PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The #19 Robert Morris University men's hockey team finishes off non-conference play this week when they host the LIU Sharks for a pair of weekday games at Clearview Arena.

#19 ROBERT MORRIS (12-5-0, 10-3-1 AHA) vs. LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY (3-5-0)

Thursday, February 4 at 7:00 PM in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Friday, February 5 at 3:00 PM in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

FOLLOW: LIVE STATS | WATCH: FLOHOCKEY.TV ($)

LAST TIME OUT

Robert Morris ended a two game skid with dramatic come-from-behind performance against Mercyhurst on Saturday at Clearview Arena. 

After going down 3-1 just 1:29 into the third period, the Colonials rattled off four straight unanswered goals storm back for a 5-3 victory. 

Roman Kraemer scored the game-winner with 7:20 to play before Aidan Spellacy sealed things with an empty-netter. Dyllan Lubbesmeyer made 13 saves in relief and earned his fourth win of the year in goal. 

KNOW BOBBY MO

• The Colonials returned to the national rankings this week, currently sitting at #19 overall in the latest USCHO National Poll. They were most recently ranked two weeks ago when they shot up to a program-best #17 overall following their sweep of Niagara. 
• AIC sits atop the Atlantic Hockey standings in both overall win-percentage (.889) as well as total points (32), trailed closely by Robert Morris with 29 total points (.744).  RIT (.667), Army (.600), and Canisius (.600) round out the top five.
• Senior Nick Prkusic is RMU's current leading scorer with 20 points (5-15-20) in 17 games. Randy Hernandez ranks second with 18 while Grant Hebert's 17 has him third. 
• 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. 
• With the debut of Matt Hutton agains 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 18 points including six goals, three of which have been game-winners. 
• Hernandez and Prkusic are both currently tied for the conference scoring lead with 16 points in 13 Atlantic Hockey games for identical 1.23 point-per game averages.  
• With 18 points through 16 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 67 total goals scored, trailing only Minnesota, Bowing Green, and North Dakota for most in NCAA. Prkusic is currently tied for 11th overall in the country in scoring and his 1.17 points per-game is a career best. 
• While he got on the scoresheet with a goal against the Lakers last weekend, Nolan Schaeffer has been pacing the league in another stat this year: the junior currently leads AHA with 26 blocked shots in 13 conference games. 
• Junior pivot Aidan Spellacy has been RMU's most consistent performer in the dot so far this year, going 161-297 (54.2%) on face-offs through 14 games. Sophomore Santeri Hartikainen has also been excellent at 113-210 (53.8%).
• 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 Colonials hold a remarkable 10-3 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 

Thursday will be the first ever meeting between the Colonials and the upstart LIU Sharks who are in their first year of existence as an NCAA Division I program. 

While technically a non-conference opponent, the Sharks partnered with Atlantic Hockey this season as a scheduling partner and have played all their games thus far against AHA schools.

SCOUTING THE SHARKS

While RMU has never seen the Sharks in person before, they have had plenty of chances to see them compete against their peers in Atlantic Hockey. 

LIU won its first ever game against Holy Cross in overtime back on November 19 and have since played series against RIT, AIC, and Army as well as a pair of exhibitions against non-conference Liberty University.  

At 3-5 overall, LIU's lone regulation win was a 4-3 victory against RIT before Christmas.  The Atlantic Hockey bloodlines for LIU extended even further as they are coached by Brett Riley, the son and grandson of long time former Army coaches Rob and Jack Riley and the nephew of current coach Brian Riley. 

Former Mercyhurst goalkeeper Garrett Metcalf, who last year started in three games against RMU, is a member of the Sharks this season as a fifth-year graduate student. 

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 272-271-68 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 heads north to Buffalo for a pair against Canisius on February 12 and 13.