The 2024–25 Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey season was the 19th season of play for the program and the 1st in Atlantic Hockey America. The Colonials represented Robert Morris University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the Clearview Arena and were coached by Derek Schooley in his 19th season.
Season In its second season back from oblivion, Robert Morris was looking to build back up into a conference contender. Early on, the team looked to suffer a key injury when Dylan Meilun wend down during exhibition play. Coach Schooley settled on Croix Kochendorfer as the starter and the freshman netminder helped the team get off to a fast start. With help from a robust offense, RMU strung together a good stretch in the first month of the season. The Colonials stumbled a bid just before Thanksgiving but they picked up the pace afterwards to finish out the first half of their schedule with a winning record. One of the bright spots was the play of Tanner Klimpke which resulted in him being named as the December Player of the Month by the Hockey Commissioner's Association.
Robert Morris returned from the winter break with an opportunity to show that it could compete against upper-echelon teams in the Desert Hockey Classic. Unfortunately, the Colonials had trouble shaking the rust off after the layoff, particularly on the defensive side. RMU allowed 15 goals in the two games and didn't score a single even-strength marker. The lopsided losses appeared to linger afterwards as the exceedingly young team attempted to soldier on. None of the team's three goaltenders were able to play consistently afterwards. On the rare occasions when RMU allowed less than 3 goals, the offense was too inconsistent to capitalize on several chances. This was due in part to Klimpke's absence from the lineup for over a month. When he returned on February 21, the team had fallen down to 10th in the standings and had won just twice in the final seventeen games.
In their playoff game with Air Force, Klimpke did his best to extend the team's season, scoring twice and adding an assist to force overtime. Kochendorfer, too, was instrumental in the game, making 40 saves in regulation to give his team a chance at victory. Despite playing at altitude, the Colonials appeared to get stronger as the game went on. However, after playing a strong period in the first overtime, RMU began to lose ground to the home side and were called for a penalty in the middle of the second overtime. Just a few seconds after the ensuing faceoff, the winning goal was slammed home into the Colonials' net, ending their season.
Departures Mitch Andres Defenseman Graduation (signed with Fort Wayne Komets) Matthew Boczar Forward Transferred to Endicott Francis Boisvert Goaltender Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Logan Ganie Forward Graduation (retired) Cameron Hebert Forward Graduation (retired) Matt Hutton Forward Graduation (retired) Luke Johnson Defenseman Graduation (retired) Paul Maust Forward Graduation (retired) Charles Merkley Forward Transferred to Cortland State Dominic Schimizzi Forward Transferred to Hobart Michael Sochan Goaltender Left program (retired) Rylee St. Onge Defenseman Graduation (signed with Rapid City Rush) Cade Townend Defenseman Graduation (signed with Tulsa Oilers) Dallas Tulik Forward Graduation (retired) Chad Veltri Goaltender Graduation (signed with Fort Wayne Komets)
Recruiting J. R. Ashmead Defenseman 21 Calgary, AB Eric DeDobbelaer Forward 24 Hamilton, ON; transfer from Massachusetts Mitchel Deelstra Forward 25 Wallace, ON; graduate transfer from Northern Michigan Dominic Elliott Defenseman 20 Allendale, MI Michael Felsing Forward 21 Pittsburgh, PA Connor Gourley Forward 20 Calgary, AB Greg Japchen Defenseman 22 Doylestown, PA; transfer from Stonehill Patrick Johnson Forward 21 Chesterfield, MO Croix Kochendorfer Goaltender 20 Saint Paul, MN Dylan Meilun Goaltender 22 Winnipeg, MB; transfer from Stonehill Cody Monds Forward 23 Brockville, ON; transfer from Clarkson Adam O'Marra Forward 21 Mississauga, ON Braden Rourke Forward 20 Des Moines, IA Dawson Smith Goaltender 21 Whitehorse, YT; transfer from Western Michigan Trent Wilson Forward 20 Tsawwassen, BC
Roster As of September 14, 2024.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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Scoring statistics C 35 15 9 24 21 D 35 5 19 24 6 F 26 10 13 23 6 F 34 7 15 22 2 C 34 7 15 22 6 D 35 6 13 19 18 F 35 5 13 18 18 C/LW 35 12 5 17 34 D 31 2 12 14 12 W 32 4 6 10 20 C 33 4 6 10 11 RW 33 3 5 8 2 F 34 3 5 8 24 F 33 5 2 7 33 D 25 1 6 7 10 D 29 0 7 7 10 D 23 3 2 5 22 RW 30 2 2 4 36 D 13 0 3 3 0 D 33 0 2 2 14 F 23 1 0 1 20 D 4 0 1 1 0 C 13 0 1 1 0 G 23 0 1 1 2 F 3 0 0 0 0 C/RW 5 0 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 2 G 12 0 0 0 0 Total 95 163 258 339
Goaltending statistics 5 130:55 0 2 0 6 59 0 .908 2.75 23 1341:45 7 12 3 65 637 1 .906 2.91 12 676:48 3 6 2 38 309 0 .890 3.37 Empty Net - 17:40 - - - 4 - - - - Total 35 2167:08 10 20 5 114 1005 1 .898 3.16
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Dominic Elliott Atlantic Hockey America All-Rookie Team
References