Men's Hockey | 12/13/2019 1:35:00 PM
PITTSBURGH – With just two games remaining before winter break, the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team will challenge one of the two teams it's chasing in the Atlantic Hockey standings, as resurgent Army West Point pays a visit to Neville Island this weekend.
ROBERT MORRIS (7-7-2, 7-4-2 AHA / 3rd)
vs. [RV] ARMY WEST POINT (11-5-0, 9-5-0 AHA / 2nd)
Saturday, Dec. 14 at 5:05 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 15 at 1:05 p.m.
RMU Island Sports Center
RADIO on ESPN Pittsburgh
with Tim Benz & Mike Prisuta (Saturday only)
STATS via RMUColonials.com
VIDEO via FloHockey ($)
PROMOTION
The Colonials are proud to host their first Hockey Fights Cancer Weekend, with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. For much more on the weekend's activities -- including how you can join the fight --
click here.
CATCHING UP
The Colonials played their final road series of the fall semester, dropping a pair to No. 20 Sacred Heart in Connecticut. While RMU was swept for the first time this season in an Atlantic Hockey series, senior
Jacob Coleman and sophomore
Kip Hoffmann scored in the third period of the second game, as the Colonials showed some fight despite missing five players due to injury.
Hoffmann's two-point game (goal, assist) was his first in an RMU sweater, while Coleman's fifth goal of the season matched his career single-season NCAA high. A native of Moon Township, Coleman has nine points on the year, already surpassing last year's total in less than half the games played.
HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials have a 13-8-5 all-time record against
Army West Point, including a 3-1 mark in the postseason. This is the fifth consecutive season the Black Knights of the Hudson will set up shop for a two-game series on Neville Island. The two teams have been AHA rivals since the 2010-11 season, RMU's first year in the league.
RMU split a two-game set against the Knights back in October, making this the second rematch series of the first half. The Colonials rebounded from a 4-1 loss Oct. 19 to prevail 3-0 the following afternoon, with freshmen
Darcy Walsh and
Cameron Hebert each scoring their first NCAA goals. Senior goalie
Justin Kapelmaster notched 43 saves in his second shutout as a Colonial.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Army West Point had its four-game win streak cut short last Saturday, as Bentley struck back after the Knights claimed the opener. Still, Army has steadily risen up the AHA standings, going 7-4 in league play since the start of November. Last season, Army finished 10th of 11 teams in the AHA, but won its first-round playoff series and lost to eventual champ American International in the quarters.
This season, coach Brian Riley's Knights have been defined by defending, as their penalty kill success rate of 93.1 percent ranks fourth in Division I, while junior goalie Trevin Kozlowski boasts a 2.18 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Meanwhile, senior forwards Zach Evancho (6g, 7a) and Michael Wilson (6g, 5a) have been at the head of the Army attack.
COLONIAL CHATS
Head coach
Derek Schooley describes why it was important to name the coaches' dressing room at the Island Sports Center after former associate head coach Mark Workman, who passed away from cancer in 2018:
Freshman forward
Roman Kraemer talks about his first half-season in the college ranks, what it takes to score at this level and the challenges Army presents in this upcoming series:
KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials' penalty kill has shined this season, currently ranking 10th of 60 Division I teams with an 87.5 percent success rate. RMU has blanked the opposing power play in nine of its 16 games to date, including a stretch of three consecutive goose eggs from Nov. 22-30. Among Atlantic Hockey teams, only Army (92.1 percent) has a better PK rate than the Colonials.
• RMU started its Atlantic Hockey schedule with seven regulation wins in its first 11 games, the third time the program accomplished that feat. The only teams in Colonials hockey history to begin with better 11-game league records than this year's 7-2-2 start were the 2014-15 and 2015-16 editions, both of which started 7-1-3 en route to regular-season championships.
• Senior transfer Kapelmaster has been a revelation in his first 15 RMU games, boasting a .942 save percentage that ranks third among Division I starting goalies. Making his start even more impressive is that he's faced the third-most shots in the nation (526). Formerly of Ferris State University, Kapelmaster has played 60 NCAA games, with a career .925 SV% that's 13th among actives.
• Several Colonials have taken steps offensively. Junior co-captain Prkusic, who leads the Colonials in goals (five) and total points (12), is nearly halfway to last year's total of 25. Sophomore
Justin Addamo is next with 10 points after scoring 15 as a freshman. Senior Coleman and sophomore
Aidan Spellacy have nine points each, as both are threatening to set career highs before the break.
• The Colonials return 19 players from last year's squad, 10 of those sophomores. The leading returning scorer is Pittsburgh native
Luke Lynch, whose 94 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 10 games and all have at least one point; Hartikainen leads the way with four (2g, 2a).
• 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),
Brendon 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 Colonials' six non-league games will be highlighted by another home-and-home against Penn State, with RMU hosting the 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.
• 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.
• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by
Derek Schooley, the only head coach the program has known.
Michael Gershon is back for his fourth as an assistant, while former RMU leading scorer
Ryan Cruthers '08 re-joins the team as an assistant following head coaching 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.
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 from break with an exhibition game against Ontario Tech on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Johnstown, Pa. For more on this game at historic 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial,
click here. RMU's next game that counts will be Saturday, Jan. 11 against Penn State at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. Tickets are on
sale now.
