Men's Hockey | 11/14/2019 8:34:00 PM

WALTHAM, Mass. – After a home-and-home sweep of Atlantic Hockey rival Canisius last weekend, the first-place Robert Morris University men's hockey team stays on the road for both games this week, facing frequent foe Bentley in the Bay State.

ROBERT MORRIS (5-4-0, 5-1-0 AHA)
at BENTLEY (3-6-0, 2-5-0 AHA)
Friday, Nov. 15 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5:05 p.m.
Bentley Arena, Waltham, Mass.
LIVE VIDEO on FloHockey ($) 

CATCHING UP
The Colonials jumped back into first place by earning a pair of wins over Canisius by the same 4-2 score. The eight goals marks the most scored by RMU in a weekend so far this season, with junior Nick Prkusic notching five points (1g, 4a) and sophomore defender Brendon Michaelian factoring in on four goals (2g, 2a).
 
Senior goalie Justin Kapelmaster stopped 75 of 79 shots over the weekend, maintaining his position atop the Division I charts in save percentage (.958), while the power play converted three times on seven opportunities. With the twin regulation wins, RMU is now one point up on RIT for the AHA's top spot.

HISTORY LESSON
No need to dig too deeply into the record books for the setup, as the Colonials and Bentley have played seven times in the calendar year, highlighted by a three-game AHA quarterfinal playoff series last spring. Including a two-game sweep in Pittsburgh back in October, RMU has won four of the past five matchups.

Last month, both Prkusic and Aidan Spellacy recorded three-point games against Bentley, with Spellacy becoming the 20th Colonial to score two power-play goals in the same game. Highlighted by a 35-save shutout Oct. 11, Kapelmaster denied 80 shots in the set, recording his first two RMU wins.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Bentley placed second in the AHA standings last year, its highest regular-season finish in the league. So far this year, the Falcons have had trouble on the road, losing all four AHA games outside Waltham. At home Bentley is 3-2, with one of the losses coming in overtime and a defeat of Hockey East's New Hampshire thrown in.

Sophomore forward and Ottawa Senators draft pick Jakov Novak leads Ryan Soderquist's Falcons in scoring with six goals and 10 total points. Senior Jonathan Desbiens is the top assist man on the club, with six helpers to go with his one goal. Fourth-year goalie Aidan Pelino has started seven of nine games, holding two wins and an .886 SV%.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• Senior transfer Kapelmaster has been a revelation in his first eight RMU games, boasting a .958 save percentage that ranks first among Division I goalies who've appeared more than twice. Starting with three seasons at Ferris State University in Michigan, Kapelmaster has 53 games of NCAA experience, with a career save percentage of .922 that's in the top 20 of active D-I goalies.

• After two of the program's top-20 scorers graduated, this year's team will need varied offensive contributions. So far, so good, as nine players have at least four points, led by junior co-captain Prkusic's nine. Sophomore Justin Addamo has six points, including a team-high five assists. Sophomore Grant Hebert paces RMU with four goals, while junior defender Nick Jenny has three.

• The Colonials return 19 players from last year's squad, 10 of those sophomores. The leading returning scorer is Pittsburgh native Luke Lynch, whose 92 career points rank 13th in program history. Lynch shares the captaincy with fellow senior Daniel Mantenuto and junior Prkusic, marking the first time in more than a decade that three Colonials have worn the 'C.'

• RMU sports 16 underclassmen on the roster, the fifth-most in D-I. Winger Nick Lalonde led all freshman scorers last year with 16 total points, while Addamo led the class with 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) saw plenty of ice.

• In addition to the 28-game AHA slate, the Colonals' six non-league games will be highlighted by another 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 join the team from across the hockey world, 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 five games; Hartikainen, Walsh, Hebert and Clegg have already recorded their first NCAA points.

• Led by seniors Lynch and Jacob Coleman (Moon Township), the Colonials continue to showcase local talent. Sophomore Aiden Beck (Coraopolis) returns, joined by freshman Kraemer, who played for Serra Catholic before developing his talent at the Predators and Penguins Elite club programs. Kraemer co-starred with Cameron Hebert in Johnstown with the junior Tomahawks.

• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by 16th-year bench boss Derek Schooley, the only head coach the program has known. Michael Gershon is back for his fourth as an assistant coach, while RMU captain and leading scorer Ryan Cruthers '08 re-joins the team as an assistant following stints in America's top two junior leagues. Cruthers' 1.26 points per game remains the best mark in RMU history.

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

• According to a preseason coaches' poll, the Colonials were picked to finish seventh in the 11-team AHA. RMU has finished fifth or better six times in nine previous AHA seasons, headlined by back-to-back banner years in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The top five teams at the end of the season receive first-round playoff byes.

• 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 two seasons ago and has reached the 40-game plateau, while Blandina first stepped on NHL ice last spring. Both members of the Class of 2012 officiate 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)
Brendon Michaelian – Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 12)

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 return to the Island Sports Center for their only two matchups against Air Force this season. Faceoffs are set for 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23.