Robert Morris University Athletics

Matt Gajtka of RMU Media Relations collects odds, ends, thoughts and observations about Pittsburgh's College Hockey Teams!

Dec. 4, 2019
Now that the year's final month has begun, every pro hockey league in the world is well underway. 

Sounds like a perfect time to check in with the men's hockey alumni who are playing at the next level!

Class of 2019 
D Eric Israel: Rapid City (S.D.) Rush - ECHL
F Alex Tonge: Florida Everblades - ECHL

As expected, two of the program's all-time best point producers have found a home in pro pucks.

After accounting for 21 goals and 85 total points at RMU -- the second-most by a Colonials defender ever -- Israel has earned a spot in South Dakota as part of the ECHL's Rush. In 18 games, the Michigan native has seven points, all assists. Good to see Eric healthy again after an injury-plagued senior season.

As for Tonge, who finished in a fourth-place tie with RMU Hall of Famer Nathan Longpre on the team's all-time scoring list at 138 points, he's carved out a place in suburban Fort Myers, Florida. Tonge showed his skills on a tryout basis last spring, scoring five goals in his first five ECHL games. That helped earn him a full-fledged contract this season, in which he's posted five points (two goals) in 12 appearances.

Class of 2018
F Brady Ferguson: Newfoundland Growlers - ECHL
F Spencer Dorowicz: Wichita (Kan.) Thunder - ECHL
D Robert Powers: Atlanta Gladiators - ECHL
D Brett Beauvais: Greenville (S.C.) Swamp Rabbits - ECHL

Four Colonials from the accomplished Class of 2018 continue to refine their trade in North America's so-called 'Double-A' hockey league.

This group is headlined by RMU's all-time top scorer in Ferguson, who became one fo the first Colonials to win a pro hockey championship last season in Newfoundland. Ferguson has been a point-per-game producer in the ECHL, pouring in 78 points (41 goals) in 71 regular-season games, plus 24 more points in 23 Kelly Cup playoff games last spring. A two-time attendee of the Toronto Maple Leafs' main training camp, the Texas-born Ferguson has also played in 13 American Hockey League games with the Marlies, scoring five assists in those.

Dorowicz, a native Albertan, has had a nice run of success in the pros, too. He's actually increased his scoring rate from NCAA play (0.41 points per game) to the professional ranks, where he's averaged almost exactly a half-point per contest for three ECHL clubs. He's off to his best start as a pro this season, with seven goals and six helpers in just 16 games in Wichita. 

Powers opened some eyes last year with a 24-point season split between the Indy Fuel and Worcester (Mass.) Raiders. This fall, the offensive-minded defender has settled in Georgia, scoring a goal and two assists in 12 games for the Gladiators.

Beauvais transferred to RMU in 2017 after three years at Bemidji State; he's posted 42 appearances for two ECHL squads, chipping in a goal and 10 assists.
 
Class of 2017
F Daniel Leavens: Brampton (Ont.) Beast - ECHL
D Rob Mann: Brampton - ECHL

Safe to say Leavens, from the Toronto exurb of Thornhill, has established himself as a reliable pro performer. One of just 12 Colonials to reach 100 points in the college ranks, Leavens is currently just outside the top 10 in the ECHL's individual scoring race, with 23 points in 19 games for Brampton. Leavens also participated in the ECHL All-Star event last winter in Toledo, Ohio, while he was a member of the hometown Walleye. Since arriving back in his native Ontario via trade last season, Leavens has 39 points in 34 regular-season games.

A former captain at RMU, the 6-foot-4 Mann has been an ECHL regular for the past three seasons. After spending 2017-18 in Utah and last season with Orlando, the Ontario native is back closer to home, playing alongside Leavens in Brampton. Mann has just suprassed the 100-game mark as a pro, proving to be as dependable at the next level as he was on Neville Island. He has 18 points (two goals) across three ECHL seasons.

Class of 2015
F Scott Jacklin: Glasgow (Scotland) Clan - EIHL
F Jeff Jones: Roanoke (Va.) Rail Yard Dogs - SPHL

Another 100-point RMU contributor still donning the skates, Jacklin has landed in Scotland's largest city after parts of two seasons with Chamonix in France's top league. The British Columbian played his first two pro seasons exclusively in the ECHL, including 123 games with Brampton from 2016-18. He had 71 points in 143 ECHL games before exploring France last season, serving as alternate captain during a 36-game campaign that featured four goals and 15 assists.

Jones has also put his skills to work in Europe, posting more than a point per game in France's second division two seasons ago. For the most part, though, Jones has skated in the Southern Professional Hockey League, playing parts of four seasons there. The winger has 52 points and 95 total points in 130 SPHL contests, including 10 points in 14 games this season in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Class of 2013
G Eric Levine: Peoria (Ill.) Rivermen - SPHL

The lone goalie on this list and the eldest at 31 years old, Levine has made a career of persistence and availability. But unlike in many previous seasons, when loan assignments kept him on the move from team to team in four different North American leagues, Levine has exclusively stayed in his home state of Illinois this season, starting seven games for the Rivermen with a .936 save percentage. This is his fourth season in. Peoria and his seventh pro year, which included an ECHL championship last spring while on loan in Newfoundland.

Levine played in 72 games as a Colonial and still holds the team record with a career .925 save percentage. Keep it going, @knobsave!

Nov. 12, 2019
A lot can happen between byes, as it turns out.

Entering the RMU women's first off weekend of the fall semester -- way back in the first few days of October -- the Colonials were coming off a pair of season-opening wins over Union by the combined score of 11-1. They took care of business on home ice, but there was still much to be revealed about the team's true character.

Six weeks later, the Colonials get another breather, having just poked their heads back above .500 with a tight two-game sweep of College Hockey America foe Lindenwood. RMU won't play again until Nov. 22-23 at non-conference RPI, giving them a chance to recoup and recover after an emotionally-charged start to 2019-20.

It's been a wild ride between byes, a stretch that included three consecutive top-five ranked opponents and the first two CHA series of the season.

It included a memorable last-minute comeback in the first of two games against No. 2 Minnesota. It included a pair of rollicking overtime games against No. 4 Clarkson, both of which could've easily gone RMU's way. It included two convincing wins over Penn State on home ice, getting the CHA regular-season title defense off to a strong start.

This between-byes gauntlet also included a couple of shutout losses at No. 5 Cornell and a series at Lindenwood that was a struggle for the first 4 1/2 periods, but that's sports and that's hockey. It's not always going to go your way, but what matters is the response to adversity.

To that point, Paul Colontino's team has rallied back each time it's had the opportunity.

The Colonials came back the next afternoon after losing in overtime to Minnesota, pushing the Golden Gophers to a third-period tie once again. They battled through a difficult first period against Penn State two weekends ago, pulling away for a pair of needed victories.

And they pushed back after falling behind 3-0 at the midway point of last Friday's tilt in suburban St. Louis, scoring four straight goals and dominating play en route to a sudden-death triumph.



As OT hero Emily Curlett told me after the Colonials' fourth straight conference win, there's an underlying reason why they've been so resilient at this early juncture, when many teams are still trying to figure out their identities and core values.

"Part of what makes our locker room so special is that the whole team, from coaching staff down to every player, buys into the system and gives 100-percent effort on every shift," Curlett said during the long bus ride home to the Island Sports Center. "We know we've faced so much adversity this season, and each time we've responded as a whole.

"It makes it a lot easier to have confidence that every person in the room has your back, even in a tough game."

Certainly the Colonials would've loved to have tacked on an extra win or two during that challenging October, but if those near-misses help build a collective spirit that every team in every sport is trying to create, then there should be no regrets about the results.

Oct. 2, 2019
Hockey season on the Island officially gets fully engaged this weekend, with the start of the men's 2019-20 season. They'll have a high standard to live up to, since the women just outscored Union 11-1 in a two-game set last weekend.

Much like the women, the men will welcome a rarely-seen non-conference foe to Colonials Arena. Actually, make that a never-before-seen foe, as RMU has never met Michigan Tech. The Huskies of the WCHA will be the 45th different Division I opponent in the 16-year history of the RMU program. Arizona State will be the 46th this winter, but the Sun Devils are just getting started.

(Bonus RoMo Points if you can name the programs RMU has never faced. Time's up. They're as follows: Harvard, Maine, UMass, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State-Mankato, Northeastern, Nebraska-Omaha, St. Lawrence, Vermont, Northern Michigan, Boston College, Clarkson, New Hampshire and Yale.) 

