Falcons travel to Alabama-Huntsville for CHA series
11/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Nov. 12, 2002
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This Week: Air Force (4-4, 1-1 CHA) travels to the "Hockey Capitol of the South" as the Falcons face College Hockey America rival Alabama-Huntsville. The teams play Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16, at 7:05 p.m. CST at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.
Radio/Television/Internet: None.
Scouting the Opponents: CHA rival Alabama-Huntsville is 0-6 overall and 0-0 in the CHA, this season after playing three extremely difficult road series against ranked teams. The Chargers lost two at No. 17 Wisconsin to open the season, 4-2 and 3-2. UAH was then swept at No. 2 Denver, 7-2 and 7-0. Two weeks ago, UAH lost at No. 3 Minnesota, 12-1 and 4-2. The Chargers have not yet played at home this season. UAH has been outscored 37-9 in the six games. Senior winger Karlis Zirnis leads the team with three goals and five points. Sophomore center Jared Ross also has three goals and is second with four points. Senior Mark Byrne, freshman Scott Munroe and junior Adam MacLean have split time in the nets. Byrne has seen the most action, playing 159 minutes. He has a .824 saves percentage and a 6.77 goals-against average. Byrne has played 44 percent of the team's minutes while Munroe has played 30 and MacLean has played 26 percent. Munroe made a CHA season-high 52 saves in the 4-2 loss at Minnesota. The Chargers are coached by Doug Ross who has a 431-231-29 record in 23 years and a 375-196-27 in his 20th season at UAH. UAH returns 23 of the 25 lettermen from last year's team that finished 18-18-1 overall and 10-9-1 for third place in the CHA.
Series Records: Air Force and UAH continue the longest running rivalry in the CHA as the teams have met 37 times. UAH leads the series against Air Force, 25-11-1. UAH has an 11-game unbeaten streak and a nine-game winning streak over the Falcons in the Von Braun Center. The Falcons are just 2-14-1 at Huntsville. AFA has not won at UAH since a 4-2 victory in 1989. UAH has won 16 of the last 19 against Air Force at all sites. The Chargers had won seven straight before AFA swept the series last season at the Cadet Ice Arena. Since 1998, UAH has out-scored Air Force, 39-7, in nine games at the Von Braun Center (average of 4.3 to 0.7 per game).
Last Season Vs. UAH: The teams split the four games last season with each team sweeping at home. UAH won, 2-0 and 3-1, at the Von Braun Center in October, 2001. AFA swept, 6-3 and 6-5, in February, 2002, at the Cadet Ice Arena. UAH goalie Adam MacLean shut the Falcons out with 20 saves in the first game. Karlis Zirnis and Steve Charlebois scored goals as AFA was out-shot 44-20. In the second game, UAH goalie Mark Byrne made 35 saves as the Falcons out-shot UAH, 36-32. UAH scored two goals in the first four minutes and held on for the win. Zirnis, Charlebois and Jason Hawes scored for UAH. Tom Starkey scored the Falcons' only goal. In the first game at the Academy, AFA scored four third-period goals for a 6-3 win. Brian Gornick, Shane Saum, Starkey and Derek Olson all scored even-strength goals in the final period. Saum scored two goals in the game. Charlebois scored two goals and Craig Bushey had one for UAH. UAH out-shot the Falcons, 33-25. Air Force scored three third-period goals and beat UAH, 6-5, in the second game. Gornick scored two goals while Saum, Olson, Starkey and Andy Berg each had one for AFA. Joel Bresciani scored two goals while Bushey, Charlebois and Jared Ross each had one for UAH. AFA out-shot UAH, 38-29, in the game. Falcon freshman goalie Zach Sikich, no longer at the Academy, earned both wins and made 54 saves while subbing for the injured Mike Polidor.
CHA Individual Leaders: Air Force boasts four of the top 11 scorers in the CHA. Andy Berg is second (7-6-13), Scott Zwiers is fourth (3-8-11), Ryan Wiggins is tied for fifth (2-6-8) and Steve Mead is tied for eighth (1-6-7). Berg is also second in the league with seven goals. Zwiers leads the CHA with eight assists while Wiggins and Berg are tied for fourth with seven. Berg leads the league with nine power-play points and six power-play goals. Mead leads all CHA defensemen with seven points. Brian Reaney and Ross Miller are tied for second with four points. Carson Strang is tied for third among CHA freshmen with four points, while Matt Bader is tied for first with three goals and is tied for seventh with three points.
CHA Team Leaders: Air Force leads the CHA in scoring with 3.75 goals per game. The Falcons are fifth of six teams in scoring defense, allowing 5.25 per game. The Falcons also lead the league with 21.6 penalty minutes per game. The Falcon power play (25.0) ranks second while the penalty kill is fourth (74.1).
National Leaders: Andy Berg is tied for 16th in the nation with seven goals. Berg is also tied for second with six power-play goals. Mike Polidor is 10th in the nation with 450 minutes played.
Berg and Zwiers Climb Up the Charts: Seniors Andy Berg and Scott Zwiers continue to climb up the career-scoring list at Air Force. Berg has 115 points (49-66) in 111 games and is 28th on the career scoring list. Zwiers has 101 points (41-60) in 118 games and is 36th on the list.
Recently: Air Force split a two-game series at Niagara (Nov. 1-2), winning the first game, 5-2, and losing the second, 6-2. The series was the CHA opener for both teams. Air Force was idle last week.
On Deck: Air Force hosts CHA foe Findlay, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 22-24, at the Cadet Ice Arena. Friday's face-off is at 7:05 p.m. while Sunday's is at noon.
