PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey team begins its quest for its second Atlantic Hockey postseason crown this weekend when they host Niagara in the 2021 AHA quarterfinals at Clearview Arena. 

ROBERT MORRIS (14-7-0, 10-5-1 AHA) vs. NIAGARA (5-10-3, 3-9-3-1) 

Friday, March 12 - Sunday, March 14 at 7:05 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

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

LAST TIME OUT

Robert Morris has not seen game action since the weekend of February 20-21 when they were swept on the road by RIT with back-to-back 6-1 and 4-3 losses. 

Despite Randy Hernandez opening the scoring in game one, the Colonials could not sustain the momentum as RIT rebounded to score six straight unanswered goals in game one.

Though they battled back from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 lead the following day, two goals in less then two minutes in the third period from the Tigers proved fatal for the Colonials as RIT held on for the 4-3 win. 

KNOW BOBBY MO

• Robert Morris finished the 2021 regular season as champions of the Atlantic Hockey Western Pod with an overall conference record of 10-5-1, their third regular season crown in program history. 
• The Colonials are searching for their second ever AHA Tournament Championship, and their first since 2014. They hold a 29-16 (.644) win-percentage all-time in the tournament. 
• RMU is 10-0 in their last ten best-of-three playoff series, a streak that dates back to the 2013-14 season. 
• They will face Niagara in postseason play for the first time since the 2015 campaign when RMU swept the Purple Eagles 2-0 in Moon Township. 
• Prior to last season's cancellation RMU was riding a streak of six consecutive AHA tournament semi-final appearances, and had won at least two rounds each of the last five years.  They have failed to win at least one series just four times in 14 years and have won at least a round each of the last nine postseasons.
• The Colonials return 13 skaters who dressed in RMU's last postseason game in 2020, a 5-1 win over Holy Cross in game three of their first-round series. 
• 2021 will be the first post-season in which RMU will not face Holy Cross, who they defeated in each of their last four playoff runs dating back to the 2017 postseason.
• Nick Jenny scored in both of RMU's playoff wins last season, their top returning post-season performer from a year ago. Justin Addamo also posted two assists in the series, while Santeri Hartikainen scored the OT winner in game two to keep the season alive against Holy Cross. 
• The top-line duo of Nick Prkusic and Randy Hernandez finished 1-2 in AHA conference scoring in 2021 with 19 and 18 points, respectively, the first time RMU has had someone finish the regular season top-three in conference scoring since Brady Ferguson finished third overall in 2017-18. 
• Prkusic is the first Colonial to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons since Ferguson did so in 2017 and 2018. 
• All eight of RMU's true freshman have seen action this season. Hernandez currently leads the pack of rookies in overall scoring with 22 points including a team-leading ten goals, three of which have been game-winners. 
• Brendon Michaelian's superb +10 rating is the highest mark in a full season by a Colonial since Luke Lynch finished +10 in 2017-18.  
• Hernandez is the first freshman to finish the regular season in the top three in team scoring for RMU since Chris Margott led the Colonials during their second ever season in 2005-2006.
• RMU scored 79 goals in 2021, just five fewer than their 2020 total despite playing 16 fewer games.  
• February's sweep at the hands of RIT was the only time this season that RMU lost back-to-back games in regulation against an AHA opponent.  
• The Colonial power-play finished the regular season at a 26.9% clip against AHA competition, the best in the conference, despite not having a single player in the top five of individual PP scoring. Santeri Hartikainen and Nick Jenny are tied for the team lead in overall PP scoring with eight points each. 
• Junior pivot Aidan Spellacy has been RMU's most consistent performer in the dot so far this year, going 221-396 (55.8%) on face-offs through 21 games. Sophomore Santeri Hartikainen has also been excellent at 154-301 (56.6%).
• Robert Morris racked up the AHA hardware in the regular 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.  
• 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 

The Colonials will be attempting another program first Friday night when they kick things off against the Purple Eagles. 

Robert Morris has never won five straight games against Niagara, with their current four-game streak the longest in program history. They followed up 6-1 and 3-2 road wins in late December and early January with a home sweep a week later in a stretch of three straight games in four days, including a 6-2 win in their last meeting. 

RMU and Niagara have met in the post-season seven times in their history, most recently in 2015 when the Colonials swept them out of the first round.  They are 1-1 all-time in three-game playoff series against Niagara and 2-3 in single elimination games.  

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES 

Niagara finished the regular season at 5-10-3 overall (3-9-3-1 AHA) and knocked off Mercyhurst with a come-from behind win in their single-game opening round matchup Monday night in Erie, 3-2. 

After falling behind 2-0 to the Lakers, Ludwig Stenlund's power-play goal at 8:42 of the second period kicked off a comeback rally for the Purple Eagles who went on to score three straight unanswered goals for the 3-2 win. 

Sophomore goaltender and Pittsburgh native Chad Veltri made 29 saves between the pipes for NU in the win. 

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 276-273-68 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.