Men's Hockey | 9/24/2019 1:01:00 PM

PITTSBURGH -- With the start of the season less than two weeks away, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team learned Tuesday that Atlantic Hockey Association coaches picked the Colonials to finish seventh out of 11 teams in the league's annual preseason poll.

The Colonials return 20 of 26 players from last season's squad, which made history by reaching the AHA semifinal round for the record-tying sixth consecutive year. Despite finishing the regular season below .500, RMU went on a 6-1-1 run to end the year, falling in overtime to league champion American International in the winner-take-all AHA semis.

With last year's 11-man freshman class having learned on the job, the Colonials figure to be in position to improve upon their eighth-place finish in the regular season. In nine years of competition in the AHA, head coach Derek Schooley's team has finished in the top half of the league six times, including back-to-back regular-season titles in 2014-15 and 2015-16. 

Although all 11 AHA teams make the league's postseason, the top five finishers receive a first-round bye. The first two rounds of the playoffs are best-of-three series on campus sites, with the semifinals and final taking place at Buffalo's HarborCenter complex for the second straight year. The winner of the AHA tournament receives an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA tournament. 

The AHA's representative in the NCAA tourney has won its first-round game in four of the past five seasons; last March, American International upset No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State in the opening round before falling to Denver.

This year, league coaches picked American International to repeat as regular-season champions, earning 10 of 11 first-place votes. Niagara came in second, while Bentley and Sacred Heart tied for third, with the only remaining first-place tally going to Bentley.

RMU's 2019-20 season starts with an opening weekend series against Michigan Tech on Oct. 5-6 at the Island Sports Center. The full schedule includes 16 home dates, plus a game against Penn State on Jan. 11 at PPG Paints Arena. The Colonials' 28-game AHA schedule begins Oct. 11-12 against frequent playoff foe Bentley, whom RMU eliminated on the road in last year's quarterfinal round.

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