG in the final minute, to end the streak just shy of five games.

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

DUAL THREAT DECEMBER
Colonials defensemen Rob Mann and Eric Israel were tops among Atlantic Hockey defenders in the month of December. Mann (2G, 3A) and Israel (3G, 2A) were tied for second in the league in scoring with five points apiece, Mann leading the AHC in blocks with 17 and Israel with 16.


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