Regardless of who's on the other side of the ice, though, there's always something special about the first game of a season. Another fun fact: The Colonials have gone 7-8 in season openers, but 3-1 when said openers are on Neville Island.

That includes three wins in a row, over Lake Superior State (2014), Air Force (2015) and Bowling Green (2018). Their only season-opening loss on home ice was back in 2005, when longtime rival Canisius played spoiler.

In that vein, with three days remaining until Derek Schooley's team gets back to game action, let's remember three notable season openers ...

Oct. 12, 2018: Robert Morris 3, No. 20 Bowling Green 2
We don't have to dig too deep in the record books to find a pleasant opening-night memory. A year ago, the Colonials started their 15th Division I season with an upset victory over the Falcons, who would go on to win 25 games and make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 29 years.

While BGSU had its revenge the following night in Ohio, the opener belonged to Robert Morris. The Colonials were extremely timely in this game, scoring twice in less than a minute in the second period, capitalizing on a major-penalty power play in a huge way.

In the third period, the Falcons rallied back to tie the game 2-2, only to watch the Colonials strike for the game-winning goal roughly two minutes later. Senior Alex Tonge followed up a missed chance by Daniel Mantenuto, burying a centering pass from the slot with 8:24 to go in regulation.



Don't skip past that highlight without noting defenseman Alex Robert's clutch block in the final minute, preventing Bowling Green from slamming the puck into an open cage. Yes, RMU's 22nd all-time win over a ranked foe was memorable in many ways.

Oct. 12, 2007: Robert Morris 3, No. 8 Boston University 2
Wind the clock back exactly 11 years for our next entry, another upset of a team with a number in front of its name.

This time around the Colonials victimized the eighth-ranked Boston University Terriers, in the opener of the Nye Frontier Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. This one also included a power play-fueled comeback, with RMU erupting for three unanswered goals -- all on the advantage -- to turn around a 2-0 deficit early in the third period.

Apollo, Pa., native Sean Berkstresser got the party started with 14 minutes to go. That was followed shortly by Scott Kobialko's equalizer, which was assisted by current Colonials assistant coach Ryan Cruthers, then a senior forward. Then, with 10 minutes to play in regulation, Jason Towsley banked in a shot from below the BU goal line, making Christian Boucher's 33 saves pay off.



Just as importantly, the Colonials followed up this upset by downing Wayne State the next day, thus claiming the program's first tournament win and trophy. But taming the Terriers will go down as one of the team's all-time best accomplishments, opener or not.

Oct. 22, 2004: Robert Morris 3, Canisius 1
If you're a longtime RMU hockey fan, you had to know this one was coming. Earning the program's first-ever win in its first-ever game will forever be a feather in the cap of Schooley's inaugural team.

While the debut of Colonials hockey on Neville Island would have to wait another day, RMU soared out of the D-I chute with -- you guessed it -- a comeback victory. Bill Menozzi rifled home his first (and only) goal as a Colonial to tie the score in the second period, followed by Jeff Gilbert's power-play conversion seven minutes into the third. Not long after that, Gilbert's empty-netter made the result fundamental.



Boucher, still RMU's all-time leader in games and minutes played to this day, stopped 29 shots in his college debut for his first of 42 career victories. That 2004-05 team would go on to win seven more times, but none were more indelible than that first time out.

Sept. 13, 2019
Welcome back to hockey season!

Since I'm taking over the media management for the women's hockey team for the 2019-20 season, look for more bonus content on both squads throughout the coming months. Starting now ...

If the story about former CHA Defender of the Year and RMU co-captain Kirsten Welsh '19 getting the chance to referee NHL prospect games last week caught you off guard, you're not alone.

Not only did the news catch me by surprise, it did the same to the main character in this feel-good narrative.

"As of a month ago, I didn't have any aspirations for this," Welsh told me over the phone this week, after officiating a handful of games at the Buffalo Sabres' Prospects Challenge, which ran from Sept. 6-9 and involved NHL hopefuls from the Sabres, Penguins, Bruins and Devils organizations.

So what changed? To hear Welsh tell it, a playing career in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) seemed a little far-fetched due to travel logistics, and ...

"I wanted to stay involved," she said. "I wasn't ready to hang up my skates."
 
Welsh's casual summer chat with RMU women's associate head coach Logan Bittle led to a conversation with NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom, who lives in Moon Township. Welsh learned that the world's top league, from commissioner Gary Bettman on down, is interested in eventually promoting qualified female officials to call its games.

Suddenly, during the last week of August, Welsh was included with 10 other women in the NHL's Exposure Combine for aspiring officials. You might recall that was the same starting point for current pro refs Furman South and Brandon Blandina, both of whom played on the RMU men's team from 2009-12.

Welsh was the youngest (and easily the most inexperienced) of the four women assigned to officiate rookie tourneys this month, a fact she doesn't take lightly.

"Those women are bosses," she said. "They'll be the first to make it. It'll be cool to have them to look up to."

But despite literally starting her officiating career two weeks ago, there's a definite opening for someone of Welsh's experience and talents. As South discussed with me last month, former high-level hockey players are prime recruits for officiating gigs as the sport becomes faster and more demanding.

"It's a perfect opportunity," Welsh said. "So many people are pushing for this. Everyone is so helpful."

That included the NHL supervisor assigned to the Buffalo tourney, Chris Edwards. After every period of the experience, he went over areas in which Welsh could improve her technique and her thought process while donning the stripes.

Even before the Exposure Combine, Blandina gave Welsh an Island Sports Center crash course in what to expect, plus a rule book, a whistle and a pair of black officiating pants he had lying around. 

But, when the puck dropped in Buffalo, Welsh was on her own.
 
"I've used this phrase a few times this week, but I was thrown into the fire," she said. "It was nerve-racking, but pressure creates diamonds. The only way to find out if you have what it takes is to be under pressure."

Clearly her unique story has legs in media circles, as stories from the Associated Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and her hometown paper up in Ontario would indicate.

Speaking of legs, how are Welsh's doing after spending last weekend keeping up with some of the strongest skaters in hockey? She was assigned to linesman duty for her first game, to give her a chance to get acclimated to the speed and intensity of the competition.

"I was gassed after the first period," she said with a laugh. "Being a linesman is like doing a bag skate for 60 minutes."

Welsh said she hit her stride -- literally and figuratively -- while getting the chance to be a referee in one of the games. For the self-professed "goon" who piled up 259 penalty minutes in four RMU seasons, being in charge of what gets whistled and what doesn't was both surreal and satisfying.

"I have a better understanding now of why I was sent to the box," she said. "But it was nice to see a clean hit and not call it and not ruin a game. I thought I did pretty well, but there are things to work on."

She'll ponder those potential improvements while plotting her next steps. She's been told she could have the chance to officiate junior-level games in the Tier I United States Hockey League later this season, but she has to get her proper certifications before then.

Wels said she wants to be "way more prepared," both physically and mentally, for her next time on the ice in a men's game. She'll also have to fit her new goals around her post-RMU life, which involves a full-time job at Allegheny Petroleum in Monroeville, a coaching gig with the Penguins Elite youth program and, oh yeah, getting married next week.

After all the excitement, though, you'll have to excuse her if her thoughts keep drifting back to an unlikely opportunity that captured the hockey world's attention.

"It felt more natural than weird," Welsh said, summing up the experience.

"I'm still riding the wave of emotion. Why not make this my next career?"

March 27, 2019
If you want to experience joy, you have to leave yourself open to feeling pain.

That's the reality of the human psyche, and that paradox was on display last Friday night in Buffalo, when the Colonials had their season come to a sudden end in the Atlantic Hockey semifinal round. In what became a familiar script in this postseason, RMU rallied twice against top-seeded American International, including an extra-attacker goal by Daniel Mantenuto to force overtime. (Mike Prisuta did a wonderful job breaking down the terrific faceoff setup that led to the goal in his final column of the season.)

It would've been a storybook win, one of many in a March run that featured six one-goal victories -- four of those in the playoffs. But as you know, it didn't work out, as RMU suffered just its second OT loss in 41 all-time AHA postseason games. 

What continues to resonate with me wasn't the result or the details. It's the feeling that this team was faced with a decision after returning from its final bye week of the season in mid-February, and it chose to keep plugging toward the ultimate goal.

