College hockey connoisseur and Colonials radio analyst Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary to RMUColonials.com.
One of the staples at Robert Morris through 15 NCAA Division I seasons has been goaltending.
From Joe Tuset (2004-07) to Christian Boucher (2004-08) to Brooks Ostergard (2008-12) to Eric Levine (2009-13) to Terry Shafer (2012-16) to Dalton Izyk (2013-17) to Francis Marotte (2016-19), the Colonials have been dependable in net far more often than not.
They'll be that again this season, head coach Derek Schooley maintains.
He just isn't sure who's next yet.
"We've had good goaltenders in our program," Schooley noted. "I believe we'll continue to have good goaltenders this year. But I have a hard a time believing that one guy will start all of our games."
Marotte, the program's all-time leader in wins (50), goals-against average (2.55) and shutouts (eight, tied with Shafer), has transferred to Clarkson after three seasons on Neville Island.
That's opened the crease to a couple of returnees -- junior Dyllan Lubbesmeyer and sophomore Reid Cooper -- and one newcomer, senior Justin Kapelmaster, who has transferred in from Ferris State of the WCHA.
The Colonials' new look in net will be on display beginning this weekend, when RMU opens the 2019-20 season by hosting Michigan Tech. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m., Saturday, and 3:05 p.m., Sunday at the Island Sports Center.
"We have great competition," Schooley said.
Kapelmaster, 6-foot-1 and 217 pounds, is the one with great experience, having gone 17-23-4, with a 2.84 goals-against average, a ,916 save percentage and four shutouts in 48 career games (45 starts) at Ferris State.
He's played almost 2,600 career minutes, a total that dwarfs what Lubbesmeyer (51:51) and Cooper (47:41) have between them.
Marotte started all 40 games a season ago and 107 in his RMU career, so Lubbesmeyer (five) and Cooper (four) appeared in a combined nine games last season, all in relief.
Kapelmaster missed Ferris State's most recent NCAA tournament run by a year, but he's definitely the one with the track record.
"He's played a lot of college hockey," Schooley said. "He's a big kid that takes up a lot of net and competes down low very well."
Kapelmaster's best season at Ferris State was his freshman campaign (2016-17). He posted a 10-4-3 record that included a 58-save effort in a 2-1 shootout loss to No. 6 Boston College in the 2016 Three Rivers Classic consolation game at PPG Paints Arena, along with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Lubbsmeyer (6-0, 185) is "one of the hardest workers on our team and a world class kid," Schooley said. "He works extremely hard on and off the ice."
Cooper (6-2, 185) is "very good side to side," Schooley said. "He faced a lot of shots in junior hockey and played very well on tough teams."
Two of the three are unproven at the Division I level, and none of them has an established record at Robert Morris.
But their memorable predecessors all had to start somewhere, too.
"These three are good goalies," Schooley said. "They're playing college hockey because they're good goalies.
"We should have confidence in these guys."
