Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University and Ohio State are set to duel in home-and-home series for second consecutive season. The Colonials (2-3-0, 2-3-0 AHC) will travel to face the Buckeyes (3-1-2, 1-1-0 B1G) on Friday night, before returning home to host a Whiteout game on Saturday night.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday, Oct. 27, 7:00pm at Value City Area, Columbus, Oh.
WATCH on BTN Plus ($)  |  LISTEN  |  LIVE STATS

Saturday, Oct. 28, 7:05pm at Colonials Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.
WATCH ($)  |  LISTEN or on 970 AM ESPN Pittsburgh  |  LIVE STATS  |  TICKETS

SKATE WITH THE COLONIALS
Fans are invited to Skate with the Colonials following Saturday night's game. Bring your own skates or rent from the Island Sports Center for just $3.

WHITEOUT GAME!@RMU President @DrChrisHoward wants YOU to WHITEOUT Ohio State this Saturday night!
?? https://t.co/FvFKX1itaE (RMU Students??) pic.twitter.com/nV6THTinnH

— RMU Hockey (@RMUMHockey) October 24, 2017

#WHITEOUTOSU
Fans are encouraged to wear white (and/or a Halloween costume) and help turn the RMU Island Sports Center into a sea of white. The Colonials offer up a few humorous suggestions on what to wear in the video below.



OHIO STATE GAME NOTES (.PDF)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Buckeyes are coming off a two-game sweep at Massachusetts last weekend, with 3-0 and 3-1 wins and are unbeaten in their last four games after tying RPI twice in its last home games. Junior Mason Jobst leads Ohio State with four goals and six points and has 91 points in 79 games at OSU, tying for ninth among current NCAA skaters (RMU's Brady Ferguson, 1st).

The Buckeyes and goalie Sean Romeo have held opponents to one goal or less in each of the last four games. Ohio State is tied for second nationally in team defense, giving up 1.33 goals per game. Romeo ranks fourth among NCAA goalies in goals-against average (1.30) and eighth in save percentage (.943) and has started the Buckeyes' first six games this year. Ohio State is fourth in the NCAA on the penalty kill, stopping 20-of-21 (.952) of its opponent chances.  

ROBERT MORRIS GAME NOTES (.PDF)
LAST TIME OUT
The Colonials split last weekend's home-opening series with Army West Point, winning 4-2 on Friday before falling 3-1 in a hard-fought game Saturday. Sophomore forward Luke Lynch scored three of the five Colonials goals on the weekend, all even strength, while Eric Israel (PPG) and Brady Ferguson (SHG) scored the other two. Sophomore goaltender Francis Marotte started both games in goal and is 2-2-0 after starting four of the first five games of the season.

BATTLING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Robert Morris 5-4-3. The Colonials won last season's contest in Columbus 6-2 before a thrilling 4-4 tie back in Pittsburgh. Luke Lynch scored his first career goal on a penalty shot and scored the game-tying goal to force overtime in the eventual tie. Francis Marotte played in goal at OSU, making 35 saves. Andrew Pikul made 37 saves in the tie, after relieving an injured Dalton Izyk less than two minutes into the game.

COLUMBUS COLONIALS
Robert Morris has won four of the five games its played against Ohio State in Columbus, including last season's 6-2 rout. The others were one-goal games (4-3, 2007; 4-3, 2010; 3-2, 2012)

LONE STAR LEADING SCORER
Brady Ferguson is the NCAA's active career scoring leader. After posting the fifth-highest scoring season in NCAA men's hockey with 58 points, Ferguson is the lone returner out of that Top 5 group. The Carrollton, Texas native has three goals and three assists for six points in five games this season.
50 MISSION CAP
Brady Ferguson reached a milestone in the season opener at Niagara, scoring a pair to reach the 50 career goal mark. Ferguson is just the fifth player in RMU history to reach 50 career goals.
 
OH-IO
This series pits Ohio natives Andrew Pikul (Cleveland) and Nick Jenny (Strongsville) against one of the NCAA teams from their home state. Ohio State has six home staters on their squad.

412 CREW
There are Pittsburgh natives on both benches in this series. RMU boasts hometowners Jacob Coleman, Alex Dagnal and Luke Lynch, while Ohio State sports Luke Stork. 

PENGUINS PALS
RMU's Brady Ferguson and Ohio State's Mason Jobst both participated at Pittsburgh Penguins development camp. The two were both their team's leading scorers a season ago, Ferguson with 58 points (5th NCAA) and Jobst with 55 points (7th NCAA). Each forward leads their respective squads in scoring entering the series: Ferguson 5GP 3G-3A-6P; Jobst 6GP 4G-2A-6P

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK...SORT OF
Two of the new faces in the Colonials lineup aren't new to college hockey at all. Junior forward Michael Louria transferred from UMass Lowell following the 2015-16 season and sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. Louria was able to skate with RMU during that time and is ready to jump into action for 2017-18. The other transfer is defenseman Brett Beauvais who played the last three seasons at Bemidji State and comes to RMU as a graduate student.

ON THE VERGE
A trio of Colonials were invited to NHL development camps in the summer of 2017. Forward Brady Ferguson lit up the final day of Pittsburgh Penguins camp with five goals in two end-of-camp three-on-three tournament games. Forward Alex Tonge took a trip to Manitoba for Winnipeg Jets camp. Goaltender Francis Marotte showed his stuff during the scrimmage to end Vancouver Canucks camp.

P-E-I'M THE ONLY ONE
There's only one NCAA men's hockey player from Canadian province Prince Edward Island, and he's a Colonial. Brett Beauvais hails from Summerside, PEI and serves as the lone PEI native in college hockey. Summerside, PEI was the host site for Canada's Kraft Hockeyville game this year.

BROTHERS DON'T SHAKE HANDS, BROTHERS GOTTA HUG
Sophomore forward Luke Lynch is the brother of the program's all-time leading scorer Zac Lynch who graduated in 2016 and currently plays in the ECHL for the Manchester Monarchs. Senior forward Timmy Moore is the younger brother of former defenseman Evan Moore '16 (152 games played). Four sets of brothers that have played for the Colonials, The Moore's, The Lynch's, Rob Cowan '08 and Dave Cowan '10, followed by Furman South '12 and Colin South '14.

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