Now, since Atlantic Hockey allows all 11 of its teams entry into its postseason tournament, there's always going to be motivation to play well late in the year, but after winning just once in 10 games prior to the bye, with a team that included 11 learning-as-they-go freshmen, there was an available excuse for these Colonials to say, 'Hey, this just isn't our year' and not make the necessary sacrifices to turn the season around.

To their credit, they collectively chose the more difficult route. The offensive approach got more direct, details were minded and, yeah, they got a bounce or two along the way. By the time RMU prevailed in its first-ever road Game 3 at Bentley 10 days ago, the Riley Memorial Trophy was in sight. Not something you'd expect to say about a team that won just three times in a 17-game stretch from mid-December through late February.

But with success comes additional emotional stakes. In order to have a shot to hoist the hardware, you have to put it all on the line. That means that, if you come up short, it's going to hurt.

"We've been here six times and I've come up to the (postgame) podium five times sad," head coach Derek Schooley said at HarborCenter after AIC advanced to the AHA final. "But you wouldn't trade it for the world, because it means you got here. You gotta get here to win a championship."

It's that sentiment that sticks with me as I sit here, wishing that we were preparing for a trip to Fargo, N.D., for the West Regional of the NCAA tournament. While it might have been less stressful for all involved to get eliminated in the first round or the quarterfinal, avoiding discomfort isn't the way to achieve goals. Quite the opposite, in fact.

While I took graduate courses here at RMU and I've spent two years working in the athletic department, I got my bachelor's degree at Marshall University. When Schooley said what he did about being grateful for the opportunity to compete in the AHA's final four once again, my mind flashed to the movie 'We Are Marshall,' which was filmed on campus back in the spring of 2006, when I was a junior.

(See if you can spot a 21-year-old me as an extra in the scene below.)



If you're not familiar with the movie or the real-life story behind it, it chronicles the return of the Marshall football team after the 1970 plane crash that killed everyone on board. In the Hollywood version of the story, new coach Jack Lengyel drops a powerful line to assistant coach Red Dawson ...
 

"It doesn't matter if we win, or if we lose. It's not even about how we play the game. What matters is that we play the game. That we take the field."

Most of us will (fortunately) never know that level of tragedy in our lives. If a midseason losing streak is the worst thing that ever happens to you, consider yourself the luckiest person on earth. Clearly, I'm not trying to draw a parallel in the literal sense here.

However, I think most of us can relate to the feeling that it's easier to not commit, to go through the motions and steer away from any painful possibilities. But that's not how to accomplish anything meaningful, whether in sports or elsewhere.

Yes, all of us involved with this program are feeling an emotional hangover this week. I'm just involved on the periphery and I feel it, so I can only imagine what it's like to literally bleed and sweat for the R-M-U on your chest and fall just a couple of steps short of a championship. 

As Schooley said, though, it might not feel very good now, but in the big scheme it sure as heck beats the alternative of feeling nothing. Putting yourself in position to get hurt is something to be proud of, because it means you're doing something worthwhile. I doubt I'm alone in looking forward to seeing where the Colonials can go from here, as they put their 15th season in the past and approach the 16th in the fall.

March 20, 2019
If you like good stories, you'll love Friday's opening semifinal in Buffalo.

On one side of the ice, we'll have the nominal favorite, the No. 1-seeded American International Yellow Jackets. They didn't quite lead Atlantic Hockey wire to wire, but they were close. After a 3-4-1 start in league play, this high-scoring upstart squad won 15 of its final 20 games against AHA competition to clinch the program's first championship of any kind.

Mind you, this is the same AIC team that could only manage single-digit win totals in 12 of its 15 AHA seasons and had never finished higher than eighth in the standings since helping found the league in 2003-04. This was arguably the most downtrodden program in men's Division I hockey when Eric Lang took over for the retired Gary Wright in the summer of 2016. 

But there were signs of life last season, when the Jackets won a program-best 15 games and claimed their first AHA playoff series victory, sweeping Niagara in a first-round set at home before bowing to Canisius in a three-game quarterfinal. This year, led by the nation's eighth-leading scorer in junior Blake Christensen, AIC scored a league-best 3.27 goals per game while claiming 20 victories -- 18 of those in the AHA. Just this week, after downing Army West Point in a three-game set to advance to their first AHA 'final four,' the Jackets received their first-ever ranking in a national poll, tabbed at 19th by USCHO.com.

As I was saying, it's a heck of a story. It's also part of a broader theme in Atlantic Hockey, where former also-rans like AIC, Bentley (2 seed) and Sacred Heart (4 seed) all earned byes in the first round of the playoffs. There are no more 'easy outs' in this league.

Of course, your Colonials have never been accused of being an easy out, especially at this time of the year. After finishing with their lowest position in the AHA standings -- eighth out of 11 -- Robert Morris has done what didn't seem very likely four weeks ago: Advance to its sixth consecutive league semifinal. 

Derek Schooley's squad had its struggles in the second half of the season, enduring a 3-13-1 stretch before snapping out of that funk with a thrilling 6-1-1 run that continues into this third week of the AHA playoffs. If you're reading this, you likely know the story by now, but this has been a different avenue to arrive at a familiar destination.

Times are changing in Atlantic Hockey, with Buffalo's four-year-old HarborCenter complex hosting the biggest weekend of the year as opposed to Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. Honestly, a change in venue might not be the worst thing in the world for some of the longer-tenured Colonials. RMU has made three straight AHA championship games, but hasn't been able to get over that final hump and back into the NCAA tournament since its lone postseason crown in 2014.

Again, if you're here, you probably know this story. 

But although this is a recognizable spot for the Colonials -- RMU has faced and eliminated the No. 1 seed in the semifinal in each of the past two seasons -- there's enough different about this scenario to intrigue you, whether you're new to the college hockey bandwagon or an old head. Just look back to the past two playoff series, in which freshmen forwards Nick Lalonde (first round) and Justin Addamo (quarterfinal) scored the goals that advanced the Colonials.



This is not to minimize the contributions of guys who've been here before, from Francis Marotte's excellent goaltending ... to stalwart play from veteran defensemen Alex Robert, Sean Giles and Eric Israel ... to continued playoff production from Daniel Mantenuto, Luke Lynch and Alex Tonge. It takes a village to make it this far.

But while that all-hands-on-deck sensation is the same, several aspects of this semifinal appearance are different for RMU. And that makes for an interesting run-up to the latest, biggest game of the year. Enjoy it, because seven AHA teams will be home watching, or trying to ignore the goings-on in Buffalo.

March 12, 2019
The Colonials didn't pull an upset in taking down ninth-seeded Holy Cross in a thrilling first-round Atlantic Hockey playoff series last weekend. They were at home, so they were technically the favorite, but after the season series with the Crusaders finished as close as it gets, anyone who claimed to know what was going to happen in RMU's latest best-of-three set should be looked at with a wary eye.

As you probably know by now, the eighth-seeded Colonials edged Holy Cross in a pair of airtight games at the RMU Island Sports Center, advancing them to the AHA quarterfinals for the eighth straight year. In three of those years (2015-17), RMU earned a first-round bye, but the streak remains almost as remarkable as the program's five straight trips to the AHA semis.

But now that the thrill of victory has given way to the drive for more, RMU will face what's likely to be its toughest task of the AHA tournament. Winning two out of three games against the 2-seed Bentley Falcons in Waltham, Mass., might not yield a trophy or an NCAA tournament berth, but the Colonials will likely have to find another level of efficacy if they hope to cut Bentley's outstanding season short. 

Unlike in the Holy Cross series, in which RMU could point to a couple of regular-season results for matchup confidence, Derek Schooley's team knows it has to be better than it was Jan. 11-12, when the Falcons soared out of Neville Island with a pair of convincing wins. In downing the Colonials by a combined score of 10-3 that weekend, Bentley stormed to 4-0 leads in both games.

That was part of a stretch in which the Colonials struggled like they seldom have this decade; they eventually dropped 13 of 16 before starting their current five-game unbeaten streak. Schooley said Tuesday his Colonials were "a different team" back in January, and it surely seems like it after watching the Colonials roll four forward lines and three defense pairings while grinding out a string of encouraging results over the past three weeks.

