Men's Hockey 3/15/2018 7:19:00 PM Ashley Chase

Colonials Quest for NCAA's Heads to Rochester

Robert Morris makes fifth consecutive appearance in the Atlantic Hockey final four

Rochester, NY - Robert Morris University men's hockey heads to the Flower City for the fifth straight season as the Colonials seek a return trip to the NCAA tournament, competing for an Atlantic Hockey postseason title, beginning with I-79 rival Mercyhurst in the semifinals. RMU and the Lakers will battle at Blue Cross Arena in a rematch of 2015 semifinal schools, at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 16.

GAME INFORMATION
(No. 7) Robert Morris vs. (No. 1) Mercyhurst
Friday, March 16 // 4:30 p.m.
Blue Cross Arena // Rochester, NY
WATCH LIVE ($12 Single-Game, $39 Tournament Pass)
LISTEN LIVE on 970 ESPN beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Other Semifinal Matchup: (No. 2) Canisius vs. (No. 5) Air Force, 8:00 p.m.

MUST-READ MATERIAL
Prisuta on Pucks: Roch Vegas, Baby
Finish The Job: Colonials Captain leaves it all on the ice

TOURNAMENT TEAM CAPSULES
ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS
Record: 17-19-3, (12-13-3 Atlantic Hockey Reg. Season)
Head Coach: Derek Schooley (14th Season)
Captain: Alex Bontje
Alternate Captains: Brady Ferguson, Timmy Moore
Points Leaders: Ferguson (46), Alex Tonge (43)
Goals Leaders: Tonge (17), Luke Lynch (17)
Goaltending: Francis Marotte, 16-14-3, .920 save%, 2.43 GAA
Blocked Shots: Eric Israel (83), Alex Bontje (66)
All-Time Record vs. Mercyhurst: 9-12-8
All-Time Record vs. Air Force: 15-17-3
All-Time Record vs. Canisius: 17-9-3

MERCYHURST LAKERS (No. 1 Seed)
Record: 21-11-4 (16-8-4 Atlantic Hockey Reg. Season)
Head Coach: Rick Gotkin (30th Season)
Points Leaders: Derek Barach (36), Jack Riley (31)
Goals Leaders: Jonathan Charbonneau (17), Riley (16)
Goaltending: Brandon Wildung (Sr.), 20-9-4, .919 save%, 2.75 GAA
Blocked shots: Patrick Piacentini (61)
All-Time Record vs. RMU: 12-9-8
vs. RMU This Season: 2-2-0 (1-1 at home, 1-1 away)
Last Time Out: Mercyhurst swept Sacred Heart in a two-game quarterfinal series between the top seed Lakers and 11-seed Pioneers. Charbonneau scored five goals in the two games, including both game-winners, completing a hat trick in overtime of game two to send the Lakers on to Rochester.

AIR FORCE FALCONS (No. 5 Seed)
Record: 20-14-5 (13-11-4 Atlantic Hockey Reg. Season)
Head Coach: Frank Serratore (25th Season)
Points Leaders: Erik Baskin (26), Evan Giesler (21), Tyler Ledford (21)
Goals Leaders: Erik Baskin (15), Matt Serratore (13)
Goaltending: Billy Christopoulos (Jr.), 20-14-5, .916 save%, 2.17 GAA
Blocked shots: Phil Boje (90)
All-Time Record vs. RMU: 17-15-3
vs. RMU This Season: 1-0-1 (away)
Last Time Out: Air Force won a three-game series at Army in the quarterfinals, winning game 1 by a 5-3 final, game 2 a 1-0 loss, and winning game 3 by a 1-0 score in overtime. Six different Falcons scored goals.

CANISIUS GOLDEN GRIFFINS (No. 2 Seed)
Record: 19-16-2 (17-11-0 Atlantic Hockey Reg. Season)
Head Coach: Trevor Large (1st Season)
Points Leaders:  Dylan McLaughlin (48), Nick Hutchison (31)
Goals Leaders: McLaughlin (17), Hutchison (16)
Goaltending:  Daniel Urbani (So.), 17-14-1, .918 save%, 2.73 GAA
Blocked shots: Jack Stander (60)
All-Time Record vs. RMU: 9-17-3
vs. RMU This Season: 1-1-0 (at home)
Last Time Out: The Griffs won a three-game series over AIC with an 8-1 win, 2-1 loss in OT, and 3-0 win.

