Men's Hockey | 10/11/2018 3:03:00 PM

PITTSBURGH -- The Robert Morris University men's hockey team embarks on its 15th Division I season with a home-and-home against No. 20 Bowling Green, starting with a Friday night showdown at the RMU Island Sports Center and wrapping Sunday evening in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Despite finishing with a sub-.500 record in 2017-18 for the first time this decade, the Colonials made their third consecutive trip to the Atlantic Hockey title game last spring and have made the AHA semis for five straight seasons, one shy of the conference record.

With senior Brandon Watt captaining, top returning scorers Alex Tonge and Luke Lynch serving as assistants, and third-year starting goalie Francis Marotte in the crease, the Colonials are again positioned to aim for championships and a much-anticipated return to the NCAA tournament.

Robert Morris (0-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) vs. No. 20 Bowling Green (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA)
Fri., Oct. 12 at RMU Island Sports Center (7:05 p.m.) - AUDIO | VIDEO ($) | STATS | TICKETS
Sun., Oct. 14 at Slater Family Ice Arena (5:07 p.m.) - AUDIO | VIDEO ($) | STATS

LAST TIME OUT
RMU defeated Brock University 4-2 on Sunday in an exhibition game on the Island. Sophomore Nick Prkusic scored twice and all 11 freshmen on the team touched the ice, helping the Colonials improve to 11-1-1 all-time against Canadian colleges. Marotte posted 27 minutes of shutout hockey as the Colonials outshot the Badgers 48-18.




HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials are 0-2-1 all-time vs. Bowling Green, but the series has been memorable nonetheless

Head coach Derek Schooley's team played its first-ever outdoor game against Bowling Green on Jan. 3, 2015. No. 20 RMU tied the 19th-ranked Falcons 2-2 at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio, rallying for two goals in the third period in a driving rainstorm at the home of minor-league baseball's Mudhens. RMU also dropped a one-goal decision to Bowling Green in the 2013 Three Rivers Classic third-place game.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
At 2-0 on the season, a Bowling Green team that lost just four seniors and returns seven of its top 10 scorers has burst out of the gate. The Falcons have outscored their opponents 14-4 so far to snatch a USCHO.com ranking in the early going.

Continuing a sizzling offensive start, Bowling Green bludgeoned No. 18 Western Michigan 6-2 on Tuesday in Kalamazoo, Mich. Six players scored a goal each, with high-scoring defenseman Alec Rauhauser assisting on a pair. Junior goalie Ryan Bednard stopped 34 shots in his second win of the young season.

SCHOOLEY FILE
The only head coach in program history, Schooley returns for his 15th season behind the RMU bench. Under his guidance, the Colonials carry an overall record of 231-225-61 and a hard-earned reputation for championship-level success in Division I men's hockey.

Schooley led the Colonials to back-to-back Atlantic Hockey regular season titles in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and a postseason AHA title/NCAA tournament berth in 2013-14. Over the past six seasons, Schooley's Colonials have averaged 21 wins per year and have consistently placed 20-plus student-athletes on AHA all-academic teams.



ON THE AIR
For the sixth straight season, all Colonials home games will be broadcast locally on 970 ESPN, or online at espnpgh.com. Tim Benz (play-by-play) and Mike Prisuta (analysis) return as the broadcast duo at Colonials Arena. Additionally, Matt Gajtka will have an audio play-by-play call for select road games on Facebook Live, with the RMU men's hockey Facebook page hosting those.

MUSKET SHOTS
• Senior winger Tonge is on the verge of becoming the latest Colonial to reach 100 points for his career. Tonge, who scored 44 points as a junior to rank second on the team, carries 99 NCAA points into the 2018-19 season. With one more point, he will be the 11th RMU skater to make it to the century mark. David Friedmann '16 (103 points) would be the next Colonial for Tonge to catch on the all-time scoring list.

• Robert Morris welcomes 11 freshmen to the program for the 2018-19 season, the second-most in program history. Only the 2008-09 team had more, with 12. Just three of RMU's 15 seasons have featured 10 or more freshmen. The last time RMU reached double digits in newcomers, with the 2012-13 team, that group of 10 went on to average 22 wins per season before graduating in 2016.

• With Brady Ferguson currently playing in the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization, once again Robert Morris will have to acclimate to life without their all-time leading scorer. Ferguson, a native Texan, contributed 167 points to the Colonials' cause from 2014-18, passing former teammates Cody Wydo '15 (150 points) and Zac Lynch '16 (156 points) in the process. Ferguson is also RMU's all-time best assist man, boasting 101 helpers. The nearest Colonial in that category is Nathan Longpre '11 (91 assists).

• Marotte has made quite the impact in two years at Robert Morris, as he holds down lofty positions in the program's record books. Entering 2018-19, the Quebec native has the Colonials' all-time best goals-against average (2.35), their second-best save percentage (.923), the third-most shutouts (5) and the fourth-most wins (34). He was recently nominated to the watch list for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the most outstanding Division I goalie.



• Even though RMU fell back in the pack a bit last season in terms of goals per game, with a 2.90 mark that ranked 29th of 60 teams, the Colonials have still ranked in the top half of the 60-team Division I in offense for six straight seasons, with an average ranking of 11th. Also, RMU has boasted five players who have finished in the top 20 of the D-I scoring race: Ferguson '18 (twice), Wydo '15 (twice), Greg Gibson '16 (twice), Zac Lynch '16 and Adam Brace '13.

• Robert Morris was once again well-represented in the preseason polls. Atlantic Hockey coaches predicted RMU would finish third of 11 teams, while league media settled on a fourth-place finish. Additionally, the Colonials placed three players on the preseason all-star teams: Marotte, Tonge and Lynch each made the all-AHA second team.

• As has been the case every year since the start of the program in 2004-05, the Colonials will be showing off local hockey talent. Freshman forward Aiden Beck (Coraopolis) joins juniors Luke Lynch (Shaler Township) and Jacob Coleman (Moon Township) on the 'Burgh-born list.

• Freshman winger Justin Addamo stands at 6-foot-6, but that's not the only way he stands out. Addamo is the first Colonial ever who was born and raised overseas, as he grew up in France. Addamo, who played the past two seasons for the Lone Star Brahmas of the North American Hockey League, has represented France in World Championships at the U-18 and U-20 levels.

NEXT UP
The Colonials begin Atlantic Hockey league play with a two-game home series against Army West Point on Oct. 19-20. Both games start at 7:05 p.m. and will be played at the RMU Island Sports Center.