And much like last week, the Colonials who were a part of last March's playoff run can draw from pleasant recent postseason memories against their next opponent. RMU eliminated Bentley in the first round last year, going the full three games on Neville Island in the second-ever playoff matchup between the programs. (The Colonials also prevailed in three games in the 2016 AHA quarterfinals.)



This year's edition of the Falcons is much improved, finishing just a single point behind upstart American International for the AHA regular-season title. Bentley entered the winter break in the middle of the Atlantic Hockey pack, but a 12-game unbeaten streak made it a serious title contender. Even though Ryan Soderquist's team cooled slightly at the end of the season, it's lost just two games since the start of January.

RMU's defense and goaltending will be tested especially against Bentley's potent attack, which scored 3.2 goals per game this season on the strength of a nation-leading 12.4 shooting percentage. Francis Marotte was superb in stopping 58 of 60 Holy Cross shots, and he'll surely be tested again in a few days. Bentley was also the most well-rounded AHA team this season, finishing second in both goals for and goals against.

On the other hand, no team in the AHA is hotter right now than the Colonials. Sounds familiar at this time of year, doesn't it? Should be a fun trip to Massachusetts.

March 5, 2019
Good luck trying to predict what's going to happen this weekend when the Colonials host Holy Cross in a best-of-three Atlantic Hockey first-round playoff series.

Not only did the two teams finish dead even in the AHA standings -- RMU took the tiebreaker because it had one more conference win -- they also split four regular-season meetings right down the middle. Goal differential gives us no hints, either, as both teams scored seven goals in the season series. Neither does venue help, since home teams went 2-2.

The only area in which one side has a definite edge over the other is recent history. The Colonials and Crusaders have faced off in each of the past two AHA postseasons, with RMU winning a 2017 quarterfinal series in two games at the Island, then sweeping a quarterfinal set in Worcester, Mass., last March. But even though the playoff game count is 4-0 in favor of the Colonials, the home series two years ago was deceptively close.

For evidence, all we have to do is remember the first-ever playoff game between the two programs, one won by RMU with a remarkable five-goal third period:



You probably recognized some familiar names from that clip, players like Eric Israel, Luke Lynch, Daniel Mantenuto and Alex Tonge. All those underclassmen contributed at least a point to that playoff rally, showing that youth doesn't prevent postseason heroics.

While Israel remains out of action with an injury suffered against -- guess who -- Holy Cross three weeks ago, the latter three are still active members of the Colonials. RMU would especially welcome a repeat multi-goal performance from Tonge, who despite scoring eight goals in the final 12 regular-season games this season, hasn't bulged the twine on the Island since a hat trick against Penn State on the second weekend of November.

And let's not forget goalie Francis Marotte, who wasn't asked to do too much in that 2017 series, as RMU allowed just 43 combined shots in the two wins. It was an entirely different story last year on the Holy Cross campus, when the Crusaders ripped 78 pucks Marotte's way. Frankie responded with 76 saves, allowing the Colonials to pull away late in both games and set up a fifth straight trip to the AHA semifinal round.



Of course, this year's matchup will be a completely different entity, with its own twists, turns and surprises to experience. It's worth considering that RMU suffered two of its three shutout losses this season to Holy Cross, with Crusaders goalies Erik Gordon and Tommy Nixon each blanking the Colonials. 

But if there's any confidence to be gleaned from postseason history, it probably goes to RMU. Just one thing to consider when looking ahead to the Colonials' eighth home series in nine seasons of play in Atlantic Hockey.

Feb. 26, 2019
In terms of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs, there are some options closed off to Robert Morris after it went 0-1-1 last weekend at R.I.T. Mathematically, the Colonials have been excluded from securing a top-five seed and a first-round postseason bye, so they'll need to win six games to capture the AHA crown, not four.

They are also too far behind Mercyhurst (six points back) and Niagara (five points) to climb into the Nos. 6 or 7 spots in the league standings, but that doesn't mean there's any real certainty to their postseason fate. All 11 AHA teams make it, of course, but there's still much to be decided in one of the tightest tables in league history.















For instance, RMU could still face five teams in the first-round best-of-three series: Sacred Heart, Mercyhurst, Niagara, Holy Cross and Army West Point. The Colonials could also rise as high as eighth -- and secure home ice in the opening round -- or finish in ninth or 10th place and start the AHA playoffs on the road. In its previous eight previous seasons in the AHA, RMU has never started the postseason away from the Island Sports Center.

What's more, since a single-game preliminary-round loss to Mercyhurst in 2011 -- the Colonials' first season in the AHA -- they have won all seven series contested at the Island, beating American International, Sacred Heart, Army, Niagara, Bentley (twice) and Holy Cross. (Four of those series were first-rounders and three others were quarterfinals following hard-earned bye weeks.)

Barring a hot finish and some help from Holy Cross, Army or both, RMU could be exploring some uncharted territory. But the quest for home ice isn't over yet.

Not only could RMU finish ahead of both Holy Cross and Army, the AHA tiebreak procedure favors the Colonials against Holy Cross. Head to head is the first tiebreak, which wouldn't work against Army after an 0-1-1 season series vs. the Black Knights. RMU split four games with Holy Cross, but RMU has one more conference win, so if that stays the same through the weekend, the Colonials get the edge via the second tiebreak. (Holy Cross faces second-place Bentley to close the season.)

If RMU and Holy Cross finish even in AHA wins, the head-to-head goal-differential is split down the middle 7-7, so a fourth tiebreak would be needed. Since American International has locked up the top seed in the AHA playoffs, the Colonials and Crusaders would be judged on how they did against the ascendant Yellow Jackets. While RMU split a two-game set with AIC back in late December, Holy Cross lost all four times in its season series. Advantage: Robert Morris.

I should also note that, in the event of a three-way tie with Army and Holy Cross, RMU would finish in 10th place since it has the worst head-to-head-to-head record (if you will) of the group, going 2-3-1 in games against the Crusaders and the Black Knights. So that doesn't help.

Even if the Colonials lose their weekend opener at Mercyhurst, several contingencies could still be in play, so I hesitate to dig any further until the ice chips clear on Friday night. Just know that the playoff matchups are anything but locked in ... and keep that second weekend of March open just in case things go the Colonials' way in the coming days!

Feb. 19, 2019
Much of the talk both during and after practice Tuesday morning at the RMU Island Sports Center revolved around this weekend's opponent, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and how there have been some memorably intense games between the two teams.

The R.I.T. Tigers have mostly gotten the best of the Colonials in the past couple of seasons, winning nine of the past 11 games contested. The Tigers' 2-1 overtime victory Oct. 27 at the Island was emblematic of how things have gone for RMU in the recent past, as R.I.T.'s Gabe Valenzuela scored with less than 30 seconds to play to prevent the Colonials from claiming three of four points on the weekend.

But you don't have to turn the clock back too far in the all-time series to find some captivatingly victorious moments for Derek Schooley's squad ... with two of those occurring at the site of this weekend's series, the Gene Polisseni Center on the campus of R.I.T.

Almost exactly four years ago, the Colonials arrived in Henrietta, N.Y., needing one win to lock up their first-ever regular-season conference title. Fittingly, considering how the 2014-15 edition of the RMU men's hockey team was built around a powerful attack, two of the program's all-time top guns got the job done in the waning seconds.



Cody Wydo's collection of Zac Lynch's aerial pass resulted in a stunning final-minute game-winner before a crowd of 3,000-plus R.I.T. fans, and an indelible moment in the history of this hockey program. (One that just missed out on our top 15 games countdown, apparently!)

Two seasons later, the Colonials played spoiler again in suburban Rochester, barreling back from 5-1 down midway through the game to win 6-5 on Oct. 8, 2016.

Brady Ferguson, then a junior, set an RMU record that night with six points (3g, 3a), while then-sophomore defenseman Eric Israel recorded five points (1g, 4a), still the single-game offensive standard for a Colonials blueliner.



What I had forgotten from that incredible comeback at the start of the 2016-17 season was this: It was also the night of Francis Marotte's first NCAA victory, as he relieved Andrew Pikul and stopped 26 of 27 shots. Israel reminded me of that fact after Tuesday's practice, which was appropriate considering Marotte had just established a new program record with his 44th career win this past Friday at Holy Cross.

It's no sure thing, obviously, but maybe the Colonials are due for another indelible outcome when they travel to Rochester for the second-to-last series of the regular season. Hey, it's happened before up there.