ROBERT MORRIS NOTES
SENIOR SWAGGER
The Class of 2018 seniors have an 12-5-0 record in the postseason in their Colonials careers.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Brady Ferguson and Alex Tonge were awarded Atlantic Hockey all-conference honors; Ferguson, a first team selection for the second year in a row, and Tonge, a first time recipient, is on the third team. Tonge and Ferguson recorded identical numbers in Atlantic Hockey play, posting 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points, averaging 1.18 points per game in conference. The Colonials pair led Atlantic Hockey in power play scoring, Ferguson with 15 power play points on six goals and nine assists, while Tonge posted three goals and 11 assists on the man advantage. Ferguson, led Atlantic Hockey with a .572 faceoff percentage and 401 total faceoff wins.

KEEPIN' IT 100
Junior forward Alex Tonge is two points shy of 100 for his career. Tonge has 37 goals and 61 assists, for 98 points in 105 career games.

100 IN 150
Brady Ferguson became the first RMU player to reach 100 assists, surpassing the century mark in his 150th career game last Saturday.

O CAPTAIN, OUR CAPTAIN
The Colonials are playing a man down, after captain Alex Bontje suffered season-ending injury with a broken leg early in game two of the questerfinals at Holy Cross. Bontje finishes his RMU career with 4 goals, 27 assists, and is ranked 2nd all-time in plus/minus at RMU with a plus-54 rating.

HISTORY IS MADE
Brady Ferguson surpassed Zac Lynch '16 (156 points) to become Robert Morris' all-time leading scorer, with a goal & assist in the Feb. 24 game vs. Air Force. Ferguson enters the championship weekend with the new record of 164 career points.

LONE STAR LEADING SCORER
Ferguson, a native of Carrollton, Texas, is the NCAA's active career scoring leader (62-98-160).

NCAA Men's Hockey Active Career Points Leaders:
Brady Ferguson, Robert Morris – 164
Dylan Sikura, Northeastern (CHI) – 144
Adam Gaudette, Northeastern (VAN) – 141
Jake Evans, Notre Dame (MTL) – 130
Dylan Gambrell, Denver (SJS) – 130

NOT SO SOPH
The sophomore line of Matthew Graham, Daniel Mantenuto and Luke Lynch has been dominant in the postseason, scoring 8 goals and recording 19 points. Lynch leads Atlantic Hockey in postseason scoring with 10 points on 3 goals and 7 assists. Graham also has 3 goals and 5 points, while Mantenuto has 2 goals and 2 points.

HOT LINE BLING
One of the top scoring lines in college hockey is also clicking in the postseason, combining for 7 goals and 18 points. Alex Tonge (4G, 2A), Brady Ferguson (1G-5A) and Timmy Moore (2G-4A) each have 8 points in 5 postseason games.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Robert Morris is the third-best team in the NCAA in faceoff percentage at .540, behind North Dakota & St. Cloud State. Brady Ferguson leads the NCAA in faceoff wins with 578. His faceoff percentage is .578, ranked in the top 15 nationally.

FRANKY SAYS NO
Sophomore goaltender Francis "Franky" Marotte has elevated his game in the postseason, with a 4-1-0 record in five games, a 1.81 goals against average and .951 save percentage.

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.

SHORTY, GET DOWN
Ferguson & Lynch have each been quick to steal the puck on the penalty kill, each scoring a pair of shorthanded goals this year. Alex Tonge scored a highlight reel shorty in the first round versus Bentley, running RMU's season total to five.

BLOCK PARTY
RMU is ranked 8th in total blocks in the NCAA with 516, averaging 13.95 per game. Junior defenseman Eric Israel (83, 2.13/pg) and senior defenseman Alex Bontje (66, 2.00/pg) are second & fourth in blocks in Atlantic Hockey, ranked 4th (Israel) & 26th (Bontje) in the NCAA in total blocks, and 15th (Israel) and 22nd (Bontje) in blocks/pg.

I'M BETTING HE'S GOING TO SWERVE FIRST
Through 76 games, Luke Lynch has nearly matched the scoring rate of his older brother, RMU alum Zac Lynch '16.

Zac Lynch - Freshman Season (34 GP, 5G-9A-14P) Through 76 career games (76 GP, 24G-37A-61P)
Luke Lynch - Freshman Season (37 GP, 9G-10A-19P) Through 76 career games (76 GP, 26G-30A-56P)

#FinishTheJob

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#44 Matthew Graham: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore; So.

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

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

#9 Daniel Mantenuto: F; 5' 9"; Sophomore; So.

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

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

#24 Alex Tonge: F; 5' 10"; Junior; Jr.

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#44 Matthew Graham
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; So.
: F

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

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

#9 Daniel Mantenuto
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; So.
: F

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

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

#24 Alex Tonge
: 5' 10"; Junior; Jr.
: F