Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey program has earned its fifth consecutive NCAA public recognition award, presented to teams in the top ten percent for Academic Progress Rate (APR) in each respective sport.

The Colonials are one of just eight Division I men's hockey programs to be recognized in this way, joining Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Princeton, Connecticut, Minnesota and Yale. Robert Morris is the only school to receive this accolade in each of the last five years. The Colonials are also the only Atlantic Hockey squad to be recognized for the 2016-17 season, with five ECAC programs, one Big Ten and one Hockey East program, all earning accolades.

NCAA Release

The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all D-I sports teams nationally. The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport.

In order to receive a Public Recognition Award, a program must be ranked in the top 10 percent of its sport, which means its APR score ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000. The latest honor recognizes head coach Derek Schooley's program for its academic achievements for the 2016-17 season and is based on multi-year APR scores from the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.

"I applaud every program earning a Public Recognition Award this year for their commitment to going above and beyond to prepare students for life after college through academic achievement," said NCAA President Mark Emmert.

As part of that strong 2016-17 academic campaign, the Colonials placed 21 student-athletes on the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic squad with a 3.0 GPA or higher, and four players earned Student-Athlete of the Year nods from the league. Michael Coyne, Luke Lynch and Francis Marotte all earned the honor in their first collegiate years, while junior Alex Dagnal earned his second consecutive honor.

Though not part of the four years measured for the 2016-17 APR award, the Colonials have continued their success in the classroom, with 26 of 27 student-athletes finishing the 2017-18 season with cumulative GPA's above the 3.0 mark, and 25 of 27 above a 3.3 GPA.

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