Pittsburgh, Pa. - The No. 4 seed Robert Morris University men's hockey team opens postseason play with a second round series against No. 5 Holy Cross following a first round bye for both teams.

GAME INFORMATION
Best of three series, Friday - Sunday, March 10-12
Each game at 7:05pm at 84 Lumber Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.
LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO  |  RADIO ONLINE or ESPN Pittsburgh 970 AM
* NOTE: A new pass for the Atlantic Hockey games on Stretch (Live Video) must be purchased. A pass for any single day is available for $12, while the entire Atlantic Hockey Tournament is covered for $39.

ROBERT MORRIS GAME NOTES
HOLY CROSS GAME NOTES

COLONIALS SNAPSHOT
Robert Morris has the top 3 scorers in Atlantic Hockey in Brady Ferguson (19-32-51, 8th in NCAA), Daniel Leavens (12-30-42) & Alex Tonge (17-22-39). Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte is second in the nation with a .936 save percentage and seventh with a 2.04 goals against average. Eric Israel is the leading scoring defenseman in Atlantic Hockey (8G-19A-27P), tied for 13th among all NCAA defensemen.

The Class of 2017 seniors are one of the most successful classes in program history. The Class of 2017 has 86 wins to its credit and is one win shy of matching the Class of 2016's 87 win mark. The seniors have won three conference crowns (two regular season, one postseason) as well as a pair of Three Rivers Classic titles.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Junior forward Brady Ferguson is the league scoring champion, a unanimous Atlantic Hockey first-team selection, while senior forward Daniel Leavens & sophomore defenseman Eric Israel land third-team nods. These are the first career all-conference awards for each player. In 28 conference games, Ferguson tallied 16 goals & 27 assists for 43 points, Leavens had nine goals & 25 assists for 34 points, while Israel scored seven goals & 17 assists. Francis Marotte was named the goaltender for the All-Rookie team as well with a .932 save percentage, 2.05 goals against average & one shutout in AHC play.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY vs. HOLY CROSS
This Season: 1-1
Overall: RMU leads 8-5-1

Earlier this season, Robert Morris split the matchup at Holy Cross with a 4-3 loss on Jan. 27 and recorded a 6-0 shutout on Jan. 28.  Holy Cross last visited Pittsburgh on November 22-23, 2013. The Colonials lost 2-1 on Friday and won 5-1 on Saturday. The teams have only played four times at 84 Lumber Arena the series in Pittsburgh is tied at 2-2-0.

PLAYOFF HISTORY
This weekend's quarterfinal series marks the first-ever meeting in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament between the two programs.

Robert Morris has a 6-5 record in Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal games. The Colonials went 0-4 in their first two postseason quarterfinal appearances, but have gone 6-1 in quarterfinal games since the 2014 postseason. The postseason record for the current senior class is 9-5.

ROBERT MORRIS ALL-TIME POSTSEASON
OVERALL  |  18-17-1 (Tie in CHA consolation game in 2010)
2004-2010  |  3-6-1

ATLANTIC HOCKEY POSTSEASON HISTORY
2010-2011  |  0-1 (First Round)
2011-2012  |  2-3 (0-2 AHC QF)
*Ended in AHC Quarterfinal
2012-2013  |  2-2 (0-2 AHC QF)
*Ended in AHC Quarterfinal
2013-2014  |  6-2 (2-0 AHC QF)
*Ended in NCAA First Round
2014-2015  |  2-1 (2-0 AHC QF)
*Ended in AHC Semifinal
2015-2016  |  3-2 (2-1 AHC QF)
*Ended in AHC Championship

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
Lewisville, Texas native Brady Ferguson is the NCAA's second highest junior in career scoring, behind only UMass Lowell's C.J. Smith. Ferguson ranks 8th in the NCAA in scoring this season with 51 points in 34 games, 7th overall with a 1.50 points per game average. Ferguson is four points shy of the RMU single-season scoring record set last season by Pittsburgh native Zac Lynch '16 (55 points).

MAMA SAID SHUT YOU OUT
Robert Morris is the first team since the 2011-12 season to have three goaltenders each record a shutout in a single season. Freshman Francis Marotte posted two shutouts (Dec. 29 vs. Ferris State, Jan. 6 vs. AIC), junior Andrew Pikul recorded his career first on November 26 vs. Dartmouth, and Dalton Izyk made his 6th career shutout at Holy Cross Jan. 28. RMU is the 6th program since 2000 to have all three goalies record a shutout.

SCOUTING THE MATCHUP
OFFENSE & DEFENSE
The Colonials are second in the league in scoring, averaging 3.15 goals per game, while the Crusaders are fifth, scoring 2.76 goals per game. Holy Cross is fifth in the league by allowing 2.86 goals per game, while RMU is fourth with a 2.53 average.

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Crusaders lead Atlantic Hockey and are third nationally with the fewest penalty minutes per game with 9.6 but are 11th in the league with a .765 penalty kill percentage. The Colonials are fifth in the league in penalty killing with a .840 percentage. Robert Morris is first in the conference in power play with a .223 percentage and Holy Cross is sixth in the AHC with a .175 power play percentage. Holy Cross junior forward Danny Lopez is fifth in the nation with 12 power play goals. RMU sophomore Alex Tonge is seventh with 10 goals on the man-advantage.

MOORE & MOORE
Robert Morris junior forward Timmy Moore is having the best season of his career, scoring 15 goals and adding nine assists for 24 points. Moore is third in goal-scoring for the Colonials and fifth in points, tied for ninth in Atlantic Hockey in goals. Across the bench at Holy Cross, junior forward T.J. Moore (no relation) has also posted a 24-point season on 13 goals and 11 assists.

HOLY CROSS HOT STREAK
The Crusaders are 8-5-4 over the last 17 games, outscoring its opponents 47-39. The Crusaders have posted 30.5 shots per game, while holding the opposition to just 25.4 shots per game. The Crusaders are 11-71 on the power play, while opponents are 12-54. Holy Cross has outscored its opponents, 13-8 in the third period during this stretch. Sophomore forward Michael Laffin leads the team with 14 points during the last 17 games on six goals and eight assists. Junior forward Danny Lopez has seven goals and six assists for 13 points. Junior goalie Paul Berrafato has allowed 2.24 goals per game and posted a .912 save percentage over this 17-game stretch.

ROAD TO REVOLUTION
Go behind-the-scenes with the Colonials with a new episode of "Road to Revolution," the all-access series bringing you an inside look at Robert Morris men's hockey. This week, we look back at the emotional overtime thriller on Senior Night, followed by the conclusion of the regular season with an Outdoor Game at Heinz Field.



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