Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey opens the 2017-18 campaign on the road against Niagara University.

The Colonials begin the season aiming for the program's first NCAA bid since the 2013-14 season. RMU is coming off its fourth 20-plus win season in the last five years, finishing as conference runners-up in the tournament championship game for the second straight season. Robert Morris was predicted second in the preseason coaches poll  behind Air Force. The Colonials return more than 80-percent of its offense from a season ago, led by the NCAA's leading returning scorer Brady Ferguson.

GAME INFORMATION
Robert Morris vs. Niagara
Friday, October 6, 7:05pm
Dwyer Arena, Lewiston, NY
Live Stats  |  Live Audio (7pm)  |  Live Video ($)  |  Game Notes (.pdf)

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SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Jason Lammers is in his 1st season at the Niagara helm, a Pittsburgh native who replaced Dave Burkholder. Lammers served the last two seasons as head coach & GM of the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints. With 15 years of NCAA experience, Lammers most recently worked as an associate head coach at UMass Lowell, following stints at Colorado College & Ohio State.

A familiar face on Lammers' staff is assistant coach Matt Nicholson, an assistant at Robert Morris from 2009-2015. Nicholson left RMU to become head coach of the NAHL's Amarillo Bulls & returns to the NCAA under Lammers.

The Purple Eagles sport an 8-man freshman class that includes Pittsburgh native forward Eric Cooley, who played for Nicholson in Amarillo. Niagara also has 8 sophomores, 10 juniors and 5 seniors. Stanislav Dzakhov is the top returning scorer for Niagara, recording 17 points last season on 9 goals and 8 assists.

Niagara played a single game last weekend to open the season with a 5-1 loss at Colgate. Derian Plouffe scored the lone Purple Eagles goal on the power play. 6'4 freshman Brian Wilson held fort in goal, making 28 saves and giving up 5 goals in the loss. Defenseman Noah Delmas tallied an assist but was on the ice for all five goals against. 

2016-17 ROBERT MORRIS SUMMARY
OFFENSE
Goals per game: 3.24
Points per game: 8.79
DEFENSE
Goals against per game: 2.50 
Blocks per game: 13.26
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play: 22.3%
Penalty Kill: 84.5%

KEY RETURNERS
Forward, Brady Ferguson (24-34-58)
Forward, Alex Tonge (20-24-44)
Defenseman, Eric Israel (8-22-30) 54 blocks
Goalie, Francis Marotte .931 sv%, 2.08 GAA

NOTABLE LOSSES
Forward, Daniel Leavens (14-35-49)
Defenseman, Rob Mann (3-8-11) 83 blocks

ATLANTIC HOCKEY LEADERS
Robert Morris has the top 2 returning scorers in forwards Brady Ferguson. Eric Israel was the highest scoring defenseman in the AHC with 30 points & .79 points per game. Goaltender Francis Marotte is the AHC's returning leader in save percentage & goals against average.

PRESEASON RECAP
The Colonials played a preseason contest vs. University of Ottawa, winning 5-1. Brady Ferguson scored two goals, while Brett Beauvais, Eric Israel and Michael Louria scored one apiece. Francis Marotte stopped all 11 shots he faced in 28:35 of ice time. Andrew Pikul made 9 saves & allowed one goal in 24:57. RMU blocked 14 shots (12 different players), allowing just 23 shots on goal.

LEADER-A-COLA
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.

NCAA Men's Hockey Active Career Points Leaders:
Brady Ferguson, Robert Morris – 118
Landon Smith, Quinnipiac – 97
Mike Szmatula, Minnesota – 93
Dylan Sikura, Northeastern – 92
Jake Evans, Notre Dame – 92
Jordan Gross, Notre Dame – 91

I'M THE ROOKIE AND THE VET
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.

YOU'RE KILLIN' ME SMALLS
After a rocky start last season, RMU's penalty kill was a force to be reckoned with, finishing the year ranked 13th in the NCAA at 84.5%. After allowing 10 power play goals in the first 4 games of the season, the Colonials allowed 18 power play goals the rest of the season, ranked 5th nationally from week three on. RMU also tallied 10 shorthanded goals, tied for 2nd nationally.

POWER UP
RMU's power play was 7th in the nation & 1st in Atlantic Hockey a season ago (22.3 %). Robert Morris led in the league in power play goals with 43, tied for 4th in the NCAA and averaged 1.13 PPG per game. RMU's 43 PPG accounted for 35% of the team's goals.

FRANKY SAY RELAX
Francis (aka Franky) Marotte brings his calm, cool and collected personality back between the pipes for his sophomore campaign. Atlantic Hockey was loaded with several of the nation's most talented tendies in 2016-17 but Marotte is the sole returner of that bunch. The Quebec native finished 4th in the NCAA in save percentage (.931) and 8th in goals against average (2.08). 

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Alex Tonge (20-24-44) & Brady Ferguson (24-34-58) are the top two returning scorers in Atlantic Hockey, two of the top 10 in the NCAA.

NHL OPPORTUNITIES
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.


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