Robert Morris Colonials (8-14-4 ; 4-5-2 CHA) vs.

Niagara Purple Eagles (7-15-3 ; 2-6-1 CHA)

Wednesday, Feb. 3 - 7:05 p.m.

Niagara, N.Y. - Dwyer Arena

Game Notes in PDF

Top Story: After knocking off #1 Miami in a series sweep in early January, the Colonials were dubbed “giant-killers” by the local Pittsburgh media.  Once again, Robert Morris returned to its ways when the team bounced back from a difficult defeat on Friday to storm past the #6 Bemidji State Beavers, 5-2.  With only seven regular season contests remaining, RMU hopes to secure its second spot in the CHA standings with Wednesday's makeup game at Niagara.

Musket Shots:
• Five of the twelve opponents RMU faces this season are nationally ranked, three of them are ranked in the top fifteen
• The Colonials are 5-3 all-time when facing a team ranked in the Top-8, including victories over #1 Miami on Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 and #6 Bemidji State
• The Colonials were 5-4-1 this in January, including two series sweeps over #1 Miami and Alabama-Huntsville
• RMU is unbeaten when holding a lead at the end of the first or second period
• Junior Nathan Longpre is fourth in scoring on the CHA leader board with 27 points. Chris Kushneriuk is in sixth with 25 points
• Longpre is now second all-time in points at RMU with a career total of 92 points (30g 62a)

All-Time Series vs. Niagara: In what looked a be a change in fortune for Robert Morris, the Colonials saw their five game unbeaten streak against the Purple Eagles come to a crashing halt on Nov. 25, when Niagara blasted RMU, 5-0, at home. Before the difficult loss, RMU and NU tied on Nov. 14 in Pittsburgh and the Colonials came up with a win in Dwyer Arena to open the 2009 series with the Purps. Last season, Robert Morris struggled with the Purple Eagles early on, going 0-4 in their first four meetings. However, the Colonials caught fire late, going on a seven game unbeaten streak and closed out the series with two deadlocks. Then in the CHA Semifinal contest, #3 seed Robert Morris downed the #2 Purple Eagles, 2-1 to advance to the CHA Championship Game. Since the onset of the 2008-09 season, the record between the two totals 2-5-3.

Scouting the Purple Eagles: After dropping two contests to fellow CHA member, Alabama-Huntsville, the Purple Eagles enter Wednesday's game with a 7-15-3 overall record. Niagara has played powerhouse opponents such as #5 Michigan, #6 Cornell and #19 UMass. NU's wins have been over RMU, RPI, Bemidji State and most recently, Quinnipiac. Their first tie came in their season opener when they hosted Colgate on Oct. 9. Senior Chris Moran leads the Purple Eagles offensively with 28 points and is 3rd in the CHA scoring race. Fellow senior, Ryan Olidis follows closely behind with his total of 22 points (10g 12a).Sophomore Chris Noonan will likely continue to be Niagara's starter in goal. He owns a 4-8-1 record this season and has posted a .911 save percentage and a 3.29 GAA.
 

Sweep for Second Straight Week:  On Jan. 18, 2010, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team has swept the weekly awards handed out by College Hockey America (CHA).  Freshman Andrew Blazek was named both the CHA's Offensive and Rookie Player of the Week.  Sophomore goaltender, Brooks Ostergard earned the CHA Defensive Player of the Week distinction for the second straight week.  Blazek, an Upper St. Clair native, had only seen action in seven contests as a Colonial before the past weekend's series against Alabama-Huntsville.  On Friday,  the first-year defenseman tallied two assists for his first career points at RMU.  In Saturday's match up, Blazek recorded another assist and his first career goal which was the eventual game winner for Robert Morris.  By winning the two awards, Blazek becomes the first CHA freshman this season to be named both Offensive and Rookie Player of the Week.  Fresh off his outstanding performance against Miami, Ostergard followed up with another solid weekend as he swept the Chargers for the second time in his RMU career.  The netminder also recorded his second consecutive series sweep while allowing only two goals each night.  In Ostergard's last four outings, he has given up a total of just six goals. In conference, he has a .914 save percentage and a 2.52 GAA.

National Player of the Week:  On Jan. 11, 2010 Sophomore goalie Brooks Ostergard of the Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team was named InsideCollegeHockey.com National Player of the Week after the Colonials shocked then-No. 1 Miami in their two-game series over the weekend. The sophomore goalie was at the top of his game in both contests as he helped the Colonials to a series sweep over previously top-ranked Miami. In Friday's Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase game at Mellon Arena, Ostergard made 39 saves and allowed just a power-play goal in the 3-1 win. Sunday at Goggin Ice Arena in Oxford, Ohio, Ostergard once again held strong as he stopped 38 Miami shots while allowing a lone power-play goal. He made 14 saves in the third period while the Colonials were forced to kill off 11 minutes of Miami power play time. Ostergard also earned First Star of the game accolades after both wins. Overall, he owns a .912 career save percentage and a 2.99 GAA in 26 total outings.

