MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Continuing AHA action, the Colonials will play AIC for the first time this season in Springfield, Mass. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. The series finale will be played the following day, also at 1:00 p.m.
RMU LATELY
RMU (6-17-3, 3-11-2 #AHA20) heads back out on the road after hosting #20 RIT this past weekend. The Colonials lost both battles by a score of 6-3 and 7-1. Nine different players produced a point in Friday's game off of RMU's three goals. Freshman
Jackson Reineke scored the lone goal in Saturday's match. He also provided an assist in the previous game. Graduate goaltender
Chad Veltri recorded his fourth career assist on Reineke's goal. He produced three during his four years at Niagara. Netminder
Francis Boisvert saw action for the second straight series. He posted an assist earlier in the season at Alaska Anchorage.
At the moment, three skaters are tied for the most points on the team:
Tanner Klimpke (7-8—15),
Walter Zacher (5-10—15) and
Dallas Tulik (3-12—15). Klimpke along with
Rylee St. Onge lead in goals (7) and Tulik is in front with helpers (12). From St. Catharines Ontario, St. Onge has paced for the most power-play scores (4) and game-winners (2). The freshman first-line trio of
George Krotiris –
Cameron Garvey –
Walter Zacher each possess five goals each this season. In their most recent series, alternate captain
Mitch Andres eclipsed the half century mark in blocks as a Colonial, owning 53 on the year which ranks third in the AHA.
VELTRI ON THE VERGE
Currently on pace, goaltender
Chad Veltri is closing in on 3,500 career saves. He currently sits with 3,371 (2,557 with Niagara – 814 with RMU). No goalie across the NCAA has more saves than Veltri in the 2023-24 campaign. Last season he posted a career-high 973 saves in one year. The Pittsburgh native's save total ranks third all-time in the AHA. Ben Meisner of AIC (2009-13) owns the record with 3,684 saves. Therefore, Veltri is 314 away from passing the record. Chasing more records, he's appeared in 123 games, ranking third all-time in Atlantic Hockey in games played. Matt Ginn who played for Holy Cross (2011-15) holds the record with 129. Veltri's 47 wins are also tied sixth in AHA history.
RMU LEADERS:
Goals:
Tanner Klimpke,
Rylee St. Onge (7)
Assists:
Dallas Tulik (12)
Points:
Tanner Klimpke,
Walter Zacher,
Dallas Tulik (15)
PPG:
Rylee St. Onge (4)
SHG:
Cade Townend (1)
GWG:
Rylee St. Onge (2)
Blocks:
Mitch Andres (53)
SV%:
Chad Veltri (.917)
ALL-TIME VS. AIC
Over 32 total games in history, the Colonials are 20-9-3 against the Yellow Jackets. From 2008-11, in RMU's first seven meetings facing AIC, the Colonials were unbeaten, posting a 6-0-1 record. The Colonials also collected a five-game win streak against AIC from 2015-17. All-time, RMU has shut out AIC four times and are averaging 4.03 goals-per-game in the series.
SCOUTING AIC
AIC (13-10-1, 9-6-1 #AHA20) are currently 1-2-1 in 2024. They're coming off a series split with Air Force, losing 6-2 and then winning 4-1. Forward John Lundy is currently tied third in goals (13) and forward Dustin Manz is also tied third in assists (18) in the AHA. AIC heads into this series sitting at fourth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
AIC LEADERS
Goals: John Lundy (13)
Assists: Dustin Manz (18)
Points: Dustin Manz (21)
PPG: John Lundy (8)
SHG: Blake Wells, Evan Stella, Austen Long, Brett Rylance, Timofei Khokhlachev (1)
GWG: Brian Kramer (3)
Blocks: Brett Callahan (44)
SV%: Nils Wallstrom (.905)
UP NEXT
On deck, after completion of the AIC series, Mercyhurst will play a home-and-home two-game set against Mercyhurst on February 2-3. Both games played at 7:00 p.m. with the first match in Erie, Pa.
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