2 days Ago By Brad Elliott Schlossman
GRAND FORKS — Derek Schooley remembers his first trip to Grand Forks. Schooley, Robert Morris' only men's hockey coach in program history, brought the Colonials to Ralph Engelstad Arena in January 2011 to face one of UND's best teams of the last two decades. That UND team had Matt Frattin, Evan Trupp and Brad Malone on the top line.
It had NHL star Brock Nelson and Stanley Cup champion Carter Rowney on the fourth line. UND won the series opener 8-0. "I remember they ran out of fireworks," Schooley said.
"It was right when they instituted video replay. They'd score a goal, light off the fireworks. Then, on like four or five of them, they went in to review them.
Then, after they confirmed the goal, they lit off the fireworks again. Every time, we were getting double fireworked. "I don't think they had any left for Saturday.
" There weren't many needed Saturday. The series finale was scoreless with five minutes to go in the third period, when Frattin curled out of the left circle and sniped one on Robert Morris goalie Eric Levine for an unassisted goal. Robert Morris, located in suburban Pittsburgh, will make its second trip to Grand Forks this weekend to take on No.
12 UND at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.
m. Saturday in Ralph Engelstad Arena. "I'm excited about the opportunity," Schooley said.
"When we came up there (in 2011), I really enjoyed the trip. I didn't enjoy the results. We played really well in one game, not so well in the first game.
We've got to be focused and prepared to play. This will be fun for our players." Here are eight things to know about the Colonials.
Schooley was the head coach who took Robert Morris to the Division-I level in 2004. He had to start the program for a second time in 2023. Robert Morris announced it was cutting hockey in May 2021.
Seven months later, it reversed course and said it would re-start hockey in 2023-24. In 2023, Robert Morris leaned into the transfer portal, grabbing 10 transfers to fill out the roster. Last summer, the Colonials grabbed six transfers.
"When I did it in 2004, it was all freshmen," Schooley said. "This time with the transfer portal, it was easier to get guys in different classes. We had nine fifth-years last year.
We decided to go younger this year instead of going into the portal as much." The Colonials have 22 underclassmen (10 freshmen, 12 sophomores) on their 29-man roster. They have three juniors, three seniors and one fifth-year senior.
"We're a young, inexperienced hockey team," Schooley said. "We're finding out ways to mature and finish out hockey games." Although Robert Morris lacks experience, it does not have a single teenager on the squad.
Its youngest player is freshman forward Connor Gourley, who turned 20 in July. Its oldest player is fifth-year senior Mitch Deelstra, who turned 25 in July. Robert Morris got off to a great start, going 4-1-2 through its first seven games.
"Before the season, if you would have told me that through seven games we'd have one loss, I'd have taken that in a heartbeat," Schooley said. The Colonials have a 2-0 record against the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this season, sweeping Miami in a home-and-home series. Robert Morris dominated the opener 5-1 in Oxford, Ohio.
The Colonials led 5-0 midway through that game and held Miami to just four shots on goal in the third. "We did an unbelievable job closing out that game," Schooley said. Two nights later, Robert Morris beat Miami 4-1 to finish the sweep.
That game was 2-1 heading into the final minutes. The Colonials scored two empty-netters to seal it. Last weekend, Robert Morris dropped a pair of games to Sacred Heart to fall to 4-3-1.
In the series opener, Sacred Heart scored a bad-angle goal with 12 seconds left to win it. The series finale was tied 3-3 going into the third period, but Sacred Heart scored three times. "If games were 50 minutes, we would have had good results," Schooley said.
"Unfortunately, they're 60. That's how we ended up on the other side of the sweep." Robert Morris started this season with three new goaltenders — and they're all big.
Croix Kochendorfer, a 6-foot-4 freshman who played prep hockey at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul and East Ridge High in Woodbury, Minn., has carried the load.
He's 4-2-1 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
Junior Dylan Meilun, a 6-foot-5 Winnipegger, was slowed by a groin injury early. He has returned to health and started Saturday night against Sacred Heart. Meilun started his college career at Division-III Wisconsin Superior, where he was a first-team All-American as a freshman.
He transferred to Stonehill last season and was shelled, sitting behind Division-I's worst team. "He played some unbelievable games last year," Schooley said. "We feel we have two guys who are able to be No.
1s. We'll see where it goes." Robert Morris' third goaltender is Western Michigan transfer Dawson Smith, who is 6-foot-4.
Robert Morris is getting strong production from the back end. Defensemen have accounted for seven goals and 27 points this season. Sophomore defenseman Michael Craig is the team's leading scorer with 10 points in nine games.
Craig ranks second in college hockey in points per game by a defenseman at 1.1, only behind Grand Forks Central grad Brandon Holt of Maine (1.18).
Denver's Zeev Buium and Eric Pohlkamp are tied for third. "He's taken a step," Schooley said of Craig. Other producers from the back end include freshman Dominic Elliott (five points), and sophomores Luke van Why and Gabriel Lunn (four).
St. Thomas transfer Trevor LeDonne has scored twice. Greg Japchen, who started his college career at Union, returned from injury last week and tallied an assist on the power play.
Forward Walter Zacher, who wears No. 24, is the top goal-scorer for Robert Morris. Zacher has scored seven goals and tallied two assists this season.
He ranks ninth in the country in goals. The Buffalo, N.Y.
, native has a history of scoring more goals than assists. He spent three years playing for the Austin Bruins in the North American Hockey League. In all three years, he had more goals than assists.
He had 12 goals, four assists in Year 1, 13 goals and 12 assists in Year 2, and 32 goals and 23 assists in Year 3. Zacher led Austin to the Robertson Cup Finals. After Robert Morris reinstated its program, Schooley was interested in coming back to Grand Forks.
"We want to do a series every year that challenges our team and gets us ready for Atlantic Hockey play," Schooley said. "Last year, we played Minnesota and showed well." Schooley said he's had a strong relationship with Dave Hakstol and Brad Berry through Frank Serratore, Air Force's head coach and a former UND assistant.
"I reached out to Brad and asked if he had any games open," Schooley said. "I was looking for what would be a good challenge for a young team to go on the road and play in a fun environment." UND is not making a return trip to Pittsburgh, so it is paying Robert Morris $60,000 to cover travel costs and make the trip.
In 2011, Robert Morris flew from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis, then took a bus to Grand Forks. This time, the Colonials are scheduled to fly from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis to Grand Forks on Thursday. They'll fly out of Fargo on Sunday to return home.
"Last time, I remember busing back to Minneapolis after the (Saturday) game to catch a morning flight home," Schooley said. "I remember it being long.".
