Falcons host Bentley College
10/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Oct. 22, 2002
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This Week: Air Force hosts Bentley College, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 25-26, at the Cadet Ice Arena. Face-off is at 7:05 p.m. each night.
Radio/Television/Internet: None.
Scouting the Opponents: Bentley College (Waltham, Mass.) is a Division I member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Falcons are 1-1 this season after splitting two games in the Q-Cup at Quinnipiac College last weekend. Bentley lost to Quinnipiac, 3-1, in the first game and then rebounded for a 6-4 win over Fairfield in the consolation game. Freshman Ryan Mayhew leads the team with two goals and four points. Defenseman Seth Vinocur has three assists. Goalie Simon St. Pierre has played all 120 minutes and has a 3.50 goals-against average and a .905 saves percentage.
Series Records: Air Force and Bentley have only played twice with each team winning once. Bentley defeated Air Force, 8-4, in the Radisson Inn Classic at the Academy in 1998. Air Force beat Bentley, 6-1, at the UConn Tournament last season.
Rare Home Appearance: Air Force plays just two regular-season games in the first six weeks of the season. This weekend's series against Bentley are the first regular-season home games of the season. Following the Bentley series, AFA is at Niagara (Nov. 1-2), off for a week and then at Alabama-Huntsville (Nov. 15-16).
Serratore Unbeaten in Home Openers: Head coach Frank Serratore is unbeaten in five home openers. The sixth-year head coach is 4-0-1 in the first home game of the season. His first season, the Falcons defeated Nebraska-Omaha, 4-2. His second season, AFA tied Holy Cross, 5-5 in overtime. In 1999-2000, after four straight road games, the Falcons defeated Fairfield, 10-1. Two years ago, the Falcons beat American International (4-2) and last season AFA defeated Fairfield, 6-1. In the season-opening home series, AFA is 8-1-1 with the only loss coming to Neb.-Omaha.
Falcons vs. the MAAC: Over the last three seasons, the Falcons have dominated their opponents from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Falcons are 20-5-1 vs. the MAAC in the last four years. The Falcons are 1-1 vs. the MAAC this season. Air Force was 7-1 vs. the MAAC last season with the only loss coming at home to Holy Cross. AFA was 6-2 vs. the MAAC in 2000-01 and 6-1-1 in 1999-2000.
Wiggins Player of the Week: Sophomore Ryan Wiggins, a 5-11, 175-pound forward from Alamo, Calif., was named the College Hockey America offensive player of the week for his performance in a victory over Holy Cross, Oct. 18. Wiggins posted career-bests of six points and five assists in the Falcons' first win of the season. He helped the Falcons rally from a 4-1 deficit in the third period of Friday's game at Holy Cross as he played a hand in all five third-period goals to boost the Falcons to a 6-4 win. Wiggins assisted on three goals to open the final period and then scored the game-winning goal on a power play at 16:39. He assisted on the Falcons' first goal at 2:48 of the first, and tallied an assist on an insurance goal at 17:20 in the third. Wiggins was unable to play Saturday due to a separated shoulder suffered in Friday's game. The honor was the first of Wiggins' career and the first by a Falcon this season.
Five Straight Home Winning Seasons Under Serratore: Air Force secured its fifth consecutive winning season with a 9-6 home record last season. Serratore's home records, beginning with his first season, are 13-8, 12-5-2, 12-4-2 and 11-6-2.
Head Coach Frank Serratore: Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his sixth season as the Falcons' hockey coach. Serratore has a 82-92-10 record at Air Force. He is in his 10th season as a college head coach with a 131-183-19 career record. In service academy competition, Serratore is 10-1-1 vs. Army overall and 9-1-1 vs. the Black Knights while at Air Force. Since Navy does not have a varsity team, the only competition is against Army. Serratore came to the Academy from the Manitoba Moose of the International Hockey League, where he was the director of hockey operations in 1996. He was also the Moose head coach and general manager for two seasons and led the team to a 52-56-16 record. Serratore was the head coach at Denver from 1990-1994 posting a 49-91-9 record. Serratore spent seven seasons in the United States Hockey League with three different teams and collected a combined record of 247-103-6. He was named general manager of the year twice and coach of the year once in the USHL.
Last Week: Air Force split two games last weekend at Holy Cross. The Falcons won the first game, 6-4, while the Crusaders won the second, 7-2.
On Deck: Following the Bentley series, Air Force opens College Hockey America action with a two-game road series at Niagara. The Falcons and Purple Eagles meet Friday-Saturday, Nov. 1-2, at 7:05 p.m. each night at Dwyer Arena in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