Trio Snags CHA Weekly Awards:  On Tuesday, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team had three student athletes recognized by College Hockey America (CHA) for their outstanding play as the Colonials upset then No. 1 Miami in a home-and-home series. Junior Denny Urban picked up his third conference award of the 2009-10 season as he was named CHA Offensive Player of the Week. Sophomore goalie Brooks Ostergard was honored as the CHA Defensive Player of the Week, while Stefan Salituro received his first career mention as the CHA's top rookie.
Urban, RMU's top scoring defenseman, tallied one goal and two assists in the two-game series against the RedHawks. On Friday in the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase, he notched an assist on the Colonial's third goal. In Saturday's, 2-1, road win, Urban tallied an assist on RMU's first goal and then an unassisted game-winner to complete the Robert Morris sweep of Miami. So far this season, Urban has accumulated six goals and nine assists for a total of 15 points.
In between the pipes, the Colonial's received a stellar effort from Ostergard. The sophomore netminder held the nation's top team to just two goals in two games, while picking up his first two-game series sweep since Feb. 2009, when he lead the Colonials on an 11 game unbeaten streak. Brooks made a total of 77 saves, with a 1.00 GAA and .975 save percentage against the top ranked RedHawks. Salituro, who has played in ten games as a Colonial, scored for Robert Morris during Friday's 3-1 upset victory against the then-No. 1 Miami Redhawks. The first year forward finished the weekend with a plus-one rating, helping the Colonials secure the sweep.

Power Play Problems: During the course of the 09-10 season, the Colonials had struggled with penalty killing and converting on their own power play chances.  On the penalty kill, Robert Morris is 101 of 132 for a 76.5% kill rating.  But on Jan. 8 RMU took a turn for the best as they killed four Miami PP chances, and even tallied a short handed score . In the past seven games, RMU has had an 85% kill percentage. The Colonials are 18/124 this season with a man advantage converting only 14.5% of the time.

Winter Woes: Since the RMU hockey program's inception in 2004, the Colonials have traditionally struggled in the months of November and December. Last season, RMU had is toughest stretch of the season during these two months going 2-7. Overall, RMU hockey owns a 15-35-6 record from Nov. 1-Dec. 31.

Happy New Year: The Colonials traditionally perform well in the beginning of each new year. Over the past five seasons, RMU has posted a 7-4-2 record in their opening games each January. Notably, two of the Colonials' biggest wins came against #1 Miami on 1/8/10 and 1/10/10 and at #2 Notre Dame on 1/7/07.  This season, Robert Morris is 4-3-1 in the month of January.

Keeping It Clean:  Out of all 58 Div. I college hockey programs, Robert Morris ranks 49th in penalty minutes. The Colonials average only 11.8 penalty minutes per game, The national leader for PIM, Alaska-Anchorage, averages nearly double the RMU total. Sophomore Ron Cramer, who owns 52 PIM after 26 games, leads the team in minutes for the second consecutive year.
 

Breaking Out: Several Colonials have drastically improved their offensive production in the still young 2009-10 season. In 26 games last year, Furman South did not tally a single point. However, it took just two games this season for South to notch not one, but two assists in his first point scoring contest. He now has three goals and nine assists. Also having a good opening spurt are fellow sophomores Nick Chiavetta and Ron Cramer. In 2008-09, Chiavetta played in 19 games and recorded just one assist. Now he has totaled three goals and three assists, including two unassisted markers. Cramer is also on pace to more than double his total from last season. He tallied four goals and four assists in 2008-09, now he owns a total of three goals and 11 assists.

Pennsylvania Proud: This season, nine players on the Colonial roster hail from the state of Pennsylvania. This marks the largest crop of Keystone state players on the RMU men's hockey team. Out of the nine, seven are from within the local Pittsburgh area. The local players include: Andrew Blazek, Ron Cramer, Brendan Jamison, Josh Jones, Furman South, Denny Urban and Joe Ziemainski.
 

Taking on the Ranks: RMU is 8-14 all-time against ranked opponents. The most notable number however comes against teams ranked in the top-8. The Colonials are 4-2 when facing a team ranked in the top-8, including victories over #1 Miami on Jan. 8, 2010 and Jan. 10, 2010, #2 Notre Dame on Jan. 27, 2007 and #8 Boston University on Oct. 12, 2007.