Feb. 12, 2019
As the team comes out of its final off week of the regular season, there's a natural focus on the offensive side of the ice.

Here's why: In the previous four games -- two at Air Force and two vs. Sacred Heart -- the Colonials have allowed two non-empty-net goals or fewer in three of them. As head coach Derek Schooley noted after a 3-1 loss to the Pioneers two Saturdays ago, that should be enough to pick up some points in the Atlantic Hockey standings.

Unfortunately for RMU, the attack hasn't been productive enough since scoring 11 across two games at Canisius. The Colonials have managed just five goals combined in the four games since.

"We're just having trouble putting pucks in the net," Schooley said following the second Sacred Heart loss. "That's frustrating. ... We'll use this off week to work on scoring some goals."

One concern that stands out from a basic statistical standpoint is sheer volume of shots on goal. Over the past four games, RMU has ended up below its season average for SOG (26.5) in three of them. Twice over this stretch, the Colonials have been limited to less than 20 SOG. 

There are nuances to this discussion, for sure, with insights to be gained from film study and a closer inspection of shot selection. In the immediate aftermath of the Sacred Heart series, junior forward Mike Coyne offered a hint on what the team believes the stylistic issue might be.

"I think we're getting pucks deep," Coyne said. "But once we get them back, we're cycling too much and trying to make too many plays. We're not funneling pucks to the net. We've just got to simplify and get more pucks to the net."

This weekend's opponent, Holy Cross, allows approximately 30 shots per game, so there might be more openings to pepper the Crusaders' net than there were against Air Force and Sacred Heart, both of which rank in the top half of Atlantic Hockey in limiting shots on goal.

As senior defenseman Eric Israel reminded, RMU has reached its game-by-game goal of 35 SOG only a handful of times this season. They're just 2-3 when they get to 35, but they've averaged 5.2 goals per game, so there's a pretty direct line between a high volume of shots and getting more offense.

Nothing in hockey is automatic, as NHL fans observed Monday night when the Penguins allowed 51 SOG in a 4-1 win over the Flyers. Still, finding ways to test opposing goalies more can only help as RMU aims to break its slump and secure home ice in the first round of the upcoming AHA playoffs.

Jan. 29, 2019
A funny thing about hockey is that, while the majority of the game is played at five-on-five, special teams situations yield greater chances for goals, both for and against. So, they have oversized importance relative to their frequency.

All of which is to say: Being good (or bad) at the power play or the penalty kill can have a bigger influence on a team's fortunes than one would assume from the rhythms of the game. That might be a good sign for the Colonials, who will try to snap a three-game losing streak this weekend at home against Sacred Heart. 

First of all, the penalty-killing unit that has been consistently near the top of Atlantic Hockey all season put together a nice series at Air Force, going 8 for 9 to rebound from allowing four goals to Canisius the previous weekend. A successful kill of Air Force's two-minute two-man advantage in Saturday's game was perhaps the highlight of the season for RMU's short-handed group.

Add that performance to a two-goal power-play weekend against Air Force's excellent PK'ers and the Colonials can be heartened by a couple aspects of the trip out west. 

"The penalty killing all weekend was very good," junior defenseman Alex Robert told me Saturday evening in Colorado Springs. "Power play was very good, got a couple of goals. At five-on-five, I think we could've been a little bit better (Friday)."

RMU's overall numbers this year mirror that sentiment. Despite the Canisius blip, the Colonials remain the third-best penalty-killing team in the AHA, at 83.1 percent. Throw in the five short-handed goals they've scored and you can probably informally bump them up another spot.

But if this year's team is to string together some wins at the end of the regular season, the power play will probably have to keep up its recent pace. Over their past four games, the Colonials have gone 5 for 16 (31 percent) on the advantage, successfully following up on a 2-for-40 drought that carried through the winter break and beyond. It could've been a little bit better at Air Force, too, with Luke Lynch getting a prime chance blocked Friday night.

"We're moving pucks well into open spaces," head coach Derek Schooley assessed after the Air Force series. "We're getting pucks to the net. We had some chances at the end (of Saturday's game), too, but we just couldn't convert."

Yes, that late-game miss on Saturday evening stung, but overall RMU's special teams remain a recent strength. For a team that's tied for last in AHA (and 51st of 60 Division I squads) with a minus-21 even-strength goal differential, the work put in away from five-on-five play has been a saving grace.

That includes their five four-on-four goals as well, another interesting fact for a team that's gone through its peaks and valleys on the attacking end. When at least one player is in the penalty box, RMU has generally performed better than usual. Something for the coaches to figure out, I suppose!

Jan. 22, 2019
There has much made -- a lot of it by me! -- of the Colonials' massive 11-man freshman class and the implications that go with bring that many first-year players into a Division I hockey season.

As detailed in the latest episode of Road to Revolution, the youthful nature of the 2018-19 Colonials is in the eye of the beholder. It can be frustrating and it can be encouraging, sometimes in the same game or even the same period of play.



Every once in a while, though, you look down at the ice and it really hits you. I had that moment this past weekend in Buffalo, where RMU split with Canisius. Especially in Friday's 7-2 win, you saw what this team can do with all facets of its game working. After a four-game losing streak to start the calendar year, that was refreshing to see.

But just as importantly, with Nick Lalonde scoring twice and firing a program-record-tying 12 shots on goal, with Aidan Spellacy continuing his hot play with a rebound goal, with Nolan Schaeffer, Brendon Michaelian and Aidan Girduckis making up half of the defense corps through the entire two weekend, you got a glimpse of why there's still much optimism that this team could peak late like so many recent RMU teams have.

"It's hard to come in as a freshman in college hockey, even though they're all older guys," assistant coach Mike Gershon told me on Saturday's Facebook Live pregame show. "I think it's comfort. Just getting back used to going to school and being a student. I think coming back (from holiday break), you're just more comfortable as a hockey player after your first semester."

With Lalonde and Spellacy accounting for three goals in the series, I looked up where the Colonials rank in the country in terms goals contributed by freshmen. As it turns out, really well.

First of all, the 20 goals poked home by first-year players so far -- from Lalonde's six to Grant Hebert's five to single strikes by Kip Hoffmann and Geoff Lawson -- is the seventh-highest total of the 60 D-I men's hockey teams; also, RMU's freshmen rank only behind Niagara's 34 goals in Atlantic Hockey. In terms of percentage, first-year players have scored 31 percent of RMU's goals this season, which ranks sixth in the nation.

That's impressive, but as the entire weekend at Canisius demonstrated, the older players can't be passengers, either. Leading scorer Alex Tonge got going again, chipping in two goals and an assist, but he wasn't alone among the veteran scorers who created. Fellow senior Mike Louria netted a goal in each matchup with the Griffs, junior Luke Lynch ended a four-game point drought with a pair of assists, Eric Israel notched another couple points (1g, 1a) and Dan Mantenuto recorded his first career two-goal game.

It can't be an either-or proposition when it comes to the separate classes. After scoring a season-best 11 goals in the Canisius series, the fact that most attacking hands were on deck for the weekend could be the most positive sign of the still-young spring semester.

Jan. 15, 2019
It was never a surprise.

Since the 2018-19 schedule was released last summer, the Colonials knew that January and February would present some difficulty above and beyond the usual challenges of the stretch run. Yes, playing nine of their final 12 regular-season games away from home will definitely show the Colonials "what they're made of," to borrow head coach Derek Schooley's postgame words from Saturday.



Given how the home schedule has played out to date -- RMU has an uncharacteristic 5-7-1 mark at the Island Sports Center -- perhaps hitting the road could be a tonic as much as an obstacle for a young team trying to find its way. 

There are some recent examples that could provide optimism if you choose to look at that sunny side. (We could all use some extra Vitamin D this time of year anyway.) The last time RMU took to the road, it split a tight two-game set at American International, which has spent a few days in first place in Atlantic Hockey and currently sits one point behind front-running Air Force.

Prior to that, the Colonials collected a come-from-behind overtime win at Sacred Heart and, in perhaps their finest performance of the season, a 7-1 drubbing of Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa., over Thanksgiving weekend. It all adds up to a 3-4 record away from home so far, with the first two of those losses coming against Bowling Green and Penn State, two teams that have been ranked in the top 20 all season.

