Men's Hockey 2/22/2018 10:00:00 PM

Robert Morris Celebrates Seniors in Regular Season Finale

Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey teams welcomes Air Force Academy for the final weekend of the regular season with plenty on the line in the Atlantic Hockey standings, the tightest race for playoff seeding in all of men's college hockey. The Colonials will close out the regular season celebrating its 8-man senior class of 2018 with a pregame ceremony prior to Saturday's puck drop.

GAME INFORMATION
Robert Morris vs. Air Force
Colonials Arena // Pittsburgh, Pa.
Friday, Feb. 23 // 7:05 p.m.
LIVE VIDEO // LIVE AUDIO Radio on 970 ESPN // LIVE STATS
Live Radio Broadcast from the RMU Island Sports Center Lobby from 4-7 p.m. on ESPN Pittsburgh
Saturday, Feb. 24 // 7:05 p.m.
LIVE VIDEO // LIVE AUDIO Radio on 970 ESPN // LIVE STATS

TEAM CAPSULES
ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS | GAME NOTES (.PDF)

Record: 13-17-2, 12-12-2 Atlantic Hockey
Head Coach: Derek Schooley (14th Season)
Captain: Alex Bontje
Alternate Captains: Brady Ferguson, Timmy Moore
Points Leaders: Brady Ferguson (38), Tonge (35)
Goals Leaders: Luke Lynch (14), Brady Ferguson (13)
Goaltending: Francis Marotte, 12-12-2, .911 save%, 2.63 GAA
Blocked Shots: Eric Israel (66), Alex Bontje (55)
All-Time Record vs. Air Force: 15-16-2
Last Time Out: RMU was swept by Mercyhurst in a pair of one-goal games, 2-1 Friday, and 3-2 Saturday in overtime. Mike Louria, Luke Lynch and Robert Powers tallied the goals. Francis Marotte played Friday in goal while Andrew Pikul got the nod on Saturday.

AIR FORCE FALCONS | GAME NOTES (.PDF)

Record: 17-13-4, 12-11-3 AHC
Head Coach: Frank Serratore (24th Season, 20th at AFA)
Points Leaders: Erik Baskin (23), Evan Giesler (20)
Goals Leaders: Erik Baskin, Matt Serratore (13)
Goaltending: Billy Christopolous (Jr.), 17-13-4, .913 save%, 2.32 GAA
Blocked shots: Phil Boje (76, Ranked 2nd in NCAA)
All-Time Record vs. RMU: 16-15-2
Last Time Out: Air Force has won 3 of its last 4 including a home sweep of Canisius 7-4 and 3-2.

SERIES HISTORY
The teams split a two-game regular-season series last season in Pittsburgh, with a 6-2 win and a 2-1 loss. Air Force and Robert Morris met in the AHC Championship game in Rochester, and the Falcons earned a hard-fought 2-1 win. It was the first time the two teams have met in the AHC Tournament.

Since 2013, RMU has a 7-4-2 advantage in the last 13 games. Air Force is 6-6-2 vs. RMU in games played on the Colonials home ice. Seven of the 33 games have gone to overtime and RMU has a 3-2-2 lead in those games. Four of the last 11 games in the series have gone to overtime.

PREVIOUS MEETING
This is the first meeting of the season between the Colonials & Falcons. They last time the two met was in the 2017 Atlantic Hockey Championship game, which Air Force won 2-1, after RMU outshot the Falcons 25-14.

SENIOR SATURDAY
Robert Morris will honor the Class of 2018 seniors with a pregame ceremony on Saturday night. The Colonials will recognize the eight seniors who have spent their careers with RMU: Alex Bontje, Alex Dagnal, Spencer Dorowicz, Brady Ferguson, Elias Ghantous, Timmy Moore, Andrew Pikul and Robert Powers. The 8-man senior class enters the weekend having played a combined 780 games. Graduate transfer Brett Beauvais who joined the squad this year is also in his final season of college hockey.

CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY
The Colonials enter the final weekend of the regular season tied for sixth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings. With 26 points, Robert Morris can finish anywhere from third to ninth place. The conference race is so tight from top to bottom, that only ten points separate first and last place. Four points are available for the majority of teams. 1st through 5th place finishers receive a first round bye, with the 1-seed through 4-seed earning home ice. 6th through 8th will host 9th through 11th in a first round playoff series.

CHASING HISTORY
Brady Ferguson is one point from taking sole possession of the title of the Robert Morris men's hockey program all-time scoring leader. Ferguson enters the weekend tied for that title with Zac Lynch '16, who capped his career with 156 points.

#FERGY4HOBEY
Brady Ferguson has been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, the most prestigious honor in NCAA men's ice hockey. Ferguson leads the Colonials in scoring with 13 goals and 38 points on the season, ranking 8th in the NCAA and 2nd in Atlantic Hockey, 13 points shy of the NCAA scoring lead. Cast your vote in the Hobey Baker fan voting at Vote4Hobey.com

LONE STAR LEADING SCORER
Carrollton, Texas native Brady Ferguson is the NCAA's active career scoring leader (61-95-156).

