Men's Hockey | 3/21/2019 12:55:00 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Following a thrill-a-minute quarterfinal series win over Bentley, the Colonials are back in the Atlantic Hockey semifinal for the sixth straight year, tying a league record.

They'll try to secure a berth in their fourth consecutive AHA title game when they face regular-season champ American International in the single-elimination semifinal round Friday at HarborCenter.

COLONIAL HOCKEY PREVIEW
No. 8 seed ROBERT MORRIS (16-21-2, 15-16-2 AHA)
vs. No. 1 seed AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL (20-16-1, 19-10-1 AHA)

Friday, March 22 at 4:35 p.m.
HarborCenter, Buffalo, N.Y.

LIVE VIDEO via Stretch Internet ($) 
LIVE AUDIO via ESPN Pittsburgh
LIVE STATS via Sidearm
TICKETS via HarborCenter

LAST TIME OUT
For the second straight series, a freshman scored the deciding goal, with Justin Addamo connecting 16 minutes into overtime to bury second-seeded Bentley, 3-2, on Sunday in Waltham, Mass. Goalie Francis Marotte made 32 saves, Luke Lynch and Aidan Spellacy scored goals and Nick Prkusic picked up a pair of assists.

In both quarterfinal wins, the Colonials had to rally from behind, with senior Michael Louria scoring the late winner in Game 2, part of a two-goal effort in the series. Junior Daniel Mantenuto had three assists in the series; he's tied with Lynch and Prkusic for the team scoring lead in the playoffs, with four apiece.

HISTORY LESSON
Now 11-2 all-time in playoff series and 12-7 in AHA elmination games, RMU faces another do-or-die faceoff. The Colonials have gone 5-4 at the AHA's 'final four,' but they are 4-1 in the semifinal round, including three straight wins. Two of those were in overtime, with Zac Lynch (2016) and Louria (2018) playing hero against Army and Mercyhurst, respectively.

RMU and AIC met just twice this season, splitting a set in Springfield on Dec. 29-30. The Colonials rallied twice in the opener before losing, 4-3, then Alex Tonge's breakaway goal provided the margin in a 3-1 RMU victory. The Colonials and Jackets have met one time previously in the AHA playoffs, with RMU winning a three-game first-round set in 2012. Current NHL referee Brandon Blandina '12 scored the overtime winner in Game 3.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Much like RMU, American International needed three games to advance through the quarterfinals, as Army West Point pushed the Yellow Jackets. Now upstart AIC makes its AHA semifinal debut just days after receiving its first-ever national ranking. The Yellow Jackets have already blown past their their Division-I record for wins, topping last year's total of 15 a few weeks ago.

After missing on their first chance to eliminate Army, the Jackets converted convincingly, winning 4-1 in Springfield, Mass., on Sunday. AIC top scorer Blake Christensen buried the final two goals, Hugo Reinhardt had two points and goalie Zackarias Skog turned out 33 shots to collect his program-record 17th win of the season, giving AIC its second-ever series victory.

TRUE FACT
During their current 6-1-1 run, the Colonials have trailed at some point in four of those wins, including both in the quarterfinal round. In that three-game set at Bentley, RMU successfully rallied five separate times, including twice in decisive Game 3.

THEY SAID IT
"It's a lot of fun. That's why you play hockey. That's what it's all about. I love it." - Spellacy on the season-defining moments that the postseason has provided



"It's good for our future, but it's also good for our present, because they're playing so well." - Head coach Derek Schooley on the contributions from freshmen and sophomores during this playoff run



INFO-GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING



KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials have made six consecutive AHA final fours, tying the conference record set by Air Force from 2007-12. In its nine years as an AHA member, RMU is 26-14 in the playoffs (16-5 at home) and 11-2 all-time in best-of-three series, having won nine in a row dating back to the 2013 quarterfinals.

• Entering AHA championship weekend, the Colonials have played seven straight one-goal games, winning six of them. Going back to their mid-February off week, the past 11 games have all been up for grabs into the final two minutes, a span in which RMU is 7-3-1.

• After a quarterfinal series at Bentley in which they fell behind early three times, the Colonials have scored the first goal just 11 times in their 39 games. While they are 7-3-1 when scoring first, they also have nine wins and a tie (9-18-1) in the 28 times they've conceded the game's first tally.

• Senior Alex Tonge is the 11th Colonial to reach 100 points for his NCAA career. With 136 points, he's risen to a tie for fifth place on RMU's all-time scoring list, level with Chris Margott '09 and two shy of Nathan Longpre '11 for fourth. Tonge has passed Greg Gibson '16, Denny Urban '11, David Friedmann '16, Scott Jacklin '15 and Daniel Leavens '17 this season. Tonge is also currently the No. 8 active scorer in the nation.

• Thirty-seven of RMU's 100 goals have been scored by underclassmen, with 28 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 is third on the team with eight goals, while Lalonde and sophomore Nick Prkusic each have seven.

• 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 50 NCAA victories. Entering the weekend, the Montreal-area native also has the Colonials' all-time best goals-against average (2.54), along with the fourth-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 create from the blue line. With 85 career points, Israel ranks eighth among active Division I defenders. The Michigander is seventh among his blueline peers in career assists (64). His 21 goals trail only Denny Urban '11 in program history among defensemen. Urban scored 28 in his Hall of Fame career.

• After going their first nine games of the season without a shorthanded goal, the Colonials have scored six since. Luke 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.

• 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 all six of its qualifying players converting at a rate of 50 percent or better. Mantenuto, Hebert, Spellacy, Prkusic, Lynch and Michael Coyne are all above that line individually.

• RMU's late push for home ice was aided by a 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, but 10-0-1 when leading after 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 247-246-63 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.

HONOR ROLL
In addition to Tonge (All-AHA Second Team) and Marotte (Third Team) collecting postseason accolades, Colonials have earned six other 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.

TRADING STICKS FOR WHISTLES
When Brandon Blandina '12 refereed the March 19 game between the Rangers and Red Wings at New York's Madison Square Garden, he became the second program alumnus to rise to the highest level of hockey officiating. Blandina's former classmate Furman South, a Sewickely native, has established himself as a regular ref in the NHL during the 2018-19 regular season.

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 game will move on to Saturday's AHA championship game against either 5-seed R.I.T. or 6-seed Niagara. The puck will drop at HarborCenter at 7:35 p.m., with an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA tournament on the line.