Duo Earn POTW Honors:  A pair of Robert Morris University men's hockey players were honored by College Hockey America (CHA) on Monday, Nov. 16 for their outstanding play in conference action. Sophomore goaltender Brooks Ostergard and junior forward Chris Kushneriuk helped lead the Colonials to a 1-0-1 record over Niagara in their first home-and-home series of the year.  Kushneriuk, named the CHA's Offensive Player of the Week, picked up his first career hat trick on Friday's night to power the Colonials to a 5-3 win at Dwyer Arena. One of his goals included the game winner which gave RMU it's first win at Niagara since January, 2008. On Saturday night, Kushneriuk continued his scoring trend at home with two assists to complete his five-point weekend.  With the 11/16 award, Ostergard picks up his first CHA Defensive Player of the Week honor this season. Last season, he was named to the CHA All-Rookie team and also earned Defensive Player of the Week distinction. In the two-game series with Niagara, Ostergard combined for 78 saves and boasted a .924 save percentage as he notched his first conference win of the season. He holds an overall .940 save percentage in CHA action. In his last five outings against Niagara spanning back to last season, Ostergard has not been beaten.

Longpre Offensive POTW: Junior forward Nathan Longpre of the Robert Morris University men's hockey team was honored on Nov. 2 by College Hockey America (CHA) for his outstanding play during the previous weekend. After scoring four goals and adding an assist in RMU's win over #18 Quinnipiac, Longpre was named CHA Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time of his career. On Saturday night, Longpre had a record setting game, scoring the most goals (4) and tying for most points (5) in a single-game by a RMU player. His four goal performance also marked his first career hat trick. Longpre now sits second on the CHA scoring leader board with four goals and five assists for a total of nine points. Last season, Longpre earned CHA Offensive Player of the Week recognition three times and was also named to the CHA All-First Team. A Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Camp Invitee, he has totaled 21 goals and 51 assists in his 69 game career at Robert Morris.

Ranked Teams at the Island:  This season, Robert Morris has continued the trend of playing .500 against ranked opponents at home. The Colonials hold a 4-4 all-time record against ranked teams at the RMU Island Sports Center. The Colonials played three ranked teams at home in the 2007-08 season, all of which were ranked 19th at the time, Niagara twice and Princeton. Three wins have come against Niagara, while the fourth is the most recent win against Quinnipiac.

Preseason Prognostications: According to a poll by the head coaches of College Hockey America (CHA), the Robert Morris University men's hockey team has been tabbed to finish third in the conference for the 2009-10 season. Leading the pack with two first place votes and eight points was Bemidji State, who last year won the CHA regular season championship and CHA Tournament. With the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Beavers went on to upset Notre Dame and Cornell to reach the NCAA Frozen Four. Last year's regular season runner-ups, Niagara, garnered the second most votes with seven points. After an impressive late season run and an appearance in the CHA Championship game, the Colonials were picked to finish third with six points. Behind Robert Morris with three points was Alabama-Huntsville.

CHA Preseason Honors: Juniors Nathan Longpre and Denny Urban were named to the Preseason All-CHA team after break-out seasons in 2008-09. Longpre finished the season second in the CHA with 12 goals and 29 assists behind now RMU alum, Chris Margott. Urban returns for the 2009 campaign after notching four goals and 23 assists last season as one of the top offense producing defenseman in the conference.

New Faces: For the 2009-10 season, Robert Morris has added two new coaches to the Colonial staff. Matt Nicholson and Mark Workman will both bring a variety of playing, coaching and recruiting experience to the program. Nicholson, played four years at Colgate University before a professional career in the Central Hockey League (CHL). For the last two years, he has worked at Div. III Adrian College while helping the Bulldogs to a 53-4-1 record. Also joining Nicholson is Workman who graduated from St. Scholastica. After working as a both an assistant and head coach as his alma mater, Workman has spend the last six years at Ivy League, Brown University. Former forward, Kyle Burton, will also be working for RMU hockey in new capacity this season. Due to a medical condition, Burton will hang up his skates and take on the role of student coach in the 2009-10 season.

Flash Forward: Nathan Longpre, now a junior, had a break out year in 2008-09. He was honored as a CHA First Team selection and finished the regular season ranked 8th nationally for most assists. Also a 2009 NHL Pittsburgh Penguins Camp Invitee, the forward should continue to be one of the biggest scoring threats in the CHA. Fellow junior, Chris Kushneriuk will also return as one of the Colonial's top forwards. A transfer from Wayne State University in 2008, Kushneriuk had a stellar second half in 2009 as he posted 15 points in 21 games and won a CHA Offensive Player of the Week award

Dominating Defense: The Colonials only lost two defensemen to graduation at the end of 2009. With a very solid defensive core returning, Schooley believes the defense will be one of the strongest parts of the Colonial's game during the 2009-10 season. Junior blueliner, Denny Urban, has a proven track record of being both a defensive and offensive threat. Last season, he posted the most points out of all defenseman in the CHA. With four goals and 23 assists, he earned three CHA Defensive Player of the Week honors and was also named to the All-CHA First team.

Outstanding Ostergard: A huge part of the Colonials success late in 2008-09 was now sophomore goaltender, Brooks Ostergard. Ostergard earned his first career win with a shutout victory over Bemidji State in mid-February. From that point on, Ostergard led the Colonials on a seven game unbeaten streak and into the CHA Finals. He boasted a 2.57 GAA and a .917 save percentage to make him the second best goalie in CHA action.