Of course, the past is just that: Past. There's no reason to think this weekend's bus ride to Buffalo to face Canisius, or next weekend's flight to Colorado Springs to square off with Air Force, will see the Colonials as the favorites to grab a majority of the available points. Home advantage is still a thing, but every situation is different. 

Under typical circumstances, seeing only one home series (Feb. 1-2 vs. Sacred Heart) between now and the first weekend of March could be rather daunting. But there's a way to frame the upcoming schedule as more adventure than gauntlet.

Regardless, the journey starts Friday night at HarborCenter against the Golden Griffins. Ready or not, here it comes.

Jan. 8, 2019
Five years ago, the RMU men's hockey team entered the Three Rivers Classic at 2-10-2, looking for a boost from the midseason invitational. Those Colonials left the 3RC at 2-12-2, having lost a pair of one-goal decisions to Penn State and Bowling Green.

I remember it well, because I covered the tournament as a reporter, and the prevailing tone from coach Derek Schooley and his players afterward was that they were encouraged by the way they played and they just needed to keep plugging away.

Less than three months later, RMU had completed a stunning second-half run, going 17-5-4 from the end of the 3RC through their first and only appearance in the NCAA tournament, when they fell to No. 2 Minnesota. 

At the present time, the Colonials are coming off another 0-2 Classic, in which they were edged out by Brown and No. 1 St. Cloud State in their final non-conference games of the regular season. And outside of last Friday's second period, when eventual Confluence Cup champions Brown netted four goals to take the lead away, RMU leaves the 3RC feeling pretty good about how it played.

Especially against the top-ranked Huskies, Robert Morris showed the 60-minute potential it's been searching for in recent weeks. Out of the 19 skaters dressed for Saturday's third-place game, nine were freshmen, so there's significant truth to the thought that the Colonials can use their toe-to-toe bout with St. Cloud as a second-half "springboard," to use Schooley's postgame words.

Asking for a similar surge to the spring of 2014 might be a little much, but this year's team doesn't need to run the table to put itself in a good position for the Atlantic Hockey postseason. As you can see below, RMU is a scant three points out of the league's top spot with 14 games to play.



Now, there are a couple of teams to leap over to challenge Air Force, but there's virtually no gap in the top half of the standings. A good weekend for anyone in the top seven could push that team right to the top. 

All of that is the long way of saying this: Despite a winless Three Rivers Classic, the opportunity is there for a young team to capture something special before March is out. Just look back half a decade to find the latest example of a "springboard" situation coming to pass, despite no triumphant trophy presentation on the Penguins' home ice.

Jan. 3, 2019
Since its birth more than six years ago, the Three Rivers Classic has provided a showcase of college hockey's best and brightest in an area that is still relatively new to this level of the sport.

No matter whether the hometown Colonials are raising the Confluence Cup at the end of two days of play -- as they have three times in six tournaments -- or a national power like Boston College or Providence takes home the trophy, Pittsburgh sports fans can gain a greater appreciation for college pucks by taking in the annual event.

But what about the importance for the Colonials themselves? After talking to senior captain Brandon Watt after a practice this week at the RMU Island Sports Center, I got a better idea of how this tournament serves as a midseason fulcrum for these guys.

"I think it’s a huge turning point of the season," Watt said. "I think, in the past three years, this tournament defined who we were as we got ready for the stretch drive.”



Watt described the hockey played in the 3RC as "a little different" from the brand they typically encounter in Atlantic Hockey, so he appreciates the variety before the team settles into exclusive AHA play for the rest of the season.

Overall, though, it's clear that there are many reasons the 3RC is special to RMU. As head coach Derek Schooley said this week, the team can sense a few more eyeballs on it than usual this week.

“We know this is always a big deal for our hockey team and the hockey community in Pittsburgh," Schooley said. "Hopefully we can continue the success we’ve had in this tournament.”

Indeed, as the Colonials have continued to build on that initial success in the first 3RC back in December 2012, the event has only gotten more important inside that dressing room, which also doubles as a trophy case for all who walk through.

Class of 2016 goalie Terry Shafer, no less an authority than the program's all-time winningest netminder, said the opportunity to put another notch in the belt wasn't lost on him or his teammates.

"We loved 'Trophy Season,' as we called it," said Shafer, who took part in two of RMU's three 3RC triumphs. "That’s the legacy you leave behind. We may leave the school, but the trophies stay. There’s always a lot of pride, knowing that’s your chance to leave your mark."

Shafer was also a member of three AHA championships -- two in the regular season, one in the playoffs -- so he knows hardware. The 3RC is more of a sprint than anything RMU can capture in conference, but getting the chance to take down some of the country's top squads raises the significance of this tournament beyond the face value of two non-league games.

"We always loved playing in Three Rivers," said Class of 2017 defenseman Rob Mann, who also won two Confluence Cups. "It was always pretty easy to get up for those games. For a smaller program like us, we loved playing those big teams, too, and stepping up to that challenge.

"For us, just to play against bigger-name schools, it’s a good chance to showcase yourself. We’re no slouch and we can compete with anybody."

Mann's point stands to reason, since RMU has defeated a ranked team in each of their 3RC victories, and every field in the tournament's history has featured at least one school with a number next to its name. That's the case again this year, with No. 1 St. Cloud State and 14th-ranked Union in town, along with a storied Brown program.

The mountain is tall once again, but for a Colonials team in the midst of a roster transition keyed by 11 freshmen, there's plenty to prove on the elevated stages of UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and PPG Paints Arena.

Same as it ever was for this much-anticipated event: The host school is again in position to impress with a strong performance.

"For a school like RMU," Shafer said, "it’s a chance to show you deserve the recognition you might not be getting."

Dec. 11, 2018
A three-week break between games -- really, it's a two-week break without needing to prep for a game, but I digress -- allows time to zoom out for some larger trends. 

As I perused through the game notes yesterday, updating as I went, one stat stood out to be as the Most Interesting of the first 16 games. Well, there are a few that caught my eye, but this one seemed most relevant to this year's team. 

Here goes: When the Colonials score the first goal, they are 4-0-0; when they don't, they're 3-8-1.

The average Division I game this year includes somewhere between five and six total goals, so it shouldn't be some revelation that getting a one-goal head start is important. Still, the stark contrast between the two situations in RMU's case is worth examining. 

In two of those four first-goal wins, just the one score was enough, as Francis Marotte posted the shutout Oct. 26 vs. R.I.T. and this past Friday against Holy Cross. The other two times RMU posted the first goal occurred back to back in that Thanksgiving weekend sweep against Mercyhurst.

Otherwise, the Colonials have had to play from behind in 75 percent of their games so far. It's to their credit that, in the 12 games they conceded the first goal, the Colonials have earned three wins -- over No. 20 Bowling Green, Niagara and Sacred Heart -- and a tie against Army. (RMU was also 25 seconds from getting another come-from-behind tie vs. R.I.T., you might recall.)



Knowing this, it's no wonder head coach Derek Schooley talked about starting better when asked what he wanted to see changed between games against Holy Cross last weekend.

"If we can go into the last game ... and make sure that we get off to a good start," Schooley said Friday night, "we can go into break feeling good about ourselves."

Playing well at the beginning of Saturday's game might not have translated into an elusive first goal or a second straight victory, but that was more of a winning blueprint than the alternative. Considering how the schedule toughens in the spring semester, with 11 of the final 18 games away from Pittsburgh, jumping on top early figures to be more important as the season progresses.

In the meantime, there's plenty to be said for how this team has overcome obstacles. On top of playing from behind often, RMU ices several freshmen on a game-by-game basis and was missing senior defenseman Eric Israel for the first four games due to injury. 

Schooley was asked by a reporter after Saturday's game if this year's team is where he expected it to be.

“If you told me we were (essentially) a .500 team and trending in the right direction, I would say absolutely," Schooley responded. "We’ve had a chance to win some games we’ve lost, and we’ve had a chance to lose some games we’ve won."

Judging by one particular stat, that assessment is right on the money.

Dec. 4, 2018
College hockey overtime is glorious. College hockey overtime is cruel. College hockey overtime is both.

Much like most teams in Division I men's hockey, Robert Morris has seen both sides of sudden death, or sudden victory, if you prefer. Mike Louria's overtime winner Saturday at Sacred Heart leveled the Colonials' 2018-19 record in extra time at 1-1-1, and also transformed what looked like a zero-point weekend in Connecticut to a two-pointer.

