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RMU Hockey: Colonials Atop Atlantic Hockey Association Power Rankings

By Larry Snyder

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The NCAA has dropped the puck on a new season of college hockey. Let’s take a look at the Robert Morris University Colonials and their Atlantic Hockey Association rivals in our City of Champions AHA Power Rankings.

1) RMU Colonials (4-0 overall, 2-0 AHA): Derek Schooley’s crew opened the season with a pair of sweeps as they defeated Lake Superior State 3-1 and 3-0 two weeks ago and Niagara 5-2 and 4-1 last week in a home-and-home series.

The goaltending tandem of junior Terry Shafer and sophomore Dalton Izyk picked up where they left off from last season’s conference championship run as Shafer is 2-0 with a 1.50 goals-against-average while Izyk is 2-0 with a 0.50 GAA.

Two of the early scoring leaders are senior left wing Cody Wydo with three goals and three assists for six points while senior center Scott Jacklin has contributed four goals and one assist for five points.

2) Canisius Golden Griffins (2-2, 1-1 AHA): Canisius went 1-1 in their opening weekend with Western Michigan and followed that up with a split last week against Army in AHA action.

This week junior forward Ralph Cuddemi was named Co-Player of the Week by the AHA for his putting up the program’s 16th hat trick in the come from behind victory over Army last Friday.

Dave Smith’s squad has six players with at least three points apiece. The Griffs are tied with Air Force and RMU for the lead in power play goals with four each.

3) Mercyhurst Lakers (1-1, 1-1 AHA): After splitting a two-game series with the Air Force Academy on their opening weekend, the Lakers were idle last week.

We may have a better idea on Rich Gotkin’s team after they play Hockey East opponent, the Merrimack College Warriors this weekend in Erie.

A pair of freshmen to keep an eye on at Mercyhurst this season are forward Jonathan Charboneau and defensman Zach Todd.

4) Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-2, 2-2 AHA): Over the first two weeks of the season, C.J. Marottolo’s team opened with AHA opponents Army and Bentley. The Pioneers went 1-1 in both two-game series with their conference opponents.

Freshman forward Zach Sabatini leads the team in goals with two while sophomore defenseman Mitch Nylen has contributed three assists in four games.

This year’s squad has five freshman and 13 sophomores on the roster so there is going to be a learning curve for this group as the season progresses.

5) Army Black Knights (2-2, 2-2 AHA): After claiming just five conference wins last season, the Black Knights have already picked up a pair of AHA victories as they batted .500 in their two-game series the last two weekends with Sacred Heart and Canisius.

Sophomore goaltender Parker Gahagen earned Goaltender of the Week honors this week as he claimed his first collegiate shutout on Saturday in the 3-0 victory over Canisius.

Freshman forwards Tyler Pham and Brendon McGuire are tied for the team lead in goals with two apiece. Another freshman forward, Conor Andrie leads in assists with four.

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6) Bentley Falcons (1-2, 1-1 AHA): It has been up and down in the early going for Ryan Soderquist’s squad as they lost their opener to Quinnipiac and came back to split a pair with Sacred Heart in a home-and-home series last week.

Junior forward Andrew Gladiuk found the back of the net for three of Bentley’s seven goals against Sacred Heart. He was named the Co-Player of the Week with Cuddemi of Canisius this week.

7) RIT Tigers (1-2, 0-0 AHA): Wayne Wilson’s team opened the season with a 5-2 win over St. Lawrence at the new Gene Polisseni Center, but have dropped their next two to Clarkson and Boston College.

Freshman forward Brad McGowan has two goals and one assist for three points while senior forward Matt Garbosky has one goal, one assist, and four shots on the power play in three games.

8) Air Force Falcons (1-3, 1-1 AHA): Like Army and Sacred Heart, Air Force’s roster skews young this season with a dozen freshman and five sophomores.

Senior forward Cole Gunner has two goals and four assists to lead Frank Serratore’s crew with six points. He is tied with fellow senior forward Chad Demers for the lead in shots with 14 each.

9) Holy Cross Crusaders (1-2-1, 1-0-1 AHA): It is David Berard’s first season at the helm of the Crusaders hocky program. After dropping two games to Merrimack on their opening weekend, Holy Cross last week picked up their first victory of the season, along with a tie, against the Yellow Jackets of American International College.

While sophomore forward Brett McKinnon leads the team with a pair of goals, it is senior goaltender Matt Ginn who has been getting the job done between the pipes with 2.21 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage.

10) American International Yellow Jackets (0-2-1, 0-1-1 AHA): The Jackets need to be more consistent at both ends of the ice as they have put up seven goals in three games while surrendering 12 to their opponents.

There was good news to report as freshman goaltender Alex Murray tied a school record with 53 saves in the 2-2 tie with Holy Cross. His efforts earned him honors as the conference’s Rookie of the Week this week.

11) Niagara Purple Eagles (0-4, 0-2 AHA): It does not get any easier this week for Niagara as they head to South Bend for a pair of games with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

In four games this season, the Purple Eagles have surrendered 22 goals while scoring just six of their own.It will not help that Vince Muto, one of the Purple Eagels top defensemen, is out six to eight weeks with an arm injury, and goaltender Jackson Teichroeb has been on the shelf.

See you at the rink soon as the AHA season keeps rolling along.

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