By CHRIS MUELLER

Last week, senior forward Aaron Tate sent out a tweet suggesting that his basketball career may be coming to an end because of an injury. He didn’t specify any details, but it provided reasonable doubt about or not he’d put on a Colonials uniform ever again.

On Tuesday, the program confirmed that Tate underwent surgery for a lower-body injury that will cause him to be sidelined 2-3 weeks. No further details were disclosed.

Coach Andy Toole said it’s a minor situation and a result of the team being overly cautious with Tate, who has played through nagging injuries in the past. Tate’s injury is something that he’s dealt with throughout the summer and surgery was the best option to “maximize his performance” for the entirety of the season, according to Toole.

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By CHRIS MUELLER

Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Andy Toole has a brand new tool in his arsenal in freshman Isaiah Still, and he’s a bit of a Swiss Army knife.

Still, a 6-foot-6 combo guard out of Union Catholic High School in New Jersey, can bring a variety of looks to the Colonials. He’s athletic enough to play multiple positions on the floor with the ability to contribute both on offense and defense. He averaged 19.6 points, 7.2 boards and 1.7 steals as a high school senior.

Still can stay with point guards defensively. He has potential offensively to score at at a high level as a shooting guard. He’s also long enough to play small forward on the wing. His versatility will be needed and well-utilized.

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By CHRIS MUELLER

Robert Morris has never won a championship since the Northeast Conference began sponsoring women’s soccer in 1995. It hasn’t even qualified for the conference playoffs.

The Colonials have put themselves in a position to change that this year, especially since upsetting first-place Saint Francis (Pa.) 3-2 on Sunday as part of a two-win weekend.

“We were able to string some passes together and put goals away in the first half which really helped us out,” junior midfielder Erin Ritzer said. “Playing with a lead rather than just chasing the other team has raised the level a little bit. I think it’s now reaching the point where all of us are peaking at the right time.”

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By ALAN SAUNDERS

Throughout the NCAA hockey offseason, the main question surrounding the Robert Morris program was how the Colonials would replace the scoring lost with the graduation of Cody Wydo and Scott Jacklin.

Wydo, the program’s all-time leading scorer, left Robert Morris with 150 points, while Jacklin had 107. Through and through, the team and staff answered that they would have to make up for those losses by committee.

That approach was manifested Friday night as five different Colonials scored in a 5-1 win over Atlantic Hockey Conference rival Air Force at the RMU Island Sports Center. Seniors Brandon Denham, Greg Gibson, Zac Lynch, Matt Cope, plus sophomore Brady Ferguson, all lit the lamp against a squad that had beaten No. 5 Denver the previous week.

“We scored a lot of different ways,” coach Derek Schooley said. “We scored pretty and we scored hard-working, gritty goals. It was pretty good team effort.”

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By CHRIS MUELLER

Robert Morris senior guard Rodney Pryor proved a lot last year.

Nearly two years removed from a basketball court because of recurring knee injuries, it wasn’t clear if his body could hold up. The talent was there in the Cloud County Community College transfer. It was a risk coach Andy Toole was willing to take, and it paid off.

“I feel blessed to play a full season without injury and play well,” Pryor said. “Now that I’ve got a year under my belt at the Division I level, I’m feeling more comfortable going into this season. I feel more confident.”

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By ALAN SAUNDERS

The Robert Morris men’s hockey team is returning both goaltenders that shared starting duties in 2014-15, but the Colonials will quite literally have a new look in the crease.

Senior Terry Shafer and junior Dalton Izyk will be wearing the same red, white and blue uniforms and gear this season, but thanks to a company called HelmetHead, they will be sporting new masks.

HelmetHead is a small business run by John Sparano, who is from Omaha, Nebraska. He’s been designing and painting goalie masks for five years, getting his start in the business designing masks for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. UNO goaltender Ryan Massa sported an all-chrome design at last spring’s Frozen Four that caught the eye of RMU coach Derek Schooley.

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By ALAN SAUNDERS

When the Robert Morris hockey season starts next weekend, a big part of the program’s past will be missing, but much will remain the same.

Cody Wydo, the Colonials’ all-time leading scorer, first Hobey Baker finalist, and former captain, has moved on to a professional career with the Wheeling Nailers.

RMU will have to move forward without Wydo, but coach Derek Schooley has plenty of other key parts of his defending Atlantic Hockey Conference regular-season champions returning.

“We have nine seniors that have all played a lot of hockey for us,” Schooley said at the team’s media day on Thursday. “I don’t think anybody else can boast all three goalies, all eight defensemen and seven of our top nine forwards returning. I think that’s pretty impressive and that’s probably why we’ve been picked so high in the league and why we’re getting votes nationally.”

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