Quest to replace goalies is key to RMU hockey in Year 2 of relaunch

For the Robert Morris men’s hockey team, very little was known going into the program’s relaunch of a season last year.

One thing the players and coaches did know is that they had Chad Veltri in the net. The Niagara transfer goalie from Fox Chapel came back to Pittsburgh to play his final season of college hockey for the rebooted Colonials. He was a stabilizing factor in the crease that the team needed as it got its sea legs the first few weeks of 2023-24.

Veltri made 1,054 saves last season, the fourth-most in college hockey. He was playing behind what was ostensibly the college hockey version of an expansion team as RMU returned to play after the men’s and women’s programs had been shut down for two years.

Even as some injuries and fatigue impacted Vetri as the season moved along, Francis Boisvert — another fifth-year transfer from St. Lawrence — stepped in with a highly respectable .926 save percentage over 13 appearances.

So goaltending went a long way toward helping the Colonials find their way back to competitiveness as the season progressed. It got to the point that RMU (11-25-3) was good enough to pull off a first-round upset at Bentley in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs.

This year is different. Now, as coach Derek Schooley has gotten back to building a program, a lot of the freshman talent that matured throughout last season has returned. However, it’s goaltending that is suddenly the unknown.

Both Veltri and Boisvert moved on to the ECHL. Their minutes will be eaten up by some combination of Stonehill transfer Dylan Meilun, Western Michigan transfer Dawson Smith and freshman Croix Kochendorfer.

“It’s a big ask to replace Chad and Francis Boisvert,” Schooley said. “Our goaltenders were our most valuable players. We believe if we get good goaltending, we are going to be so much better than we were last year. We don’t need the unbelievable save (totals) of 50-plus that we were doing to (Veltri and Boisvert).

“Hopefully, we are better defensively and better as a unit in front of them so that we have a chance to win.”

Schooley admits that there were some struggles between the pipes as practices began, but he has seen progress.

“There was a time earlier when we needed more pucks saved in practice,” Schooley assessed. “As training camp and preseason has moved along, they have done a better job. They are getting more comfortable. We are seeing more pucks being saved, and they are gaining more confidence heading into when we play.”

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One thing all three goalies have is size. Kochendorfer and Smith are 6-foot-4. Meilun is 6-5.

“We are all big. That is something that is similar,” Meilun said after a recent practice. “But we all have our unique style. Croix is flexible like crazy. I can’t bend like he does. He’s got his playing style like that. We all bring something different to the table.”

What Meilun brings is experience. After a successful season at Division III Wisconsin-Superior in 2022-23, Meilun played 26 games at Stonehill last year and went through some of the same challenges that Veltri faced as the Skyhawks made the jump to D-1. He went 2-24-0 while seeing a ton of quality scoring chances in front of his crease.

However, Meilun dealt with a lower-body injury during the Colonials’ three-game round-robin tournament in Michigan last week against Simon Fraser (CAN), Bowling Green and the U.S. National Development Team. After he allowed five goals to BGSU in 45 minutes on night No. 1 during a 7-2 loss, Kochendorfer and Smith split duties the next two nights.

Smith made 17 saves to get a 2-1 win over Simon Fraser. Kochendorfer gave up three goals on 36 shots during a 3-2 loss to the U.S. National team.

Despite needing to spread the minutes around, the fight to win the No. 1 job hasn’t impacted chemistry between the three netminders.

“We get along great,” Smith said. “Obviously, it is a battle. Everybody is fighting for their spot. But I think we are in a good headspace together and hoping for the best.”

For his part, Kochendorfer can see the evidence of what Schooley said regarding the growth of the skaters in front of the goalies.

“Our sophomore class right now is great,” Kochendorfer said. “Although they are underclassmen, they learned a lot from the upperclassmen who graduated. That can help us as freshmen make our transition more comfortable.”

Schooley has yet to name a starter for the team’s opener at Miami (Ohio) on Thursday. Meilun’s recovery may factor into that. Whoever starts Thursday may not be the starter Saturday for the return game at RMU Island Sports Center, regardless of the outcome.

In fact, it may be that way quite a bit over the first few weeks for Schooley and his staff. But it’s a five-month regular season with plenty of time for a full-fledged starter to emerge before the playoffs.

LISTEN: This week’s hockey podcast with Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network