Air Force travels to Bentley College
1/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 23, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week: Air Force (12-9-5, 9-4-5 AHA) travels to Waltham, Mass., for a two-game Atlantic Hockey series against the Bentley College Falcons (9-13-1, 8-10-0 AHA). The teams play Friday-Saturday, Jan. 26-27, at the John A. Ryan Arena. Faceoff is at 7:00 p.m. ET each night.
Radio/ Internet: Both games can be heard on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com and in Colorado Springs on ESPN 1300 AM The Sports Animal. Jay Ritchie, in his 10th season of Air Force hockey and 19th season of Falcon athletics, will do the play-by-play. Dave Toller will do the color. The pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to faceoff.
Scouting the Opponents: Bentley (9-13-1, 8-10-0 AHA) is from Waltham, Mass., approximately 15 miles west of Boston. The Falcons were swept last week at Mercyhurst and have lost eight of their last 10. The team got off to a great start. After a sweep of Canisius in December, Bentley was 7-5-1 overall and 6-4-0 in the league. Sophomore forward Jeff Gumaer leads the team with 15 goals and 26 points. Senior goalie Ray Jean has played 89 percent of the team's minutes and has a .884 saves percentage and a 3.84 goals-against average. BC is ninth in the league in power play at 13.9, but third in penalty kill at 82.3.
The Coaches: Air Force coach Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 10th season at Air Force and his 14th as a collegiate head coach. He has a 142-182-24 record at AFA and an overall mark of 191-275-33. Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist (Bentley, 2000) is in his fifth season with the Falcons with a school and career record of 58-88-16.
Hobey Candidate?; Junior center Eric Ehn, the nation's leader in points with 45 in 26 games, is in the top 10 on the CSTV.com Hobey Baker watch list. The Hobey is given annually to nation's top collegiate hockey player. Ehn first appeared on the list on Jan. 3 and was No. 10. He moved up to seventh on the list on Jan. 10 and then to sixth on Jan. 17. Fans can also vote for the Hobey by going to the official web-site at www.HobeyBaker.com Ehn Leading the Nation: Junior center Eric Ehn is leading the nation in points (45) and points per game (1.73). He is tied for second in assists (26) and assists per game (1.00) and is third in goals scored (19) and sixth goals per game (0.73). Ehn led the nation in goals from Oct. 21-Dec. 8. He moved into the national lead in points on Nov. 20 and held that spot until Dec. 3.He has led the nation in points every week since Dec. 8 and has led the nation in points in eight of the last nine weeks. Ehn has scored in 21 of the 26 games this season and has 12 multiple-point games and six multiple-goal games.
Series Record: Air Force and Bentley have played 11 times and AFA holds a 7-3-1 advantage in the series that began in 1998. AFA is 2-0 at Bentley, having swept the series in 2003 by identical 4-3 scores. After Bentley won the first meeting in 1998, 8-4, in the now-defunct Radisson Inn Classic at Air Force, AFA won six straight games from 2001-2003. The teams tied at the Q Cup in 2004, 2-2 in overtime, but Bentley won a shootout and advanced to the championship game. The teams split a two-game series at AFA earlier this season. AFA won the first game, 5-1, and lost the second game, 6-5.
Earlier this Season: Air Force and Bentley played at the Academy, Oct. 20-21. The series was Air Force's first ever in Atlantic Hockey. AFA won the first game, 5-1. Bentley came from behind to win the second game, 6-5. In the first game, Mike Phillipich and Eric Ehn each scored twice and freshman Andrew Volkening stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced. AFA scored three goals in the second period as Phillipich also had two assists in the game. In the second game, AFA built a 5-2 lead midway through the second period as five different Falcons scored. However, BC scored twice late in the second period on two goals by Jeff Gumaer and then twice in the third. BC tied the game at 2:07 of the third period on the power play and then Dain Prewitt netted the game-winner with 4:30 remaining.
Who Is That Guy: Air Force has three recruited goaltenders on the roster, but it is walk-on Ben Worker who has started four of the last five games. Worker came to the Falcons straight out of high school (one of just two Falcons without junior hockey experience) in Thief River Falls, Minn. He played just seven minutes in his first three and a half years. However, he has started four of the last five games. In his last four starts, he has a 2-1-1 record. His first career start came at Mercyhurst, Jan. 6 and he stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced in the 3-1 victory. His started at Holy Cross, Jan. 13, and stopped a career-best 28 shots in a 2-2 overtime tie. He started both games vs. Army and allowed just three goals in a 4-1 win and a 2-0 loss. In his four games this season, Worker has played 243 minutes and has a 1.48 goals-against average and a .926 saves percentage. He hasn't played enough minutes to qualify for national stats, but if he did, his GAA would lead the nation and his saves percentage would be 13th in the country.
Among the Best in the Nation: Several Falcons rank among the national leaders in various categories. Along with Ehn's points, assists and goals rankings (above), several other Falcons are among the best in the nation. Andrew Ramsey is tied for fourth in the nation in game-winning goals (4), is 27th in points per game (1.22) and 19th in goals per game (0.61). Mike Phillipich is 37th in the nation in points per game (1.16) and 23rd in assists per game (0.76). The Falcon offense ranks 18th at 3.15 goals per game while the defense is 26th at 2.73 goals allowed per game. The Air Force power play ranks 31st (16.7) while the penalty kill is 57th (77.9).
School Record for Conference Wins: AFA's nine conference wins this season are a new school record. The Falconsa re 9-4-5 in the Atlantic Hockey Association. The previous school record was eight set in 2005-06 in the CHA when the Falcons were 8-12-0. AFA was in the CHA from 1999-00 to 2005-06.
Winning on the Dot: Air Force has been solid on the faceoff dot this season. The Falcons have won 57 percent of their faceoffs this season. Junior Eric Ehn has won 65 percent of his faceoffs (381-210). Just twice this season has he lost more draws than he has won.
Unbeaten Streak Ends: AFA's unbeaten streak reached five games to tie as the fourth longest in the nation. However, the streak came to an end with a 2-0 loss to Army, Jan. 20.
Streaking: After a 2-4 start in which the Falcons played three teams that were ranked at the time (Colorado College and Alaska twice), the Falcons have been solid. AFA is 10-5-5 since the Bentley series, Oct. 21-22. Since Jan. 1, AFA is 3-1-2 and the Falcons have lost just three times in the last 14 games (7-3-4).
Last Week: Air Force and Army split a two-game series at Cadet Ice Arena, Jan. 19-20. AFA won the first game 4-1, while Army won game two, 2-0
