Robert Morris Colonials (3-6-1 ; 1-2-1 CHA) vs.

#7 Colorado College Tigers (7-2-1 ; 6-1-1 WCHA)

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 - 7:37 p.m. (MT)

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 - 7:07 p.m.
World Arena - Colorado Springs, Colo.

Live Game Stats @ CC

Game Notes in PDF

Top Story:  Last Friday, Robert Morris battled to its first win at Niagara's Dwyer Arena since 2008 with an impressive 5-3 victory.  On Saturday, RMU came home to tie with the Purple Eagles, 3-3, to secure second place in the CHA. Coming off two solid performances, the Colonials must now carry their momentum into yet another challenge on the road. This Friday and Saturday, RMU will face its highest ranked opponent so far this season as they match-up against the #7 Tigers of Colorado College.

Musket Shots:
- Colorado College is the fourth ranked opponent RMU has faced in 2009
- RMU is 2-1 all-time when taking on opponents ranked in the top eight
- Robert Morris is 1-0 versus the WCHA this season after downing UA-Anchorage on Oct. 17, 5-3
- The Colonials are 3-1 when they score four or more goals this season
- Robert Morris earned its first road win of the year last Friday, Nov. 13 at NU
- Juniors Chris Kushneriuk & Nathan Longpre are tied for second in scoring on the CHA leader board with 13 points each

- Kushneriuk is ranked 12th nationally for points per game
- Longpre is now third all-time in points at RMU with a career total of 78 (25g 53a)

All-Time Series vs. CC Tigers:  Friday and Saturday’s games mark the start of a new tradition for the Tigers and Colonials. Although Robert Morris has taken on the other two college hockey programs in the state of Colorado, this is the first meeting for Colorado College and RMU.

Scouting the Tigers:  Colorado College takes a short break from conference action this weekend when they face the Colonials for the first time in either program’s history. Last weekend at Minnesota State, the Tigers swept the Mavericks to move into first place in the WCHA. Lead by head coach Scott Owens, the Tigers have earned 239 victories and .630 winning percentage during his 10 year tenure. Also, CC has won three regular-season championships in the WCHA and made six appearances in the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the Frozen Four in 2005. Senior Bill Sweatt, a Chicago Blackhawk draft pick, has lead the Tiger offense so far with six goals and nine assists. Freshman forward Rylan Schwartz follows closely behind with his total of four goals and eight assists in ten games. He is the third highest scoring rookie in the nation so far this season. Much of Colorado College’s success this season has come from between the pipes. Freshman netminder Joe Howe is 7-1-1, including one shutout win over Minnesota State. He owns a .934 save percentage and a 2.08 GAA.
 

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.

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 one goal and four 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 2 goals and one assist, including one unassisted marker against Niagara. Cramer is also on pace to double his total from last season. He tallied four goals and four assists in 2008-09, now he fourth on the RMU squad for scoring with six points (1g 5a).

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.

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 15-35-5 record from Nov. 1-Dec. 31.

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.