The play that got us two points!

From @alextonge88 to @dmantenuto91 to @mikelouria ... let's roll the 🎥! pic.twitter.com/c3ghvXxTqx

— RMU Men’s Hockey (@RMUMHockey) December 3, 2018

Unlike in pro hockey, overtime in Atlantic Hockey action is all or nothing. Yes, ties live on in NCAA pucks, but a decision in OT leaves no points for the loser. Longtime NHL fans will remember the world's top league played five-on-five, five-minute OT with no 'loser points' awarded from the mid-1980s through the end of the 20th century.

That's also the current format for tied games through regulation in AHA. Some leagues have experimented with additional time at three-on-three, then a shootout, but RMU's league keeps it old school, with 10 skates on the ice and all the points going to the winner and none to the loser.

As this week's 15 Years of Hockey throwback video illustrated, the Colonials have had their share of memorable OT success in recent years. Louria has authored two of those victorious moments over the past nine months, giving him a Division I-best three overtime goals for his college career. 

"Maybe guys get more nervous (in overtime), but I just try to play," Louria told me after Monday's practice at the RMU Island Sports Center. "Especially regular season, it's only five minutes. You gotta make a play quick. You probably get two shifts, maybe, if we're rolling (lines). You just gotta make a play and get lucky."

Let's keep looking back! Here are some other recent RMU overtime wins, one in each of the past three seasons, to relive and reflect upon ...

Jan. 19, 2018: RMU 2, Bentley 1
Louria (that guy again!) tied this key AHA game in the final minute of the third period, setting up Alex Tonge's sudden-death strike off the rebound of a blocked shot.



By the way, that Tonge-to-Louria connection on the tying goal foreshadowed their combination on the game-winner vs. Mercyhurst in the AHA semifinal a couple of months later.

Feb. 18, 2017: RMU 3, Mercyhurst 2
Ben Robillard scored 12 goals in four years at Robert Morris, including one in the 2017 AHA final, but this is probably the one he remembers the best when reminiscing about his NCAA days.



Outside of winning a championship, I'm not sure it gets much better than a senior scoring in overtime on Senior Night. 

March 28, 2016: RMU 2, Army West Point 1
Zac Lynch made his name at RMU by scoring a high quantity of points; 156 of them to be exact, good for second all-time in program history. In terms of quality, though, they don't get much more significant than an overtime winner in Rochester.



That goal started a run of three consecutive AHA final appearances for the Colonials. Interestingly enough, RMU is now 3-0 all-time in OT in the AHA semifinal round, including Louria's goal last spring and Scott Jacklin's big moment against Niagara in 2014, part of the Colonials' memorable run to the NCAA tournament.

Nov. 20, 2018
The RMU penalty kill might have dropped a notch or two during the series against nationally-ranked Penn State, but it's been one of the bright spots on the season so far. Over the first 10 games, the PK unit has extinguished 41 of 50 power-play chances it's faced, with an 82 percent kill rate that ranks fifth out of 11 in Atlantic Hockey and 31st of 61 Division I teams.

But over the past couple of seasons, there's been more to the Colonials' kill than simply escaping without damage. From the start of the 2015-16 season through the end of last season, RMU had scored 25 shorthanded goals in 118 games.

That's a rate of about one shorty per every four games, so when the Colonials entered the second game of the Penn State series without a shorthanded strike on the 2018-19 season, they felt overdue to break through. Courtesy of Alex Tonge and Luke Lynch, they did just that early in the first period at the RMU Island Sports Center:
 
That shorty for Lynch was the fourth of his career, tying him for fourth on the program's all-time list and among all active NCAA Division I players. So, he knows a little bit about scoring while down a man.

“On the PK we look to push offensively," Lynch told me after a recent practice. "We definitely try to score. We try to put the puck in their end."

When the junior center says "we," he refers to his frequent running-mate at the top of RMU's first penalty-kill unit: senior winger Tonge. While both players are well known for their attacking ability, they are often working in tandem when the Colonials are short. Their presence on the ice puts the fear in opposing power plays because, frankly, they will try to make any puck-handling mistake hurt.

"I think we look to pick off pucks high (in the defensive zone)," Lynch said. "We look to chip and go."

That's exactly the scenario that led to the response goal you can view on the above video. (Don't worry: I cued it to skip Penn State's opening tally.) Not only did the Colonials kill off an early major penalty, they got one back for themselves. As Lynch noted, that sort of unexpected shift in a game can have an outsized impact.

"That was a big goal, the shorthanded goal there," Lynch said. "We got a quick one on the power play right after that, too. Special teams change games."

Tonge and Lynch connected three times on scoring plays in the home loss to the Nittany Lions, with all three coming in special-teams situations. Two of Tonge's three goals were on the power play, which finished with its first three-goal performance of the season.

Based on track record alone, RMU could expect more of the same from its difference-makers up front, but especially when the penalty boxes are in use.

“It definitely took a step in the right direction," Tonge said of the power play, which rose 11 spots in the D-I rankings with that 3-for-6 night. "Hopefully it continues over the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to it."

Nov. 13, 2018
As we hit the pause button for the first time in this 15th season of RMU men's hockey, there's no better time to continue our globe-spanning search for former Colonials carving out careers in the pro game.

In recent weeks -- as you'll see in entries below -- we've gone over the past two graduating classes, but the Class of 2016 was massive in terms of success in school and pro potential. To this day, the members of the only RMU class to contribute to all three Atlantic Hockey titles accounts for five of the 11 active pro players in 2018-19.

Let's check in on the '16ers ...

Chase Golightly - After skating for the ECHL's Florida Everblades and Reading Royals over his first two pro seasons, Golightly has caught on with the Brampton (Ont.) Beast of the same league, appearing in 10 games to date. Counting playoffs, the California-born blueliner has dressed for 136 ECHL games, scoring 33 points in the process. Among active RMU alums, only Cody Wydo '15 has played in more ECHL games than Golightly.

David Friedmann - The slick centerman also started his pro tenure in the ECHL, splitting time between the Fort Wayne Komets and Wichita Thunder during the 2016-17 season. Last year, Friedmann set up shop overseas, playing in Slovakia and Norway. Following a nine-game stint in Denmark to start this season, Friedmann is back stateside with the Everblades, a franchise that has employed several ex-RMU players in the past.

Tyson Wilson - RMU's 2015-16 captain had a few cups of coffee in the American Hockey League -- one of the few Colonial alums to make it to that level -- but mostly skated in the ECHL since graduating. After stops in Manitoba (AHL), Tulsa (ECHL), Brampton (ECHL) and Laval (AHL), the offensive D-man signed a contract with the Glasgow Clan over in Scotland. He has five points (all assists) in 14 EIHL contests.

Greg Gibson - One of the aforementioned ex-Everblades, Gibson has been living overseas since a 14-game stint with Florida (alongside Golightly) in the spring of 2016. The sharp-shooting Gibson had the most success with SønderjyskE of the Danish league, netting 52 points (21 goals) in 51 games. This season, Gibson has returned to the second-tier league in Germany, where he's been tearing it up for Heilbronner Falken, to the tune of 19 points (nine goals) in 15 games.

Zac Lynch - The Shaler High School hall of famer has had a great deal of success since graduation day, splitting his time between the AHL (36 games) and ECHL. The power forward has been nearly a point-per-game player in the continent's only 'Double-A' hockey league, mostly with the Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs over the past two seasons. This year, Lynch is playing much closer to home -- and doing well. He has three goals and six assists in nine games for the Wheeling (W.Va.) Nailers after this two-assist performance Friday.
 
And before I go, let's give a stick tap to the other members of this class -- Brandon Denham, Terry Shafer, Evan Moore and Matt Cope -- who gave it a go in the pro ranks before getting on with life's work, as Chuck Noll used to say. For details on where they took the ice, visit our Colonials in the Pros page!

Nov. 6, 2018
Fun. That's the word that comes to mind when I think about RMU vs. Penn State.

Yeah, the Nittany Lions enter this weekend's home-and-home ranked eighth according to USCHO.com, but honestly this series would be enjoyable even if both teams were winless. And that's not just in reference to the in-state aspect of this, or the prospect of challenging the closest Big Ten school.

No, this is also fun because of historical precedent.
 
First of all, each team has won four times in the all-time series, so it's quite literally been neck-and-neck since Penn State joined the NCAA Division I men's hockey party in 2012.