    NCAA Men's Hockey Active Career Points Leaders:
    Brady Ferguson, Robert Morris – 156
    Dylan Sikura, Northeastern (CHI) – 137
    Adam Gaudette, Northeastern (VAN) – 133
    Jake Evans, Notre Dame (MTL) – 125
    Dylan Gambrell, Denver (SJS) – 125

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Brady Ferguson leads the NCAA in faceoff wins with 451. His faceoff percentage is .564, ranked in the top 35 nationally.

SHUTOUT SHOW
Goaltender Francis Marotte has five career shutouts and three this season, tied for third all-time at RMU with Eric Levine '13. The all-time record is eight, held by 2016 graduate Terry Shafer. (2nd, Dalton Izyk '17, 6). The single-season shutout record is 4 (Levine '12-13, Shafer '15-16). Marotte is also one win shy of tying Levine '13 for 4th all-time in wins with 30.

HOT LINE BLING
The Colonials top line of Alex Tonge, Brady Ferguson and Timmy Moore have combined for 64 points in the last 15 games, dating back to the Colonials sweep of Mercyhurst (Dec. 16 & 17). The trio are ranked 2nd, 4th and 18th in the NCAA in scoring since then. Tonge has 8 goals and 15 assists for 24 points in that span. Ferguson has 22 points on 5 goals and an NCAA-best 17 assists. Moore has the most goals of the trio in that span with 10 goals and 8 assists for 18 points.

POWER UP
Ferguson & Tonge lead the Colonials and Atlantic Hockey in power play scoring with 16 of their respective points coming on the man advantage (Ferguson 6-10-16 Tonge 4-12-16). RMU's 29 power play goals are tied for 2nd in Atlantic Hockey & 13th in the NCAA.

SHORTY, GET DOWN
Ferguson & Lynch have each been quick to steal the puck away on the penalty kill, each scoring a pair of shorthanded goals this year.

BONTJE'S BACK
Senior captain & defenseman Alex Bontje has been out of the lineup the last three weekends with an injury, but returns for the series vs. Air Force. The Colonials captain had played the most games of all active players, including 119 consecutive contests, dating back to his freshman season. Bontje had previously missed one game in his RMU career (January 4, 2015, 4-1 L vs. Bowling Green).

BLOCK PARTY
Junior defenseman Eric Israel (66, 2.00/pg) and senior defenseman Alex Bontje (55, 2.12/pg) are second & third in blocks in Atlantic Hockey, ranked 10th (Israel) & 28th (Bontje) in the NCAA in total blocks, and 12th (Bontje) & 17th (Israel) in blocks per game.

I LIKE TO SAY A PRAYER AND DRINK TO WORLD PEACE
Robert Morris is the least penalized team in Atlantic Hockey (19th lowest in NCAA), with 149 penalties and 309 minutes, averaging 4.66 penalties per game. RMU has the 10th lowest average of penalty minutes per game in college hockey at 9.66 a contest.

I'M BETTING HE'S GOING TO SWERVE FIRST
Through 69 games, Luke Lynch has nearly matched the scoring rate of his older brother, RMU'S all-time scoring leader Zac Lynch '16.
    ZAC LYNCH - Freshman Season (34 GP, 5G-9A-14P) Through 69 career games (69 GP, 22G-30A-52P)
    Luke Lynch - Freshman Season (37 GP, 9G-10A-19P) Through 69 career games (69 GP, 23G-23A-46P)

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Players Mentioned

#31 Dalton Izyk: G; 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.

#2 Alex Bontje: D; 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.

#33 Alex Dagnal: F; 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.

#15 Spencer Dorowicz: F; 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.

#12 Brady Ferguson: F; 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.

#4 Elias Ghantous: D; 6' 1"; Senior; Sr.

#8 Eric Israel: D; 5' 9"; Junior; Jr.

#28 Luke Lynch: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore; So.

#1 Francis Marotte: G; 6' 1"; Sophomore; So.

#20 Timmy Moore: F; 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.

#30 Andrew Pikul: G; 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.

#21 Robert Powers: D; 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.

Players Mentioned

#31 Dalton Izyk
: 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.
: G

#2 Alex Bontje
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.
: D

#33 Alex Dagnal
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.
: F

#15 Spencer Dorowicz
: 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.
: F

#12 Brady Ferguson
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.
: F

#4 Elias Ghantous
: 6' 1"; Senior; Sr.
: D

#8 Eric Israel
: 5' 9"; Junior; Jr.
: D

#28 Luke Lynch
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; So.
: F

#1 Francis Marotte
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; So.
: G

#20 Timmy Moore
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.
: F

#30 Andrew Pikul
: 5' 11"; Senior; Sr.
: G

#21 Robert Powers
: 6' 0"; Senior; Sr.
: D