Men's Hockey | 3/14/2019 10:27:00 AM

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Robert Morris University men's hockey team will compete in its eighth consecutive Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal after a first-round sweep of Holy Cross last weekend on Neville Island.

The eighth-seeded Colonials have won four in a row and are unbeaten in five (4-0-1), both season bests. They'll now face second-seeded Bentley in a best-of-three series for the third time in four seasons, but for the first time on the road.

COLONIAL HOCKEY PREVIEW
No. 8 seed ROBERT MORRIS (14-20-2, 13-15-2 AHA)
at No. 2 seed BENTLEY (16-13-5, 15-9-4 AHA)

Friday, March 15 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 16 at 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, March 17 at 4:05 p.m. (if necessary)

LIVE VIDEO via Stretch Internet ($) 
LIVE AUDIO via ESPN Pittsburgh
LIVE STATS via Presto
TICKETS via E-Tix

LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Nick Lalonde's crease-crashing goal with six minutes left in Game 2 clinched a two- game sweep of Holy Cross last Saturday at the RMU Island Sports Center. The Colonials trailed 1-0 after one period but rallied behind goals from senior Alex Tonge and junior Daniel Mantenuto. Junior Francis Marotte stopped 58 of 60 shots in the series, including his first playoff shutout in Game 1. Nick Prkusic scored the lone goal of Game 1, part of a two-point performance in the series for the sophomore power forward. RMU has played four consecutive one-goal games and eight in a row that have come down to the final two minutes.

HISTORY LESSON
RMU has won its past eight best-of-three series as an AHA member, dating back to the 2013 quarterfinals. The Colonals are 8-0 all-time in home series and 16-5 in playoff games on the Island, but they've have played just four road playoff series in program history. They have a 2-2 mark in those, with quarterfinal victories at UConn (2014) and Holy Cross (2018) highlighting that track record.

This is the second best-of-three series between the Colonials and Bentley in as many years, as RMU vanquished the Falcons in a three-game first-round set last March. This year, the season series went to Bentley, 2-0, as the Falcons netted 10 goals in a January sweep on Neville Island. Ryner Gorowsky and Pittsburgh native Brendan Walkom each scored twice in the set.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
After matching its best finish ever in its 16-year Atlantic Hockey history, Bentley comes off a first-round playoff bye to play its first postseason games at its one-year-old arena. The Falcons ended up just one point out of first place in the AHA and have lost just twice since the start of the new year, including a 12-game unbeaten streak that propelled them into title contention.

Bentley cooled off at the end of February, winning one of its last five regular-season games (1-2-2), but it went 1-0-1 against Army West Point to close the slate. Senior Drew Callin recorded three assists in the series, while sophomore Luke Santerno had two helpers to finish atop the Falcons' scoring list. After stopping 33 of 34 in a 1-1 tie March 1, No. 1 goalie Aidan Pelino got a breather in the regular-season finale.

TRUE FACT
Marotte has presided over a program-record 10 playoff wins in his three year tenure, against just three losses. He has a .928 save percentage in the AHA postseason, compared to a .917 mark overall.

THEY SAID IT
"I think everyone's just giving it a little more. Every play matters. We know we have the talent. We have the skill in there. I think every time you win, you get more confidence. Every time you win, you believe in yourself a little more. We're starting to roll and play like ourselves." - Mantenuto on the late-season surge



"We're getting contributions from everybody. You shut down one guy and other people step up. That's what makes for a good team. That shows you the depth we have on this hockey team right now. ... We're a different team now that we were (for the Bentley series in January)." - Head coach Derek Schooley 



TALE OF THE TAPE



KNOW BOBBY MO
• Although the team has fallen one step shy of an Atlantic Hockey postseason crown and automatic NCAA tournament bid in each of the past three seasons, the Colonials have established a reputation for playing their best late. RMU has made five consecutive AHA final fours, one shy of the conference record set by Air Force from 2007-12. In its nine years as an AHA member, RMU is 25-13 in the playoffs (16-5 at home) and 10-2 all-time in best-of-three series.

• RMU's late-season push for home ice was aided by a wild 5-4 overtime win March 1 at Mercyhurst. The win marked just the second time this season RMU has prevailed after trailing through two periods. They are 2-20-1 in such situations, not counting a rally from two goals down in the first to beat Holy Cross on Feb. 15. They are 4-8-1 when trailing after one, including a Game 2 comeback against Holy Cross in the first round.

