Last season was version 2.0 of the Robert Morris men’s and women’s hockey teams.
Both had to start from almost scratch after the programs were canceled in 2021 but revived for the 2023-24 season.
Most of RMU’s players transferred out after the program was shuttered, requiring coach Derek Schooley, in his 20th season at RMU, to rebuild his team with young talent and through the transfer portal.
There were growing pains, but steady improvement culminating in an upset win over host Bentley in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament.
By the end of last season, the all-freshman line of Tanner Klimpke, Cameron Garvey, and Walter Zacher had emerged as the Colonials’ top threat.
So while there was optimism going into this season, there was also the reality that RMU is still a very young team without a starting goalie, as Chad Veltri graduated after playing 32 games for the Colonials last season.
But so far, so good. After playing three exhibition games in three days to start the season, RMU officially opened its 2023-24 campaign with a home-and-home sweep of Miami, winning 5-1 and 4-1.
In both games, the Colonials scored the first two goals and never looked back.
“For the first couple of minutes we were on our heels a little bit,” said Schooley of Thursday’s win. “When you have 16 freshmen and sophomores in the lineup, that’s to be expected.
“But I really liked our poise. Every game is a different challenge for a young team. For the most part, I thought we rose to the challenge.”
Out of the gate, the now-sophomore line of Klimpke, Garvey, and Walter Zacher combined for four goals and 11 points (Zacher has a team-leading four goals) while Trent Wilson, a freshman, had a pair of goals in Thursday’s 5-1 win.
Another rookie, goaltender Croix Kochendorfer, started both games and stopped 48 of 50 shots for a pair of wins.
Schooley says he has three capable goalies: Kochendorfer, Dylan Meilun, a junior transfer from Stonehill, and Dawson Smith, a redshirt freshman transfer from Western Michigan.
“We used them all in the exhibitions,” he said. “Dylan tweaked his groin a bit, so we went with Croix, and he played very well.
“We have three capable goalies, but unfortunately there’s only one net.”
Schooley says he and his staff have made some adjustments from last season.
“Last year, we gave up too many shots and wore down our goaltending,” he said. “This season, we’re stressing pushing opponents to the outside and limiting their chances.”
To prepare his team, Schooley scheduled three exhibitions in three days against Bowling Green, Simon Fraser and the U.S. NTDP.
“I’m not sure I would do three in a row again,” said Schooley. “But it worked out. We used everybody, which gave every freshman a chance to get some game action.”
The wins over Miami were a rare sweep by an Atlantic Hockey America program over an NCHC school. Niagara opened its 2022-23 season with a sweep of Omaha, and Canisius shocked North Dakota with a pair of home wins over the Fighting Hawks in 2018-19.
AHA teams were 5-5-2 out of conference last week, an improvement over a 3-20-2 start to the season.
Robert Morris opens conference play this weekend with a home-and-home series with Niagara. The teams will meet again in February using the same format.
“I like the home-and-home,” said Schooley. “It breaks up the home games. I think fans can get more engaged if it’s just one game on the weekend.”
