Falcons host Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey series, Feb. 2-3
1/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 29, 2007
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This Week: Air Force (13-10-5, 10-5-5 AHA) hosts Atlantic Hockey rival Mercyhurst (6-16-5, 6-12-3 AHA), in a two-game series, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 2-3, at the Cadet Ice Arena (2,502). The faceoff is at 7:05 p.m. MST 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: Mercyhurst (Erie, Penn.) is 6-16-5 overall and 6-12-3 and in eighth place in the AHA with 15 points. After a nine-game winless skid, the Lakers are on a current three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1). Mercyhurst was off last week and swept Bentley at home two weeks ago. The team was without two of its top three scorers (Ben Cottreau and Scott Champagne) during the winless stretch, but both are back in the lineup. Cottreau leads the team with 13 goals and 29 points despite missing seven games. Senior Jordan Wakefield is the team's top goalie with a .918 saves percentage and a 3.11 goals-against average. Mercyhurst is third in the league in scoring offense (3.19 goals per game), but eighth in scoring defense (3.81 goals per game).
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 143-183-24 record at AFA and an overall mark of 192-276-33. Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin is in his 19th year with the Lakers with a school and overall record of 344-214-38.
Ehn for the Hobey; Junior center Eric Ehn, the nation's leader in points with 46 in 28 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 has been sixth on the list each of the last two weeks. Fans can also vote for the Hobey by going to the official web-site at www.HobeyBaker.com. Ehn is currently the top vote-getter in the nation in the fan poll.
Ehn Leading the Nation: Eric Ehn is tied for the national lead in points (19-27-46) and points per game (1.64). He is fourth in assists per game (0.96), fourth in goals scored (19) and seventh goals per game (0.68). Ehn led the nation in goals from Oct. 21-Dec. 8. He has led the nation in points every week since Dec. 8 and has led the nation in points in 10 of the last 11 weeks. Ehn has scored in 22 of the 28 games this season and has 12 multiple-point games and six multiple-goal games.
Series Record: Air Force and Mercyhurst have only played twice in history and both meetings came this season. Air Force travelled to Erie, Penn., on Jan. 5-6, and the Falcons swept the Lakers, 5-3 and 3-1.
Earlier this Season: Air Force and Mercyhurst played Jan. 5-6, in Erie, Penn., and AFA swept the series. In the first game, AFA overcame a 3-2 MC lead with three goals in the third period. Eric Ehn scored the game-winner with 1:24 left in the third period and then scored an empty-netter to seal the win. Jeff Hajner, Josh Schaffer and Andrew Ramsey also scored for AFA. Peter Foster stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced. In the second game, senior Ben Worker made the first start of his career. He stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including a short-handed breakaway in the third period. AFA scored all three goals in the second period from Matt Charbonneau, Theo Zacour and Ehn. The Lakers scored once in the third period. AFA was 5-for20 on the power play in the series. MC was 0-for-6.
Who Is That Guy: Air Force has three recruited goaltenders on the roster, but it is walk-on Ben Worker who has started six of the last seven 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 six of the last seven games, including five straight. In his six starts, he has a 3-2-1 record. His first career start came at Mercyhurst, Jan. 6 and he stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced in the 3-1 victory. He 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. He started both games at Bentley and recorded his first career shutout in the second game. He stopped 19 of 22 shots in the first game in a 3-1 loss. He saved all 26 he saw in game two for a 2-0 victory. In his six games this season, Worker has played 361 minutes, the second most on the team, and has a 1.50 goals-against average and a .930 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 seventh in the country, ahead of Notre Dame's Hobey Baker candidate David Brown. Worker has played 21 percent of the team's minutes and needs 33 percent to qualify.
One to Tie Record: Air Force has 13 Division I victories this season and needs just one more to tie the school record of 14 set several times. Serratore's 1999-00 team first set the record with 14 Division I wins. The 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2004-05 teams all tied the record. The 2003-04 and 2004-05 teams won 28 Division I games to set a two-year school record. AFA has won 13 this season and 11 last season for 24 in the last two years.
A Stable of Goalies: Air Force is one of the few teams with four different goaltenders that have at least one win and three different goalies with at least one shutout. Peter Foster and Ian Harper lead the team with four wins. Ben Worker has three wins while Andrew Volkening has three wins. Foster's last win was Jan. 5 at Mercyhurst. Harper's last win was Nov. 26 vs. Robert Morris in relief. Volkening's last win was a shutout over AIC, Nov. 19. Harper also has a shutout with a 3-0 win over RIT, Nov. 3. Worker's last win was his first career shutout at Bentley, Jan. 27.
Scoring at a Premium: In the second half of the season, scoring is down as everyone is going through the conference for the second time. In the first 22 games of the season, AFA was scoring 3.4 goals per game and was allowing 2.9. However, in the last six games, AFA is averaging 2.75 goals per game while allowing 2.85.
Nearing the Century: Senior left winger Andrew Ramsey is closing in on 100 career points. Ramsey scored two goals against Army and had an assist at Bentley and now has 94 career points in 126 games. Ramsey had 17 points as a freshman, 25 as a sophomore, 23 as a junior and 29 this season.
Last Week: Air Force and Bentley split a two-game series at the John A. Ryan Arena in Waltham, Mass. Bentley won the first game, 3-1, while AFA won game two, 2-0.
