Men's Hockey | 12/6/2023 2:30:00 PM

GAME 17-18
RMU (2-11-3 / 1-9-2 #AHA20) vs. NU (6-8-1 / 5-5-1 #AHA20)
Thursday, Dec. 7 | 7:00 p.m.
Clearview Arena | Moon Township, Pa.
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Talent: Gero von Dehn (pxp), Bob Kennedy (analyst), Nathan Breisinger (rinkside)
Twitter & Instagram: rmumhockey
 
Saturday, Dec. 9 | 7:00 p.m.
Dwyer Arena | Niagara Univ., N.Y.
TV: FloHockey
Twitter & Instagram: rmumhockey
 
Opening Faceoff

• RMU will play one last conference series in 2023 before the holiday break. In the home and home series, the Colonials will host the Purple Eagles first on Thursday, December 7 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on SportsNet Pittsburgh. For the second game at Niagara, RMU will travel north to Dwyer Arena and face the Purple Eagles on Saturday, December 9 with a 7:00 p.m. scheduled puck drop. Game two of the set will stream on FloHockey.
• The Colonials are coming off being swept by RIT. In the series, freshman Walter Zacher scored his first career goal.
• In game two of the series, defenseman Cade Townend produced his second multipoint effort of the season, scoring a powerplay goal and adding an assist.
• On the year, Townend owns four goals and four assists, leading all blue liners on the team in points with eight.
• With an assist over the weekend, freshman Tanner Klimpke is the first Colonial to reach double-digits in points this year (4-6—10).
• Defensively, Mitch Andres is first on the team in blocked shots (31). He's fifth in that category in the Atlantic Hockey conference.
• Across the AHA conference, Cameron Hebert is ranked 10^th in faceoff win percentage (.534) and Dallas Tulik is 11^th (.532).
• Goaltender Chad Veltri is averaging 32.8 saves per game, sitting at the top of that statistical category in the AHA. His .916 save percentage on the season is sixth-best.
• To finish out the calendar year of 2023, RMU will play one more non-conference series after the two-game set with Niagara. The Colonials will host Arizona State University on Saturday, December 16 and Sunday, December 17.

 
GAMEDAY LINKS
- Live Stats (12/7)
- Live Video (12/7)
- Live Stats (12/9)
- Live Video (12/9)
- RMU Athletics Gameday App


The All-Time Series vs. Niagara – In program history, the Colonials are 29-37-10 when facing the Purple Eagles. RMU has faced Niagara more than any other opponent, totaling 76 games between the two sides. Earlier in the campaign, Niagara won the first series 2-6 (11/17) and 1-4 (11/18). Defenseman Cade Townend scored RMU's first shorthanded goal of the series and also dished out an assist. Tanner Klimpke, George Krotiris, Michael Craig and Dallas Tulik all recorded a point as well. Looking back at the Colonials inaugural season in 2004-05, the first meeting ended in a 4-4 tie, followed up by RMU earning the next two results. Throughout the years, the Colonials have collected a four-game and five-game win streak against them. The five-game win streak recently came in the 2020-21 season where RMU outscored Niagara, 23-11 and won three of those games in overtime. Several meetings have been close, as 19 games ended in OT and 20 were one-goal games. Across the 76 games, the Colonials have cashed in 223 times, averaging 2.93 goals per game against Niagara.
 
Scouting the Purple Eagles – During the 2022-23 campaign, Niagara finished with a 19-18-3 overall record and were 10-13-3 in conference games. Qualifying for the Atlantic Hockey tournament, they beat Sacred Heart in three games of the best-of-three series. Making it to the semifinal, they took down Canisius in the first game but dropped the next two.
 
So far, through the 2023-24 season, Niagara is 6-8-1 overall and 5-5-1 in conference games. They're coming off a series split at Holy Cross, winning the first game, 3-2 in overtime and then falling the next night, 1-4. Offensively, junior forward Jay Ahearn and senior Carter Randklev each have posted five goals and seven assists, leading the team in points with 12. Tyler Wallace also has a team-high five goals. On the backend, defenseman Alex Murray holds the most assists (9). From Riga, Latvia, sophomore Glebs Prohorenkovs owns a team-leading 23 blocked shots. Five players on the roster currently have a positive +/-. In net, time has mainly been split between Jarrett Fiske and Ryan Ouellette. Fiske started in eight games, posting a 2.62 G.A.A. and .906 save percentage along with five wins. Ouellette has started seven games, owning a 2.85 G.A.A. and .901 save percentage with one win and one tie.
 
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