Men's Hockey | 1/24/2019 2:53:00 PM

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Fresh off a split against Atlantic Hockey foe Canisius, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team will conclude a four-game road swing with two games this weekend in Colorado Springs against the Air Force Academy.

This will be RMU's first trip to the Rocky Mountain State since 2016 and their seventh two-game set at the Academy in 15 seasons of Division I men's hockey. The Colonials scored a season-high 11 goals last weekend in Buffalo, keeping their AHA road record above .500 (4-3-0) in the process. Seven of RMU's final 10 games will be away from home, all against league foes.

After hanging around the top of the AHA standings for most of the season, Air Force has leveled off since the holiday break, going winless in its past five (0-2-3) to fall behind American International for the top spot. Still, the Falcons are back-to-back league postseason champions and continue to receive votes in the USCHO.com national poll.

COLONIAL HOCKEY PREVIEW
ROBERT MORRIS (9-14-1, 8-9-1 AHA - T-6th)
at [RV] AIR FORCE (11-9-1, 9-6-3 AHA - T-2nd)

Friday, Jan. 25 at 9:05 p.m. ET
Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7:05 p.m. ET
@ Cadet Ice Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo.

AUDIO via Facebook Live
VIDEO via Stretch Internet ($) 
LIVE STATS via Sidearm

LAST TIME OUT
After netting a season-high-tying seven goals last Friday in a blowout win, RMU couldn't complete the comeback Saturday afternoon, falling 6-4 to Canisius. The Colonials fell behind 3-0 after one period, but climbed within one goal late in the third on tallies by seniors Mike Louria and Alex Tonge. Sophomore Nick Prkusic (1g, 1a) and Luke Lynch (2a) enjoyed multi-point games.

HISTORY LESSON
RMU has been in the same conference as Air Force for every season of its existence; as such, the Falcons are the Colonials' second-most frequent opponent all-time (36 prior meetings). Three of those matchups happened in the postseason, with RMU winning a first-round CHA game in 2006, while Air Force has prevailed over the Colonials in the past two AHA championship games.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Air Force needed a last-minute extra-attacker goal from junior Trevor Stone -- his second goal of the game -- to pull out a 2-2 draw with Sacred Heart on Sunday afternoon. Senior goalie Billy Christopolous did his part despite the 0-1-1 weekend, stopping 66 of 70 shots. Prior to the trip out east, the Falcons tied fellow service academy Army West Point twice on home ice.

It's been quite a decade-plus for Air Force, capped by back-to-back AHA postseason titles and consecutive advancements to the NCAA regional finals. Coached by 22nd-year bench boss Frank Serratore, the Falcons have won seven of the past 12 AHA tournaments and have finished in the league's top three in 11 of the past 12 seasons. They have also won three of their seven NCAA first-round games

TALE OF THE TAPE




THEY SAID IT
"They're a well-coached team that sticks to their systems well. You almost don't know what to expect from them because they play a super-systematic game, but they have some skilled guys who can make plays. We'll have to bring a good, all-around game." - Junior forward Jacob Coleman on Air Force



"I think is going to be a battle of the two best goalies in the league. We've got to get to the net, take away (Christopolous') eyes and challenge him right off the bat. We've got to take advantage of our shots, because they're very stingy when it comes to giving them up." - Head coach Derek Schooley



KNOW BOBBY MO
• Twenty-eight of RMU's 65 goals have been scored by underclassmen, with 20 of those scored by freshmen. Six of the Colonials' 10 freshmen skaters -- Justin Addamo, Geoff Lawson, Nick Lalonde, Aidan Spellacy, Grant Hebert and Kip Hoffmann -- have scored their first NCAA goals, while eight of 10 have at least a point. Lalonde and sophomore Nick Prkusic have six goals each, tying them for second on the team.

• Senior winger Alex Tonge is the 11th Colonial to reach 100 points for his NCAA career. With 121 points, he's risen to sixth place on RMU's all-time scoring list. Tonge has passed Greg Gibson '16, Denny Urban '11, David Friedmann '16, Scott Jacklin '15 and Daniel Leavens '17 this season. Tonge is currently the No. 8 active scorer in NCAA Division I.

• Junior goalie Francis Marotte has made quite the impact in two-plus years at Robert Morris. Entering the weekend, the reigning AHA Goalie of the Month has the Colonials' all-time best goals-against average (2.57), along with the fourth-best save percentage (.917), second-most shutouts (7). Marotte is currently tied with Terry Shafer '16 for the most goalie wins (43) in RMU history and he's one shutout from matching Shafer.

• Senior defenseman Eric Israel continues to be among the most dangerous blue-line playmakers in the nation. With 80 points in his career, Israel ranks eighth among active Division I defenders. The Michigander is also eighth among his blueline peers in career assists (62) and ranks 15th in career goals (18). Also, his 11 power-play goals at Robert Morris place him eighth among nationwide D-men.

• Don't miss the opening minutes of an RMU game, because so often the tide has turned at the start. While the Colonials have scored the first goal just six times in their first 22 games, they are 5-2 in those games. Otherwise, RMU has four wins and a tie (4-12-1) in the 17 times they've conceded the game's first tally.

• After going their first nine games without a shorthanded goal, the Colonials have scored five in their past 15. Lynch has two of those, giving him five for his career; that's the thirdmost among active Division I players. Daniel Mantenuto has his first two NCAA shorties this season, with Jacob Coleman accounting for the other one.

• The Colonials have come up aces at the faceoff dot, and it's been a team effort. RMU ranks eighth in the country in faceoff win rate at 53.6 percent, with five of the its six qualifying centers converting at a rate of 53 percent or better. Mantenuto, Hebert, Michael Coyne, Lynch and Spellacy are all above that line individually.

• Starting with a home-and-home split with No. 20 Bowling Green, the Colonials have collected at least one win in seven of 11 weekends so far. However, they've only been able to sweep one opponent in a two-game set, that being Mercyhurst on Nov. 23-24. All told, they've split six of 10 weekend series, not counting the Three Rivers Classic.

• With his overtime goal Dec. 1 at Sacred Heart, Mike Louria moved into a first-place tie among active Division I players with three career sudden-death strikes. The win marked the only time so far this season RMU has won after trailing through two periods. They are 1-14-1 in such situations, with the only other point gained Oct. 19 in a tie with Army.

SCHOOLEY FILE
The only head coach in program history, Derek Schooley is in his 15th season behind the RMU bench. Under his guidance, the Colonials carry an overall record of 240-239-62 and a 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.

HONOR ROLL
Robert Morris has had five players earn Atlantic Hockey awards this season:
• Marotte (Goalie of Week - Nov. 19-25)
• Israel (Defensive Player of Week - Nov. 19-25
• Israel (Defensive Player of Week - Dec. 24-30)
• Marotte (Goalie of Month - December)
• Lalonde (Rookie of Week - Jan. 14-20)

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 RMU Island Sports Center. 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.

NEXT UP
The Colonials will play their last two-game home series of the regular season, hosting league opponent Sacred Heart at the RMU Island Sports Center. Back in the fall semester, RMU split a pair with the Pioneers in Connecticut.