Pittsburgh, Pa.  -  Robert Morris University men's hockey will once again battle Holy Cross in the Atlantic Hockey tournament quarterfinals, a best-of-three series, March 9-11 at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.

SERIES INFORMATION
No. 7 Robert Morris at No. 3 Holy Cross
March 9-11  //  7:05 p.m.  //  Best-of-Three Series
Hart Center  //  Worcester, Mass.  //  Tickets
WATCH LIVE  //  LISTEN LIVE 970 ESPN Pittsburgh  //  LIVE STATS

TEAM CAPSULES
ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS 
Record: 15-19-3, (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 (42), Alex Tonge (41)
Goals Leaders: Tonge (16), Luke Lynch (15)
Goaltending: Francis Marotte, 14-14-3, .915 save%, 2.53 GAA
Blocked Shots: Eric Israel (79), Alex Bontje (64)
All-Time Record vs. Holy Cross: 11-5-2

2017-18 SUMMARY
OFFENSE  |  Goals per game: 2.81  |  Points per game: 7.73
DEFENSE  |  Goals against/pg: 2.89  |  Blocks per game: 13.95
SPECIAL TEAMS  |  Power Play: 18.3%  |  Penalty Kill: 76.8%

LAST TIME OUT
Robert Morris won a first round series vs. Bentley (W 3-1, L 4-3, W 3-2). Alex Tonge led the Colonials with 3 goals & an assist, while Luke Lynch had a goal and 3 assists. Daniel Mantenuto scored a pair of goals including the eventual series-clincher. Brandon Watt scored the game-winning goal in game one and added two assists in the finale. Matthew Graham and Michael Louria also scored, while Timmy Moore racked up 3 assists. Brady Ferguson & Spencer Dorowicz had 2 assists as well. Francis Marotte started all three games, recording 37 saves and nearly a shutout in the opener, until Bentley scored in the final minute. Marotte posted a 2.35 & .933 in the series.

HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS
Record: 13-14-7 (12-10-6 AHC Reg. Season)
Head Coach: David Berard (5th Season)
Points Leaders: Scott Pooley (33), Michael Laffin, T.J. Moore (28)
Goals Leaders: Pooley (18), Laffin, Danny Lopez (13)
Goaltending: Paul Berrafato (Sr.), 13-14-7, .920 save%, 2.50 GAA
Blocked shots: Johnny Coughlin (57), Laffin (44) 
All-Time Record vs. RMU: 5-11-2

LAST TIME OUT
The Crusaders have been off since Feb. 22, finishing the regular season with a 2-0 win over AIC. Michael Laffin & Johnny Caughlin scored while Paul Berrafato recorded his 5th shutout of the season. 

LONG TIME GONE
The Crusaders have played back-to-back games once in the last month, swept by Mercyhurst 6-5 & 4-0 on Feb. 9-10. While the last game at home was a 2-0 win over AIC to close the regular season, the last home series for Holy Cross was a split with RIT on Jan. 26-27.

SIMILAR SKID
Holy Cross ended the regular season 2-4-0 in its last six, while RMU finished 0-5-1, before winning the series against Bentley last weekend, 2-1.

SERIES HISTORY
RMU leads the all-time series 11-5-2, with a 6-3-1 record on the Crusaders' home ice. RMU's seniors are 7-2-1 vs. HC in their careers, with both losses coming in Worcester. The Colonials eliminated Holy Cross in the quarterfinals of last season's playoffs in Pittsburgh with 6-3 and 3-2 victories. Tonge, Mantenuto, Ferguson, Dorowicz, and Daniel Leavens '17 scored in the series.

PREVIOUS MEETING
RMU has a 1-0-1 mark against Holy Cross in the teams' only meeting this season, in Pittsburgh on Nov. 3-4. The teams tied 5-5 in the opener, with Brady Ferguson, Matthew Graham, Luke Lynch, Alex Tonge & Alex Robert scoring. HC's Laffin scored with 2:25 left to force the tie. In the Saturday game, Spencer Dorowicz, Ryley Risling & Lynch scored goals. Francis Marotte made 27 saves in each game.


ROBERT MORRIS GAME NOTES  //  HOLY CROSS PREVIEW

SENIOR SWAGGER
The Class of 2018 seniors have an 10-5-0 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.

MILESTONE WATCH
Junior forward Alex Tonge is four points shy of 100 for his career, while Brady Ferguson, the senior & all-time RMU assist leader, is two shy of 100 career helpers.

#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 14 goals and 42 points on the season, tied for 12th in the NCAA and tied for 2nd in Atlantic Hockey (Canisius' Dylan McLaughlin, 44 points; RIT's Erik Brown, 42).

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 – 160
Dylan Sikura, Northeastern (CHI) – 140
Adam Gaudette, Northeastern (VAN) – 138 
Jake Evans, Notre Dame (MTL) – 130
Dylan Gambrell, Denver (SJS) – 130 

NOT SO SOPH
The playoff series vs. Bentley was a breakout weekend for the Colonials sophomore line of Matthew Graham, Daniel Mantenuto and Luke Lynch. While Lynch has paced the sophomores all season, Graham & Mantenuto came through to break out of goal slumps. Mantenuto scored two goals including the series-clincher, his first since Jan. 27, with the other coming back on Oct. 27 at Ohio State. Four of his eight career goals have come in the postseason. For Graham, his goal on Saturday was the first since Feb. 2, with two others this season, Oct. 13 at Canisius, and against Holy Cross on Nov. 3.

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.

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.

POWER UP
Ferguson & Tonge lead the Colonials in power play scoring, ranked third and fourth in Atlantic Hockey. Tonge had four power play goals and 13 assists, while Ferguson has six goals and ten assists. RMU's 31 power play goals are tied for third in Atlantic Hockey (Mercyhurst, Bentley, T-Canisius) & 19th in the NCAA.

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 (79, 2.14/pg) and senior defenseman Alex Bontje (64, 2.06/pg) are second & fourth in blocks in Atlantic Hockey, ranked 5th (Israel) & 24th (Bontje) in the NCAA in total blocks, and 13th (Israel) and 18th (Bontje) in blocks/pg.

I'M BETTING HE'S GOING TO SWERVE FIRST
Through 74 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 74 career games (74 GP, 23G-34A-57P)
Luke Lynch - Freshman Season (37 GP, 9G-10A-19P) Through 74 career games (74 GP, 24G-26A-50P)

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 quarterfinal series with the new record of 160 career points.


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