Men's Hockey | 11/20/2019 4:03:00 PM

PITTSBURGH – Winners of four in a row and receiving votes in a national poll for the second time this season, the first-place Robert Morris University men's hockey team will aim to maintain its lead when longtime league rival Air Force pays its first visit to the RMU Island Sports Center since the spring of 2018.

ROBERT MORRIS (7-4-0, 7-1-0 AHA)
vs. AIR FORCE (3-7-0, 3-3-0 AHA)
Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7:05 p.m.
RMU Island Sports Center
LIVE VIDEO on FloHockey ($) 

PROMOTION
Earn a $1 ticket to either of our games this weekend by donating five non-perishable food items at the RMU Island Sports Center front desk. As part of the Colonials Fight Hunger initiative, all items will be donated to the on-campus Colonial Cupboard.

CATCHING UP
Scoring 10 times in the series, the Colonials jumped back on top of the Atlantic Hockey standings with a road sweep of frequent foe Bentley. Junior forward Nick Prkusic took over the team scoring lead, netting two goals and adding an assist, while senior wing Jacob Coleman matched Prkusic's output, giving the Moon Township native eight points on the year -- tying a career single-season high.
 
Sophomores continued to step up offensively, with Grant Hebert (2a), Justin Addamo (1g, 1a), Aidan Spellacy (1g, 1a) and defender Brendon Michaelian (1g, 1a) all chipping in two points against Bentley. Senior goalie Justin Kapelmaster stopped 45 shots over the weekend, including a season-low 15 in the Saturday game as the Colonials held an opponent below 35 shots on goal for the first time in eight games.

HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials and Air Force have played at least twice every season since 2010-11, RMU's first year in Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons have a 20-15-3 edge in the all-time series, but the Colonials have gone 9-7-3 against the Academy on Neville Island. Included in the series are three postseason meetings, one in the old College Hockey America conference (RMU won) and two in the AHA (Air Force won both).

Last January, the Colonials made the journey out to Colorado Springs to challenge the Falcons, a series the home team swept with a pair of 3-1 wins. Coleman and Prkusic combined on a goal in the second of those matchups, while Addamo and Luke Lynch also had assists in the series. RMU held Air Force under 30 shots in both games.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Just like RMU, Air Force is coming off a sweep of Bentley, although that series happened two weeks ago at the Academy. Head coach Frank Serratore's Falcons have rebounded with three consecutive wins after starting their season with seven straight losses, three of those in AHA play. 

Sophomore forward Kieran Durgan was named AHA Player of the Week for a two-goal, two-assist performance against Bentley, while seniors Brady Tomlak (five assists, nine points) and Matt Pulver (five goals) are the Falcons' offensive category leaders. Sophomore goalie Alex Schilling has a .904 save percentage in three starts, all wins.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• Senior transfer Kapelmaster has been a revelation in his first 10 RMU games, boasting a .948 save percentage that ranks third among qualifying Division I goalies. Starting with three seasons at Ferris State University in Michigan, Kapelmaster has 55 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 has featured a well-rounded attack. Eight players have at least six points, led by junior co-captain Prkusic, who leads the Colonials in goals (five), assists (seven) and total points (12) in just eight games played. Coleman and Addamo have eight points each, while Hebert has seven. On the blue line, Michaelian and senior Alex Robert have six apiece.

• The Colonials return 19 players from last year's squad, 10 of those sophomores. The leading returning scorer is Pittsburgh native Luke Lynch, whose 93 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.'

• Six freshmen join 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 six games and all have at least one point; Hartikainen leads the way with three (2g, 1a).

• 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 paced the class with eight goals. Spellacy (11 points) and Grant Hebert (10) also chimed in up front, while defenders Nolan Schaeffer (37 games), Michaelian (28) and Geoff Lawson (23) got plenty of experience.

• 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 Cam Hebert in Johnstown, Pa., with the NAHL's Tomahawks.

• 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.

• 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.

• Program alums Brandon Blandina and Furman South (Sewickley) have both refereed National Hockey League games 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 will take on another home-and-home Atlantic Hockey series, traveling to Pennsylvania rival Mercyhurst on Friday, Nov. 29 and hosting the Lakers on Saturday, Nov. 30.