PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The #19 Robert Morris University men's hockey team returns to the ice this weekend when they head to Rochester for a clash with RIT on Saturday and Sunday night.
#19 ROBERT MORRIS (14-5-0, 10-3-1 AHA) vs. RIT (7-7-2, 5-5-1 AHA)
Saturday, February 20 at 7:05 PM in Rochester, N.Y.
Sunday, February 21 at 5:05 PM in Rochester, N.Y.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Colonials were idle last week after COVID-19 protocols forced the cancellation for their scheduled road series against Canisius.
When they were last in action, RMU was capping off a two-game sweep over the visiting LIU Sharks at Clearview Arena back on February 5th.
RMU outscored LIU 8-1 over a two-game stretch, including Noah West's first career shutout in game two Saturday. Nick Lalonde captured AHA Player of the Week honors thanks in large part to his two goal, one assist performance against the Sharks Friday night.
KNOW BOBBY MO
- The Colonials remain in the national rankings this week, currently sitting at #19 overall in the latest USCHO National Poll. They have maintained their current ranking for two weeks after shooting up to a program-best #17 earlier this year.
- AIC sits atop the Atlantic Hockey standings in both overall win-percentage (.917) as well as total points (32), trailed closely by Robert Morris with 29 total points (.769). Army (.679), Canisius (.778), and Mercyhurst (.464) round out the top five.
- Senior Nick Prkusic and freshman Randy Hernandez are tied for the AHA conference scoring lead with 16 points in 13 games. Junior Grant Hebert leads the conference in overall scoring with 21 points in 19 games while Prkusic leads in assists with 15.
- Prkusic has a chance to become the first Colonial to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons since Brady Ferguson did so in 2017 and 2018.
- Nick Jenny leads Atlantic Hockey in overall defensive scoring with 17 points in 19 games, having already surpassed his previous career-best of 11 points set during his junior season.
- With the debut of Matt Hutton against the Lakers, all eight of RMU's true freshman have seen action this season. Hernandez currently leads the pack of rookies in overall scoring with 20 points including eight goals, three of which have been game-winners.
- Brendon Michaelian's superb +11 rating is the best on the team and would be the highest mark in a full season by a Colonial since Brady Ferguson and Alex Bontje each finished +15 in 2017.
- With 20 points through 19 games, Randy Hernandez has a chance of breaking Chris Margott's single-season freshman scoring record of 27 set during the 2005-06 season. He leads all AHA in freshman scoring as well.
- Hernandez would be the first freshman to finish in the top three in team scoring for RMU since Margott led the Colonials during their second ever season in 2005-2006.
- RMU boasts one of the most potent offenses in college hockey this year with 75 total goals scored, trailing only Minnesota, Bowing Green, and North Dakota and Wisconsin for most in NCAA despite having played fewer games than everyone ahead of them.
- The first period has been key to RMU's success this season. Good starts have played a major factor for the Colonials, who have conceded just seven first-period goals in AHA play this season while scoring fourteen.
- The Colonial power-play is currently operating at a 28.9% clip against AHA competition, the best in the conference, despite not having a single player in the top five of individual PP scoring. Justin Addamo leads RMU with five points on the man-advantage, tied for seventh highest in Atlantic Hockey play.
- Jordan Timmons currently ranks fifth overall in AHA in total goalscoring with eight despite having not skated in a game since January 2nd against RIT.
- Junior pivot Aidan Spellacy has been RMU's most consistent performer in the dot so far this year, going 186-311 (59.8%) on face-offs through 19 games. Sophomore Santeri Hartikainen has also been excellent at 128-228 (56.6%).
- Robert Morris has been racking up the AHA hardware so far this season. Jordan Timmons was named AHA Player of the Week following his hat trick against Air Force, joining Nick Prkusic who also received the honor earlier this year. Additionally, Kyler Head was named Rookie of the Week opening weekend while both Nick Jenny and Nolan Schaeffer have been given Defensive Player of the Week honors. Prkusic and Hernandez were also named Best Player and Rookie for the month of November. Noah West has also enjoyed recognition for AHA, earning Rookie of Week, Rookie of the Month, and Goaltender of the Week honors in January. The sweep over LIU saw Nick Lalonde take home POW honors and Brian Kramer nab ROW, while Brendon Michaelian made it 3-4 with a DPOW win.
- The Colonials hold a remarkable 12-3 record when scoring first this year and have only given up the opening tally four times all season. They're 2-2 when giving up the opening goal in 2021.
- Kramer (Wexford) and Timmons (Bridgeville) add to RMU's long legacy of recruiting and training players from Western Pennsylvania. Both are alumni of the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program and join Tyler Love and Roman Kraemer in playing their college hockey in their own backyard.
- Head Coach Derek Schooley returns behind the bench for his 17th season as head coach flanked by a pair of new faces in assistants Mike Corbett and Ryan Durocher. Durocher joins Robert Morris after two seasons as an assistant with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League, while Corbett brings nearly two decades of college coaching experience with him having spent seven seasons as the head coach of the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers as well as another ten as an assistant at Air Force.
SERIES HISTORY
It will be almost two years to the day since the Colonials last faced the Tigers at Gene Polisseni Center, a 2-2 tie on February 23rd, 2019.
The Colonials pulled off their first sweep of the Tigers since November of 2014 earlier this year with back to back 3-1 and 4-3 wins against RIT at Clearview Arena.
A win Friday night would give the Colonials their first three-game win streak over RIT since the 2014-15 campaign as well.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
RIT is in the midst of a three-game losing streak and is coming off of a sweep at Canisius last weekend, including a 3-0 shutout in the rubber match on Saturday.
The Tigers are currently right in the middle of the AHA fray at sixth place overall with a 7-7-2 overall record and a .500 win% in conference play.
Junior forward Will Calverly has been the driving force behind the Tigers offensively all season and currently sits one point behind Grant Hebert for the overall lead in league scoring with 20 points in 19 games.
The duo of Calverley and senior Jake Hamacher have been lethal on the man advantage this season, currently ranking first and third in power-play scoring, respectively.
THE SCHOOLEY FILE
One of the longest-tenured coaches at RMU, Schooley is entering his 17th season at the Robert Morris helm in 2020-21, carrying an overall record of 276-271-68 and a proud record of championship-level 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 eight-season span from 2012-20, Schooley's Colonials have averaged nearly 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 75 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 two Toronto Maple Leafs camps. On top of that, 19 RMU alums have taken part in NHL development/rookie camps.
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.
ON THE HORIZON
RMU closes out the regular season next Thursday evening against Mercyhurst on Senior Day.
