Men's Hockey | 10/18/2019 1:46:00 PM

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Following a sweep of Bentley at home last weekend, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team continues Atlantic Hockey Association play with its first trip to Army West Point since the 2015-16 season.

ROBERT MORRIS (2-2-0, 2-0-0 AHA)
at ARMY WEST POINT (2-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA)
Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 20 at 4:05 p.m.
Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.
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CATCHING UP
The Colonials roared into league action with a pair of three-goal wins at the RMU Island Sports Center, collecting all six available standings points to get an early jump on the competition. On offense, junior Nick Prkusic and sophomore Aidan Spellacy alternately starred against Bentley, as each recorded a goal and two assists.

Senior transfer goalie Justin Kapelmaster stood tallest, though, denying 80 of 81 shots over the weekend, including a 35-save shutout last Friday that was his fifth in NCAA play. Special teams triumphed for RMU, too, with the power play going 4 for 10 and the penalty kill extinguishing all 13 Falcons opportunities.

HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials have a 12-7-5 all-time record against Army West Point, including a 3-1 mark in the postseason. RMU is 3-2-3 at Tate Rink, but the Black Knights took three of four points last October on Neville Island. Then-freshman Justin Addamo scored in both of those games last year, twice giving the Colonials an early lead. Prkusic (goal) and Luke Lynch (assist) were also heard from on the scoresheet. 

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
At 2-0 for the first time since 1989, Army West Point has played once each over the first two weekends of the season, beating Union, 3-2, and UConn, 2-1. Sophomore defender Marshal Plunkett leads the team with three points, all assists, while eight Black Knights in all have at least one point. Junior goalie Trevin Kozlowski has stopped 47 of 50 shots in collecting a pair of victories. 

COLONIAL CHATS
"It starts with our defense getting pucks to the net. Then you're diligent and determined in front." - Head coach Derek Schooley spoke to Matt Gajtka about high-traffic success last week, getting freshmen feet wet and jumping on the bus for the first time:



"Anytime you have a chance to go to a place like that, you get a good perspective on what they're doing for our country." - Sophomore defenseman Nolan Schaeffer on his first trip to West Point, plus why last weekend went well



KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials return 19 players from last year's squad, including six seniors and 10 sophomores. The leading returning scorer is Pittsburgh native Luke Lynch, whose 90 career points rank 14th in program history and 10th among active D-I players. Lynch shares the captaincy with fellow senior Daniel Mantenuto (48 points in his first three years) and junior Prkusic (23 points as a sophomore), marking the first time in more than a decade that RMU has given the 'C' to at least three players.

• The presence of 16 underclassmen on the roster -- the fifth-most in the nation -- belies the experience gained by the 10-man freshman class last season. Five of the 11 first-years played in at least 30 games, with four more dressing for at least 20. Winger Nick Lalonde led all freshman scorers with nine assists and 16 total points, while French-born Justin Addamo surged late for a class-high eight goals. Aidan Spellacy (11 points) and Grant Hebert (10) also chimed in up front, while defenders Nolan Schaeffer (37 games), Brendon Michaelian (28) and Geoff Lawson (23) were no strangers to game action.

• Goaltender will be a position of interest, with Kapelmaster joining junior Dyllan Lubbesmeyer and sophomore Reid Cooper. After spending the past three seasons at Ferris State University in Michigan, Kapelmaster has 50 games of NCAA experience under his belt, with a career save percentage of .920 that ranks among the top 20 active D-I goalies. Lubbesmeyer (five games) and Cooper (four) played exclusively in relief last season.

• According to a preseason coaches poll, the Colonials were picked to finish seventh in the 11-team AHA, with defending regular-season champion American International receiving 10 of 11 first-place votes. Entering their 10th season in the league, RMU has finished fifth or better six times, headlined by back-to-back banner years in 2014-15 and 2015-16. Fifth place is significant because the top five teams at the end of the year receive first-round playoff byes.

• In addition to the 28-game AHA slate, the Colonals' six non-league games will be highlighted by a third consecutive home-and-home against Penn State, with RMU hosting the Big Ten's Nittany Lions at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, Jan. 11. Also, Robert Morris will travel to the Valley of the Sun to face Arizona State's fifth-year program on Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Both Penn State and Arizona State made the NCAA tournament last spring.

• Six freshmen highlight the team's developing recruiting base, from western Canadians Garrett Clegg (Alberta) and Bradley Stonnell (British Columbia), to Ontario-born Darcy Walsh and Cameron Hebert, to Finnish forward Santeri Hartikainen, to Pittsburgh's own Roman Kraemer. Each of the six has played in at least two games so far, and Hartikainen (goal) and Clegg (assist) have already recorded their first NCAA points.

• Led by seniors Lynch and Jacob Coleman (Moon Township), the Colonials will maintain their tradition of icing western Pennsylvania-trained players. Sophomore Aiden Beck (Coraopolis) returns for a second season on the Island, joined by freshman Kraemer, who played for Serra Catholic in McKeesport before developing his talent at the Pittsburgh Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite club programs. He then co-starred with Cameron Hebert in nearby Johnstown with the North American Hockey League's Tomahawks.

• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by 16th-year bench boss Derek Schooley, the only head coach the program has known since its inception. Michael Gershon is back for his fifth season with the program -- his fourth as an assistant coach. Also, former RMU captain and leading scorer Ryan Cruthers '08 re-joins the team as an assistant following successful coaching stints in America's top two junior leagues. Cruthers' 1.26 points per game in an RMU sweater is easily the highest in team history.

• The Colonials have added two-time United States Olympian and former RMU women's hockey star Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle to the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. The Cleveland native, who runs her own goaltending school and camps out of the RMU Island Sports Center, has been coaching young goaltenders at USA Hockey camps for multiple years. She is believed to be the first woman to coach with an NCAA men's hockey team.

• Two former Colonials have become high-level pro referees, with Brandon Blandina and Sewickley native Furman South both reaching the National Hockey League in recent seasons. South made his NHL officiating debut late in the 2016-17 season and has reached the 40-game plateau as of the start of 2019-20, while Blandina first stepped on NHL ice last spring. Both members of the Class of 2012 continue to referee American Hockey League games as well.

THE SCHOOLEY FILE
One of the longest-tenured coaches at RMU, Schooley is entering his 16th season at the Robert Morris helm in 2019-20, carrying an overall record of 247-247-63 into the season, plus a record of championship success in Division I men's hockey. The native of St. Louis 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 2014. In the seven-season span from 2012-19, Schooley's Colonials have averaged 20 wins per season and have consistently placed 20-plus student-athletes on the AHA All-Academic team.

Schooley has spent the past two decades coaching college players, starting with assistant roles at Cornell and the Air Force Academy. During his time at Robert Morris, Schooley has had 70 players go on to play professionally, from the AHL and ECHL to various leagues across Europe. Nine former Colonials have participated in NHL training camps, with the most recent being all-time top RMU scorer Brady Ferguson at the past two Toronto Maple Leafs camps. On top of that, 19 RMU alums have taken part in NHL development/rookie camps.

HONOR ROLL
The following players have been honored by Atlantic Hockey for their performance this season ...
Justin Kapelmaster - Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 15)

MARCH WITH THE COLONIALS
In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.

NEXT UP
The Colonials will jump back out of conference for a single game against Penn State of the Big Ten on Friday, Oct. 25. Faceoff in State College, Pa., is set for 7:05 p.m.