Men's Hockey | 12/6/2019 10:41:00 AM
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Locked in a three way tie for first place in Atlantic Hockey, the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team will end the fall semester with matchups against both of the teams it's tied with, starting this weekend against Sacred Heart in the Nutmeg State.
[RV] ROBERT MORRIS (7-5-2, 7-2-2 AHA / T-1st)
at [RV] SACRED HEART (9-6-1, 8-4-0 AHA / T-1st)
Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:05 p.m.
Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn.
Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4:05 p.m.
Yale Rink, New Haven, Conn.
VIDEO via FloHockey ($)
STATS via SHUBigRed.com
CATCHING UP
Although the Colonials only played one game last weekend due to a postponement, they maintained their perch atop the
Atlantic Hockey standings and continue to receive votes in the
USCHO national top-20 poll. A 3-2 overtime victory over Mercyhurst at the RMU Island Sports Center did the trick, with senior
Michael Coyne scoring the first three-on-three goal in team history to deliver the extra point.
In addition to Coyne's sudden-death heroics, sophomore
Justin Addamo assisted on all three goals in the back-and-forth rivalry game, and classmate
Aidan Spellacy notched his fourth goal -- all on the power play. Senior goalie
Justin Kapelmaster kept up his exemplary work with 44 stops, lifting his save percentage to .951, the second-best in the nation among goalies with more than four starts.
HISTORY LESSON
RMU and
Sacred Heart have played at least twice every season since 2010-11, the Colonials' first in Atlantic Hockey. However, it took until last year for the Pioneers to earn their first win in the all-time series, that being a 2-1 decision last November in Connecticut. Prior to that, Robert Morris had won 21 in a row over SHU and was 22-0-1 overall.
The Pioneers actually took three of four in the 2018-19 season series, including a sweep on Neville Island in February. (After that, RMU finished the season on a 7-4-1 run.) The Colonials' win against Sacred Heart last season was earned in overtime, 2-1 on a sudden-death goal by
Michael Louria '19. Then-junior
Daniel Mantenuto earned a pair of assists in the win.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Following a so-so 4-5-1 start to the season,
Sacred Heart has won six of its past seven, highlighted by a 4-0 road shutout of Boston University. Also included in the Pioneers' current surge: Two road wins at RIT, two at Holy Cross and one at defending conference champion American International. Their only loss in the stretch has been at home, where they are a curious 1-4-1.
Head coach C.J. Marottolo is in his 12th season in charge of the Pioneers, who are coming off a program-best fourth-place finish in the AHA. They've spread their scoring out this year, with Austin McIlmurray (10 goals), Jason Cotton (10), Matt Tugnutt (nine) and Vito Bavaro (nine) joining defenseman Mike Lee (15 assists) on top of the scoring charts, boosted by a 29-percent power play.
COLONIAL CHAT
Head coach
Derek Schooley discusses the matchup with Sacred Heart, the number of injuries his team has to overcome and the Colonials' recent focus in practice:
KNOW BOBBY MO
• RMU has started its Atlantic Hockey schedule with seven regulation wins in its first 11 games, the third time the program has accomplished that feat. The only teams in Colonials hockey history to begin with better 11-game league records 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 13 RMU games, boasting a .951 save percentage that ranks second among Division I goalies with five or more appearances. Starting with three seasons at Ferris State University in Michigan, Kapelmaster has 58 games of NCAA experience, with a career save percentage of .925 that's 13th among actives.
• Several Colonials have taken steps offensively. Junior co-captain Prkusic, who leads the Colonials in goals (five), assists (seven) and total points (12), is more than halfway to last year's total of 25. Addamo's next with 10 points after scoring 15 as a freshman. Senior
Jacob Coleman and sophomore Spellacy have eight 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 eight 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), 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.
• 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 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.
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 wrap up the fall semester with a two-game home series against Army West Point. Faceoffs on RMU's first Hockey Fights Cancer Weekend are set for 5:05 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14 and 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15.
