Men's Hockey | 10/15/2019 10:10:00 AM

PITTSBURGH -- Adjustments to a new city, school and team haven't been much of a bother to Robert Morris University senior transfer Justin Kapelmaster, who was named the Atlantic Hockey Association's Goaltender of the Week on Tuesday for his performance in the Colonials' two-game home sweep of league rival Bentley.

Kapelmaster, a native of Coral Springs, Florida, denied 80 of 81 Bentley shots over the weekend at the RMU Island Sports Center, helping RMU start AHA play with a pair of regulation victories and all six available standings points. He is the first Colonial to earn a weekly honor this season.

Kapelmaster's 35-save shutout last Friday in a 3-0 victory was his fifth in NCAA play, but his first in Colonials colors. He followed that performance up with 45 more saves in RMU's 4-1 win Saturday afternoon, making several eye-catching stops to prevent Bentley from mounting a rally. In that second game, Kapelmaster made 20 saves with the Colonials short-handed, keying a 9-for-9 day for the penalty-kill unit.

After starting his NCAA Division I career with three seasons at Ferris State University in Michigan, Kapelmaster transferred to RMU over the summer. Counting an excellent performance in a season-opening overtime loss to Michigan Tech, Kapelmaster has denied 109 of 112 shots for a .973 save percentage. His .920 career mark puts him in the top 20 of qualifying goalies nationwide.

Also of note this week, RMU received votes in the USCHO national top-20 poll for the first time since the start of the 2017-18 season. With their 16th season of NCAA D-I play fully underway, the Colonials (2-2-0, 2-0-0 AHA) will travel to West Point, New York, this weekend to challenge Army in a two-game set.