Robert Morris Men’s Hockey: Inside This Week’s Atlantic Hockey Power Rankings

With the Christmas break around the corner in college hockey, let’s take a look at Robert Morris University, and the Atlantic Hockey Conference Power Rankings this week.

The beginning of December was good for RMU as they were the first AHC team to collect 10 victories this season. The Colonials had a two-game sweep of the Sacred Heart University Pioneers this past weekend at 84 Lumber Arena on Neville Island.

Coach Derek Schooley’s squad was ranked 17th this week in the latest United States College Hockey Online poll. It is the second time in the program history they have been ranked this high in any national survey. They reached No. 17 this season on Nov. 10th in the USCHO poll.

Time to check out how the teams stack up this week.

1) RMU Colonials (10-1-3 overall, 8-1-3 AHA) – Last Ranking #1: Veteran Pittsburgh sports writer Mike Prisuta in his Prisuta On Pucks column likes their blueprint for success and how their work ethic has become their signature characteristic.

Meanwhile, Ryan Lambert in the Puck Daddy column on Yahoo Sports likes RMU’s dominant possession numbers at 54.9 percent and their goal differential at +29 in 14 games.

Both writers like the goaltending tandem of junior Terry Shafer and sophomore Dalton Izyk as the duo has each put up five victories this season.

2) Holy Cross College Crusaders (7-5-4, 6-1-4 AHA) – Last Ranking #9: The Crusaders rise in the conference can be linked to the play of Matt Ginn between the pipes. He was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Month for November. The 6-foot-1, 181-pound senior put up a 1.77 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage while surrendering just 13 goals. With 196 saves and two shutouts, he went 3-1-3 last month.

3) Mercyhurst University Lakers (7-4-2, 5-2-2 AHA) – Last Ranking #2: In Saturday’s 6-3 victory over Army, it was all about redshirt freshman Jack Riley going home, and playing against his father Brian, who is the coach of the Black Knights. He scored a career-high two goals and two assists for four points in the Lakers’ win while blocking four shots. Riley missed last year’s series at Tate Rink due to an injury.

4) Bentley University Falcons (8-8-1, 6-4-1 AHA) – Last Ranking #6: Another program coming on strong in part because of solid goaltending is Bentley. Since missing the beginning of the season with an injury, freshman netminder Jayson Argue has started four consecutive games and is 3-1 with a .947 save percentage and a 1.51 GAA.

More from Robert Morris University

• Big Week for Robert Morris University Colonials Athletics
• Three Rivers Classic: Hometown team RMU prevails, wins championship
• Three Rivers Classic: Robert Morris vs Penn State recap
• Three Rivers Classic preview: Robert Morris vs Penn State showdown
• Rodney Pryor, RMU guard, named Northeast Conference Player of the Week

5) Canisius College Golden Griffins (6-6-5, 5-4-4 AHA) – Last Ranking #3: Forward Ralph Cuddemi leads the Canisius offense as he put up three goals on Saturday for a natural hat trick in the Griffs 4-4 tie with AIC. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound senior also had three goals against Army on Oct. 17, and he is the only player in the country with multiple hat tricks on the season.

6) Sacred Heart University Pioneers (5-8-2, 4-6-2 AHA) – Last Ranking #5: Coach C.J. Marottolo’s crew has 39 goals on 423 shots in 15 games this season. Where the Pioneers need to improve is on special teams where they are 5 of 73 on the power play this season.

7) Air Force Falcons (5-10-2, 4-5-1 AHA) – Last Ranking #7: After being swept by Bentley over the weekend, the Falcons are on Christmas break till Dec. 28-29 when they participate in the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vermont. Air Force will take on Vermont in the first game and UMass in the second contest.

8) RIT Tigers (4-8-2, 3-5-2 AHA) – Last Ranking #10: When you travel to the Gene Polisseni Center, the Tiger to watch is forward Matt Garbowsky. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior is tied for second in the country with 11 goals, third with 221 face-off wins, and tied for eighth with 19 points.

9) Army Black Knights (4-12-2, 4-10-2 AHA) – Last Ranking #8: One player to keep an eye on at Army is Tyler Pham, who was named this week the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month for November. The freshman from Colorado led the Black Knights offense last month with four goals and six assists for 10 points. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound forward also leads the AHC among rookies in goals with six and assists with eight for a total of 14 points.

10) American International College Yellow Jackets (2-10-3, 2-5-3 AHA) – Last Ranking #9: Austin Orszulak is hitting his stride in his sophomore season as he has eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 15 games. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound forward is tied with fellow sophomore David Norris for the team lead in points.

11) Niagara University Purple Eagles (3-11-0, 3-7-0 AHA) – Last Ranking #11: Two players creating offense for the Purple Eagles are junior center Hugo Turcotte and freshman forward Robert Angiolella as they are tied for the team lead in goals with five apiece.