In five of the eight matchups, the game has come down to the final minutes. Three of the battles have been decided by one goal, while two others were clinched with empty-netters.

So, with the purpose of building the hype for this weekend, let's look back at the first eight showdowns ...

Dec. 15, 2012: Robert Morris 3, Penn State 2
at Greenberg Ice Pavilion in State College, Pa.
Sophomore winger Jeff Jones factored in on RMU's first two goals, including the equalizer late in the second period. Senior Tyler Hinds broke the tie midway through the third, making a winner of senior goalie Eric Levine, who made 38 saves against the shot-happy Nittany Lions.

Dec. 28, 2012: Robert Morris 6, Penn State 0
at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh
In RMU's first-ever Three Rivers Classic game, a four-goal first period laid the down payment in front of 11,663 gathered at the home of the NHL's Penguins. Sophomore Cody Wydo scored the final two goals of the first period, while junior defenseman Andrew Blazek had a goal and an assist. Matt Cope, Adam Brace and Hinds each picked up a goal. Levine added 48 more saves, foreshadowing his performance against Miami in the 3RC title game the next night.

Nov. 1, 2013: Penn State 5, Robert Morris 4
at RMU Island Sports Center (84 Lumber Arena)
PSU scored its first win in the all-time series on the strength of three power-play goals on the Island. Wydo, then a junior, set a program record with an incredible four-goal game, including a game-tying penalty shot early in the third period. Junior Scott Jacklin assisted on two of Wydo's tallies, with sophomore Zac Lynch helping on two as well.
 
Dec. 27, 2013: Penn State 3, Robert Morris 2
at CONSOL Energy Center
After a scoreless first period in the Three Rivers Classic semifinal round, RMU grabbed a pair of one-goal leads on tallies from junior defenseman Tyson Wilson and sophomore center David Friedmann. But Penn State rallied twice, capped by Eric Scheid's game-winner with 1:40 left in the third period, preventing the first 3RC overtime game. This was the final loss in a difficult first half of the 2013-14 season, but RMU would go on a 17-5-4 run after the new year to make its first NCAA Tournament.

Dec. 29, 2014: No. 17 Robert Morris 4, No. 20 Penn State 2
at CONSOL Energy Center 
The Colonials jumped back on top in the all-time series with a victory in this collision of nationally-ranked teams. Sophomore Daniel Leavens recorded two points, highlighted by the eventual game-winner earlier in the third period. Senior goalie Terry Shafer stepped up with 35 saves and Lynch punched in an empty-netter to push RMU to 2-1 in Three Rivers Classic openers.

Dec. 28, 2015: Robert Morris 6, No. 14 Penn State 4
at CONSOL Energy Center
Ten Colonials scored at least a point in this up-and-down score-fest, led by Lynch's three points (one goal, two assists). Fellow seniors Brandon Denham and Greg Gibson chipped in two points apiece as RMU preserved a 4-1 lead through two periods. Shafer got in front of 52 shots, the second time he made 50-plus saves against Penn State in his career.
 
Dec. 8, 2017: No. 18 Penn State 5, Robert Morris 2
at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh
After nearly two years without a meeting, the two Pennsylvania programs got back together under the big top of the newly-renamed PPG Paints Arena. Junior wing Michael Louria put the Colonials ahead with a power-play goal in the first and senior center Brady Ferguson pulled RMU within two in the third, but Penn State prevailed with a 42-shot attack.
 
Dec. 9, 2017: No. 18 Penn State 7, Robert Morris 4
at Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa.
RMU's first visit to Pegula was a back-and-forth thriller until the final minute. Senior center Spencer Dorowicz scored just 27 seconds into the game, Ferguson buried a shorthanded goal and Louria put up a three-point night (goal, two assists) before Penn State pulled away to level the all-time series.

Oct. 30, 2018
If you watched the first episode of this year's Road to Revolution documentary series, you saw that Class of 2017 forward Daniel Leavens is one of many former Colonials who swing back into town in the late summer and early fall to take part in some informal workouts on the Island.

Check out Leavens' advice to current Colonials starting at the 4:30 mark:

Oct. 23, 2018
Now that we've plunged into mid-to-late October, we can officially go on the hunt for former Colonials who are out there making a living in this glorious game. In other words: Pro seasons everywhere around the world have begun, so the search is on!

Let's start with the Class of 2018 for this week ...

Brady Ferguson - RMU's all-time leading scorer began the year with stints in the Toronto Maple Leafs' development camp, rookie tournament and main training camp, then reported to the brand-new ECHL team in Newfoundland, the Growlers. As of last weekend, Ferguson had three goals and two assists for Toronto's player-development affiliate.

Timmy Moore - The native Michigander found a home in South Carolina last spring, dressing in seven games for the ECHL's Greenville Swamp Rabbits (real name). Moore, who ranked fourth on the 2017-18 Colonials with 36 points last year, has now played in 10 games for Greenville, three this season.

Spencer Dorowicz - The man called 'Doro' netted his first pro goal last spring in an eight-game post-college stint with those pesky Swamp Rabbits, but has since hooked up with another ECHL team, the Cincinnati Cyclones. Dorowicz has been scorching hot to start the year, scoring four goals in three games to date.
 
Robert Powers - Another Colonial who finished last season in ECHL Greenville, the offensive defenseman Powers signed with the Indy Fuel of that same league over the summer. It's looking like a good pickup for the Chicago affiliate, with Powers having popped in a goal and three helpers in four total games.

Alex Bontje - As for the former RMU captain, he took his talents a little farther from home; to France, specifically. Skating for Cholet of the French second-division league, Bontje has played four games on the blue line, chipping in a pair of assists.

Elias Ghantous - Speaking of France, Ghantous has set up shop in that country's second division as well. He's dressed in three of four games for Briançon but is still searching for his first pro point.

Brett Beauvais - A native of Prince Edward Island, Beauvais transferred to Robert Morris after three years with Bemidji State. After competing in 13 games for the Colonials last season, Beauvais set sail for the ECHL's nascent Kansas City Mavericks franchise over the summer. He's seen the ice in two games so far, posting a plus-3 rating.

More to come from Colonials of years past in future editions of the Press Box Blog!

Sept. 19, 2018
You probably noticed last week that the program's all-time leading scorer Brady Ferguson attended the start of Toronto Maple Leafs training camp. (If you didn't, here's the story.)

Well, the weekend passed and the Maple Leafs sent their players under contracts with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, to a different camp. Ferguson was part of that group, but he had some time to chat with me late Tuesday about the past few months, which have included playing his first five professional games (for the Marlies), taking part in Maple Leafs development camp and rookie tournament, and the few days he spent at his first NHL training camp.

Here are some snippets from our conversation ...

Matt Gajtka: How would you describe the experience over the summer and this past weekend at Leafs camp?

Brady Ferguson: It was a blast. Pretty cool getting to pull on a Leafs jersey and getting to play with some of their top prospects. It's a learning curve for me. 

MG: What's something you've learned from your short time in the Toronto organization?

BF: I’ve already learned that you can’t just play one position. You've gotta play all positions and there are no excuses. I’ve played both wings and center. I’m gonna try to do whatever they want me to do. (Editor's note: Ferguson played mostly center in his RMU career, especially the past two seasons.)

MG: What about off the ice? What's the instruction been like in that aspect?

BF: For the position I’m in, it was more about the experience than any specific instruction. To watch how the professionals do it every day, how they take care of their bodies. I learned most of it with the (Marlies) at the end of the year, and at development camp (in the summer).
 

MG: If you had to pick NHL organizations to play for, I'd imagine Toronto is at or near the top of the list right now. What's the buzz like up there about the Leafs, especially from a player's standpoint?

BF: This is one of the best organizations in the league. They treat their players unbelievably well. Everyone in Toronto is ready for the Leafs to be on top again. It was really exciting to see all of these high-end players play. It was fun. Cool to be out there (with them).

MG: What do you think you have to do to make an impact as a pro?

BF: At the pro level, the game is so much faster. You have to think the game faster and keep up with your skating.

MG: This is the first time in four years you're not immersed in the college culture. How are you adjusting to the new lifestyle?

BF: I was just thinking this is the first summer (in a while) I didn't have to sign up for classes. I miss it a little bit, but I’m excited. It was beneficial to me to see how professionals act. It gives me a step up for the (AHL) season.