Men's Hockey | 1/31/2019 4:55:00 PM

PITTSBURGH -- Following a four-game road stretch that ended with two tight losses at the Air Force Academy, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team returns to Neville Island for its
final two-game home set of the regular season.

Tied for seventh in Atlantic Hockey, RMU will aim to break a three-game losing streak and stay ahead of surging Sacred Heart, which enters the weekend one point behind. This is the first of four straight 'rematch' series during the home stretch of the season. RMU and Sacred Heart split a two-game set in Connecticut during the fall semester, with each side claiming a 2-1 win. 

Sacred Heart came out of the winter break with four losses in a row, but since then the Pioneers have reeled off a 3-1-1 stretch to get within a point of a home-ice position for the upcoming
AHA postseason. SHU has taken three points from Air Force and two from Holy Cross during this recent push, in addition to earning a win over UConn of Hockey East earlier this week.

COLONIAL HOCKEY PREVIEW
ROBERT MORRIS (9-16-1, 8-11-1 AHA - T-7th)
vs. SACRED HEART (8-13-3, 7-9-2 AHA - 9th)

Friday, Feb. 1 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4:05 p.m.
@ RMU Island Sports Center

AUDIO via ESPN Radio Pittsburgh
VIDEO via Stretch Internet ($) 
LIVE STATS via Sidearm

PROMOTIONS
A free shuttle will run from campus (Lexington/Concord Halls) to the Island from 6-10 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, the first 800 fans through the Colonials Arena gates will receive a free winter hat, courtesy of Peoples Natural Gas. 

LAST TIME OUT
Although the Colonials netted the first goal Saturday against Air Force, with Jake Coleman scoring on an early power play, the Falcons accounted for the final three tallies to sweep the weekend series. Junior goalie Francis Marotte wrapped up a sturdy Colorado trip by stopping 26 shots -- he denied 48 of 52 on the weekend -- while the RMU power play scored a goal for the fourth consecutive game, tying a season-long run.

HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials' victory Dec. 1 is the only time this season they've come from behind through two periods to win. Mike Louria scored the game-winner, his third career OT goal. All-time, RMU has failed to earn a win at home against Sacred Heart was a 4-4 tie Nov. 12, 2010, which also marked the Pioneers' first ever trip to Pittsburgh.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Freshman goalie Josh Benson stopped 33 UConn shots as the Pioneers skated away with a 2-1 Nutmeg State rivalry win Tuesday night in Hartford. First-year forward Ryan Steele's second-period power-play goal held up as the game-winner. Sacred Heart finished its non-conference schedule with a 1-4-1 record, highlighted by a 2-2 tie against Providence.

Sacred Heart earned its first victory ever against Robert Morris on Nov. 30, when Austin Magera's late goal decided matters. Still, the Pioneers are 1-23-1 all-time against the
Colonials and will carry a 10-game losing streak at Neville Island into this weekend. At the same time, Sacred Heart hasn't traveled to Pittsburgh since December 2016.

TALE OF THE TAPE




THEY SAID IT
"The past couple weeks we've had some good practices and we've been in some close games, but we haven't had the confidence to finish off some games. Right now, we need to find that confidence that we can beat good teams." - Sophomore forward Nick Prkusic


 
"It's cold outside, but the league standings are hot. It's a challenging time. We've got to make sure we're focused, we're determined, we play with enthusiasm and we're ready to go. " - Head coach Derek Schooley



KNOW BOBBY MO
• Special teams have been a great help to the Colonials lately. After enduring a 2-for-40 stretch that bridged the holiday break, RMU has scored a power-play goal in four straight games, going 5 for 16 (31 percent) over that span. On top of that, the penalty kill returned to form at Air Force, going 8 for 9. The RMU PK has been near the top of Atlantic Hockey all season, currently ranking third with at 83 percent success rate.

• Twenty-eight of RMU's 67 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 122 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 (2.56), 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 eight times in their first 26 games, they are 5-3 in those games. Otherwise, RMU has four wins and a tie (4-13-1) in the 18 times they've conceded the game's first tally.

• After going their first nine games of the season without a shorthanded goal, the Colonials have scored five since. 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 14th in the country in faceoff win rate at 52.8 percent, with four of the its five qualifying centers converting at a rate of 52 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 1-16-1 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 240-241-62 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.

FIFTEEN YEARS OF HOCKEY
During our 15th year of Division I men's hockey at RMU, we're remembering our 15 greatest games in program history. This week, we recall a historic doubling down on No. 1 Miami during the 2009-10 season:



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 enjoy their final off weekend of the regular season before getting back on the road for five of their last six games. That stretch begins Feb. 15-16 in Worcester, Massachusetts, against AHA opponent Holy Cross.