The 2025–26 Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey season was the 20th season of play for the program and the 2nd in Atlantic Hockey America. The Colonials represented Robert Morris University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the Clearview Arena and were coached by Derek Schooley in his 20th season.
Season In addition to the new crop of recruits and transfers, Robert Morris received a boon when Jackson Reineke returned from an injury that cost him the entirety of the previous season. While his presence would prove to be a boon for the offense over the course of the season, RMU had trouble getting on track early on. Neither the offense nor the defense played well at first with the team going 2–9–1 prior to Thanksgiving. Charlie Schenkel, the team's starting goaltender, was inconsistent in the first six weeks of the campaign, however, the brief appearances by both Croix Kochendorfer and Lucas Massie did not recommend a change in goal at the time. To add to their troubled, the Colonials had difficulty scoring on the nights when they did get a solid performance in goal. The end result was that Robert Morris failed to win a single non-conference game which, though it would not affect them in the standings, would be a drag on their national ranking.
The team's subpar play continued into the second half of the season and was setting up to be one of the worst in recent memory. Kochendorfer was given his shot as the starter in early January. While he didn't perform too poorly, he was unable to get a single win for the team. The club then turned to Massie and saw an immediate chance in their fortunes. Massie won three consecutive matches, two by shutout, and helped to completely turn around the Colonials' season. Not only did the team start winning thanks to improvements in goal by both Massie and Schenkel, but the offense stated to increase its output as well. Over the final 13 games, RMU went 9–3–1 and rocketed up the conference standings. Despite winning just 4 times in their first 21 games, the Colonials finished with a respectable record and were able to earn a home site for the conference Quarterfinals.
Facing Air Force first, RMU got into a pitched battle with the falcons and were able to force overtime after getting down by 2 goals entering the third. Schenkel stopped 48 shots in the game but the final one got by him in the second extra period. With their season on the line, Schenkel girded his loins and held off Air Force for the rest of the series. After turning aside 33 shots in the rematch, he was bombarded in the third game to the tune of 62 shots in regulation. The freshman netminder turned in his best performance to date and stopped 60 shots, including a career high 27 saves in the second period. RMU was able to capitalize on its opportunities though it was the two goals by Michael Felsing that proved to be the difference makers. The Colonials snatched victory from Air Force and advanced to the semifinals for the first time in seven years.
Robert Morris got off to a good start against Sacred Heart and took a one-goal lead into the second period thanks to Ryan Taylor. Unfortunately, the team was unable to hold of the attack by the Pioneers and found themselves behind less than two minutes into the middle frame. The club could not summon any additional offense for the remainder of the match and were easily swept off the ice in the first game. Once again facing elimination, the Colonials rebounded thanks to a pair of goals by co-captains Tanner Klimpke and Cameron Garvey. With the series tied, RMU was just one win away from the championship game but their luck finally ran out in the third game of the series. Sacred Heart scored three times in the first period to take a commanding lead and Robert Morris could not break through afterwards. Despite firing 33 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes of the game, not a single puck found its way into the Pioneer cage. Two more goals from SHU in the final frame extended the lead for the home team but with RMU unable to find any offense the final outcome had already been decided.
Departures Eric DeDobbelaer Forward Graduation (retired) Mitchel Deelstra Forward Graduation (signed with Reading Royals) Thomas Gangl Defenseman Transferred to Toronto Gavin Gulash Forward Graduation (retired) Thomas Haynes Defenseman Left program (retired) Trevor LeDonne Defenseman Graduation (signed with Allen Americans) Dylan Meilun Goaltender Transferred to Carleton Cody Monds Forward Graduation (signed with HYS The Hague) Adam O'Marra Forward Transferred to Toronto Metropilitan Dawson Smith Goaltender Transferred to York Walter Zacher Forward Transferred to Canisius
Recruiting John Babcock Defenseman 21 North Vancouver, BC Julian Beaumont Forward 21 Allen, TX Dario Beljo Forward 22 Sudbury, ON; transfer from American International Rasmus Larsson Defenseman 21 Hässelby, SWE; transfer from Northern Michigan; selected 152nd in 2023 Lucas Massie Goaltender 22 Claremont, CA; transfer from Union Bruce McDonald Forward 20 Ottawa, ON Zeke Nicholson Forward 21 Vancouver, BC Luca Primerano Forward 21 North Vancouver, BC Charlie Schenkel Goaltender 20 Toronto, ON Ryan Taylor Forward 22 St. Louis, MO; transfer from Clarkson Max Wattvil Defenseman 23 Stockholm, SWE; transfer from Merrimack
Roster As of August 3, 2025.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics F 40 16 15 31 20 LW/RW 36 11 15 26 25 C 40 11 14 25 24 D 40 6 13 19 10 F 39 8 10 18 20 C/LW 38 3 13 16 12 F 25 6 9 15 4 F 37 5 10 15 22 W 39 5 9 14 16 F 40 5 9 14 25 D 40 4 9 13 18 D 26 3 10 13 6 LW 27 6 5 11 10 D 31 3 7 10 18 RW 35 3 7 10 20 D 35 1 7 8 14 F 28 2 4 6 27 C 26 1 3 4 8 C 13 0 4 4 2 D 14 1 1 2 8 D 16 1 1 2 0 F 20 1 1 2 2 D 32 1 1 2 14 F 2 0 1 1 0 C/LW 12 0 1 1 2 G 7 0 0 0 0 G 11 0 0 0 0 D 29 0 0 0 10 G 30 0 0 0 0 Bench – – – – – 10 Total 103 179 282 347
Goaltending statistics 30 1715:52 11 15 3 80 803 1 .909 2.80 12 459:58 5 3 0 22 237 2 .915 2.87 9 246:05 0 3 0 18 137 0 .884 4.39 Empty Net - 24:21 - - - 8 - - - - Total 40 2448:16 16 21 3 128 1177 3 .902 3.14
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR –NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References