• Thirty-five of RMU's 93 goals have been scored by underclassmen, with 26 of those scored by freshmen. Seven of the Colonials' 10 freshmen skaters -- Justin Addamo, Geoff Lawson, Nick Lalonde, Aidan Spellacy, Grant Hebert, Kip Hoffmann and Aidan Girduckis -- have scored their first NCAA goals, while nine of 10 have at least a point. Addamo, Lalonde and sophomore Nick Prkusic are tied for third on the team with seven goals each.

• Senior Alex Tonge is the 11th Colonial to reach 100 points for his NCAA career. With 134 points, he's risen to sixth place on RMU's all-time scoring list, two points shy of fifth. He has passed Greg Gibson '16, Denny Urban '11, David Friedmann '16, Scott Jacklin '15 and Daniel Leavens '17 this season. Tonge is currently the No. 8 active scorer in the nation.

• Junior goalie Francis Marotte has made quite the impact in two-plus years at Robert Morris, already establishing himself as the winningest goalie in program history, with 46 NCAA victories. Entering the weekend, the Montreal-area native also has the Colonials' all-time best goals-against average (2.57), along with the fifth-best save percentage (.917). His eight shutouts have him level with Terry Shafer '16 for the most by a Colonial.

• Senior defenseman Eric Israel continues to be among the most dangerous blue-line playmakers in the nation. With 84 points in his career, Israel ranks eighth among active Division I defenders. The Michigander is seventh among his blueline peers in career assists (64) and ranks 15th in career goals (20). He is the second RMU defenseman to reach 20 goals, trailing only RMU Hall of Famer Denny Urban '11, who had 28.

• Don't miss the opening minutes of an RMU game, because so often the tide has turned at the start. While the Colonials have scored the first goal just 11 times in their 36 games, they are 7-3-1 in those games. Otherwise, RMU has seven wins and a tie (7-17-1) in the 25 times they've conceded the game's first tally.

• The Colonials have come up aces at the faceoff dot, and it's been a team effort. RMU ranks 15th in the country in faceoff win rate at 52 percent, with five of the its six qualifying players converting at a rate of 50 percent or better. Daniel Mantenuto, Hebert, Prkusic, Spellacy and Michael Coyne are all above that line individually.

• After going their first nine games of the season without a shorthanded goal, the Colonials have scored six since, the sixth-most in NCAA D-I. Lynch has two of those, giving him five for his career; that's the third-most among active Division I players. Mantenuto has his first two NCAA shorties this season, with Jacob Coleman and Israel accounting for the other two.

• Robert Morris welcomed 11 freshmen this season, making up the second-biggest first-year group in program history (12 - 2008-09). The last time RMU reached double digits in newcomers, with the 2012-13 team, that class of 10 went on to average 22 wins per season.

SCHOOLEY FILE
The only head coach in program history, Derek Schooley is in his 15th season behind the RMU bench. Under his guidance, the Colonials carry an overall record of 245-245-63 and a reputation for championship-level success in Division I men's hockey.

Schooley 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 2013-14. Over the past six seasons, Schooley's Colonials have averaged 21 wins per year and have consistently placed 20-plus student-athletes on AHA all-academic teams.

FIFTEEN YEARS OF HOCKEY
A true 'Showcase' victory comes in at No. 2 on our 15 greatest games list, as we chopped down the No. 1 team in the nation in a venerable NHL building:



HONOR ROLL
The Colonials have earned six Atlantic Hockey awards this season:
• Marotte (Goalie of Week - Nov. 19-25)
• Israel (Defensive Player of Week - Nov. 19-25)
• Israel (Defensive Player of Week - Dec. 24-30)
• Marotte (Goalie of Month - December)
• Lalonde (Rookie of Week - Jan. 14-20)
• Tonge (Player of Week - Feb. 10-16)
• Tonge (Player of Week - Feb. 24-March 2)

HALL PASS
Denny Urban '11 has become the third men's hockey player to be inducted into the Robert Morris Athletics Hall of Fame. Urban, who scored an incredible 112 points (28 goals, 84 assists) from the RMU blue line, joined Chris Margott '09 and Nathan Longpre '11 in achieving this prestigious all-sport honor.

ON THE AIR
For the sixth straight season, all Colonials home games will be broadcast locally on 970 ESPN, or online at espnpgh.com. Tim Benz (play-by-play) and Mike Prisuta (analysis) return as the broadcast duo at RMU Island Sports Center and all road playoff games. Additionally, Matt Gajtka will have an audio play-by-play call for select road games on Facebook Live, with the RMU men's hockey Facebook page hosting those.

NEXT UP
The winner of this series will move on to Buffalo, N.Y., for Atlantic Hockey's single-elimination semifinal round on Friday, March 22. The AHA's final four will take place at the HarborCenter facility for the first time.