PITTSBURGH – The
Robert Morris University men's hockey team returns to action this weekend when they travel to Worcester, Mass. for a pair of showdowns against Atlantic Hockey foe Holy Cross Friday and Saturday night at the Hart Center.
ROBERT MORRIS (9-15-4, 9-9-4-1 AHA / 6th)
vs. HOLY CROSS (9-14-5, 8-11-3-2 AHA/9th)
Friday, February 14 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, February 15 at 7:05 p.m.
WORCESTER, MASS. | HART CENTER
STATS via RMUColonials.com
VIDEO via FloHockey ($)
CATCHING UP
The Colonials salvaged two points over the weekend after a thrilling 4-3 win over RIT in 3-on-3 overtime Saturday evening at The Island.
After a disappointing showing in game one that saw the Tigers emerge with a 4-1 victory, RMU came out with a new-found urgency and desperation on Saturday, erasing a 3-1 second-period deficit for a 4-3 overtime winner. While the game will go down as a tie, the extra point and emotional boost provided by Nick Prkusic's OT winner cannot be overlooked.
Nick Lalonde opened the scoring for RMU midway through the first with a bullet coming down the right wing off the rush. After three straight goals from RIT, Daniel Mantenuto netted his second of the season on the power play before Aidan Spellacy tied it up with just over a minute left in regulation, setting up Prkusic's OT heroics in 3-on-3.
HISTORY LESSON
RMU will square off against Holy Cross for the first time this season in a rivalry loaded with post-season history. The Colonials have knocked the Crusaders out of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament each of the last three seasons, with all three coming on 2-0 sweeps.
Robert Morris is 17-7-2 all time against the Crusaders, and are currently riding a two-game win streak after their home playoff sweep last season at Colonials arena. Owners a 9-4-1 career mark at Hart Arena, RMU lost its last trip to Worcester, a 2-0 shutout back on February 16 of last season.
RMU averages 3.08 goals per-game against the Crusaders, and has scored three goals or more four times in their last eight matchups.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
A pre-season pick to finish tenth overall in the Atlantic Hockey standings, the Crusaders currently occupy the ninth spot in the AHA with 29 points and a 8-11-3 conference record.
Losers of their last two, the Crusaders will be desperate for a win this weekend after dropping a 3-2 decision at home against Arizona Sate last Friday. The weekend prior, they managed a split with RIT with a 4-3 victory in game one.
Holy Cross has grown accustom to playing high-event hockey this season, as they currently rank second overall in Atlantic Hockey in shots per-game at 30.41 and fourth in goals per-game at 2.79.
The Crusaders boast an very deep lineup that currently features nine players who have already cracked the double-digit threshold in points this season. Senior forward Neil Robinson leads Holy Cross in overall scoring with 21 points, while sophomore Conner Jean paces them in goals with 11.
Fourteen Crusaders have scored at least one goal and 22 players have recorded at least one point. Freshman goalie Matt Radomsky has been solid between the pipes as well, going 9-10-4 with a .903 SV% in 25 starts so far this year.
KNOW BOBBY MO
• Despite a tough recent stretch, the Colonials penalty-kill showed some good signs of a rebound last weekend against RIT. RMU killed five of six Tigers penalties, including a perfect four-for-four effort Friday, and has blanked the opposing power play in 14 of its 28 games to date, including a stretch of three consecutive goose eggs from Nov. 22-30. Among Atlantic Hockey teams, only Army, American International, and Sacred Heart have better PK rates than RMU.
• Senior transfer Kapelmaster has been a revelation in his first 19 RMU games, boasting a .928 save percentage that ranks ninth among Division I starting goalies. Formerly of Ferris State University, Kapelmaster has played 73 NCAA games, with a career .920 SV% that's 14th among actives.
• 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.
• Junior co-captain Nick Prkusic leads the Colonials in goals (nine) and total points (20) and is closing in on last year's total of 25. Senior Jacob Coleman is next with 15, while Sophomore Justin Addamo sits third with 14. Senior Luke Lynch ranks fourth with 13 after netting his 100th career point vs. Arizona State.
• The Colonials return 19 players from last year's squad, 10 of those sophomores. The leading returning scorer is Pittsburgh native Luke Lynch, who earlier this season recorded his 100th career point for RMU. 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. Five of the six have played in at least 12 games and all have at least one point; Hartikainen leads the way with six (3g, 3a).
• 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)
Sean Giles - Defensive Player of the Week (Jan. 21)
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 will play a home-and-home next weekend with Canisus, traveling to Buffalo Friday night before a Saturday evening showdown for their final regular-season game on the Island on Senior Day. RMU closes out the 2020 campaign with a pair in Lewiston against Niagara on Feb. 28 and 29.
