First-place Air Force hosts second-place RIT
1/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 8, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week First-place Air Force (10-6-4, 8-5-3 AHA) hosts second-place RIT (9-7-3, 7-4-3 AHA), Friday-Saturday, Jan. 11-12, at 7:05 pm MST, at the Cadet Ice Arena (2,502)
Radio/Internet Both games will be broadcast on the radio on KKML AM 1300 The Sports Animal and on the internet at GoAirForceFalcons.com. Jay Ritchie will do the play-by-play while Dave Toller will do the color. The pregame show begins at 6:45 p.m. each night. Live stats will be available at GoAirForceFalcons.com and clicking on the hockey page and then the schedule.
Video Streaming/Television Both games will be video streamed with audio by the B2 Network on a subscription basis. For more information, please go to the Atlantic Hockey Association web-site at AtlanticHockeyOnline.com. No television.
Last Week Air Force split a two-game series at second-place Sacred Heart in Milford, Conn., losing 2-1 in the first game and winning 3-1 in the second game. RIT swept a two-game league series at seventh-place Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., winning by scores of 5-2 and 5-1.
Rankings Air Force is receiving votes in both major national polls. Based on the number of votes, Air Force is 26th in the USCHO/CSTV poll and 17th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. RIT is also receiving votes in both major national polls. Based on the number of votes, RIT is 24th in the USCHO/CSTV poll and 19th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Scouting The Opponents The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, N.Y., is 9-7-3 overall and 7-4-3 in the AHA. The Tigers are one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning four of the last five, including a win over then 12th-ranked Minnesota. The team's only loss in the last month was a 6-0 defeat to current 11th-ranked Boston College. Last weekend, RIT beat Holy Cross, 5-2 and 5-1, in Worcester, Mass. RIT was the favorite to win the league by the coaches in the preseason poll. After a slow start to the season, RIT is 7-3-3 in its last 13 games. Senior forward Simon Lambert leads the league with 22 points. Senior forward Matt Smith has 11 goals. Sophomore Louis Menard is the team's top goaltender, playing 17 of the 19 games. He has a .908 saves percentage and a 2.78 GAA.
Top Two AHA Teams Battle So it was predicted and so it has been done. The top two teams as picked in the preseason coaches' poll are currently the top two teams in the AHA standings. Air Force, picked to finish second, is in first place with 19 points. RIT, a near-unanimous pick to win the league, is in second place with 17 points. RIT has played two less games than Air Force. The two teams met earlier this season in Rochester and split the series. The two meet again at the Academy this weekend.
The Coaches Air Force coach Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 11th season with the Falcons and his 15th as a collegiate head coach. He has an Air Force record of 159-195-28. His overall mark is 208-287-37. RIT's Wayne Wilson is in his ninth season with the Tigers with a school and overall record of 155-71-19.
Tough Road Ahead The second half of the Falcons' schedule is underway and Air Force has a tough road ahead. The second half schedule began Dec. 29-30, at the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis (8-2 loss to No. 14 Boston College and 2-2 tie with No. 12 Minnesota). Last week, AFA traveled to second-place Sacred Heart and earned a series split by winning the second game, 3-1. This week, Air Force returns home for two league games with second-place RIT, a team that beat 12th-ranked Minnesota on the Gophers' home ice. Next week, the Falcons host third-ranked Denver, Jan. 18, and then play at fourth-ranked Colorado College, Jan. 19. The end of January sends the Falcons to West Point for a two-game set with Army. Not only is this an emotional, physical series with a service academy rival, but the Black Knights are in fourth place in the AHA.
Series Records Air Force and RIT have played 15 times and the Tigers hold a 7-6-2 lead in the series. The teams played twice earlier this season in Rochester and split the two-game set. Last season, the teams met four times as conference opponents and RIT won two, AFA won one and one ended in a tie. At the Academy, AFA earned a win and a tie last season to take three league points. The teams first met at the Academy in 1990 when RIT was Division III. AFA swept the series, 5-4 in overtime and 6-3. AFA is 4-3-2 vs. RIT in games played at Air Force.
Earlier This Season vs. RIT Air Force and RIT split a two-game series in Rochester, Nov. 9-10. AFA won the first game 2-1 in overtime. RIT won the second game, 4-3. In the first game, freshman Scott Kozlak's goal at the 1:40 mark of overtime lifted Air Force to victory. RIT jumped ahead in the first two minutes of the game. Matt Smith scored from Matt Harris and Ricky Walton at the 1:40 mark. RIT outshot AFA, 14-5, in the opening period with most of the shots coming on the power play. RIT had nearly 90 seconds of 5-on-3 in the opening period, but the Falcons came away unscathed. Midway through the third period, a rush up ice led to an Air Force goal. Sophomore Brett Nylander put back a rebound to tie the score at 1-1 at the 9:56 mark from Derrick Burnett and Brent Olson. AFA had a power play in the final minute of the third period, but did not capitalize and the game went into overtime. Kozlak's first career game-winner came from his fellow freshman linemates Blake Page and Owen Kelly. Falcon goalie Andrew Volkening had a career-high 36 saves. RIT outshot AFA, 37-29. Louis Menard made 27 saves for the Tigers. In the second game, RIT scored four first-period goals and hung on for a 4-3 win over Air Force. The Tigers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just 2:22 into the game, as Mike Janda scored on a two-on-one rush. Just 1:22 later, Ringwald took a shot from the blueline that redirected off a Falcon defenseman and in to make the score 2-0 RIT. Matt Smith scored his first of two opening-period goals at the 12:12 mark to chase Volkening from the net. Ian Harper came on in relief of Volkening for his first appearance of the season. Josh Frider cut the RIT lead to 3-1 at 13:38. Smith scored his second of the game at the 14:48 mark, putting RIT back up 4-1. With 1:18 left in the opening period, Eric Ehn cut the RIT lead to 4-2 as the Falcons had a 5-on-3 man-advantage. Air Force out-shot RIT, 11-9, over the first 20 minutes, but trailed 4-2. AFA made the score 4-3 at 4:32 of the second period as Michael Mayra scored from Ehn. Neither team scored again in the 4-3 Tiger win. Menard stopped 37 shots, including all 13 shots he faced in the final period. Smith scored two goals. Ehn finished with a goal and two assists. Volkening started the game for Air Force but was pulled at the 12:12 mark of the first period as he gave up three goals on five shots. Harper played the final 46 minutes and stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced.
Hajner's Streak Ends Sophomore right winger Jeff Hajner had a career-best eight-game scoring streak stopped in the second game at Sacred Heart. His point-streak is the longest by any Falcon this season. Hajner's streak started Nov. 24 with a goal vs. Holy Cross. Hajner's streak ties as the longest by a Falcon since Spanky Leonard's 10-game streak in 2001-02. Eric Ehn also had an eight-game streak last season. During Hajner's streak, the Las Vegas, Nev., native had five goals and four assists for nine points. He also has scored in 11 of the last 13 games and in 14 of the 20 this season. He is second on the team with eight goals and third with 17 points this season. Hajner had 27 points last season in 40 games as a freshman.
Olson on a Tear Junior right winger Brent Olson has been as hot as any player in the league recently. The Baudette, Minn., native has nine goals in his last 10 games. During the last 10 games, Olson scored two goals vs. AIC, Nov. 30, two vs. Canisius, Dec. 8, two vs. Minnesota, Dec. 30. In the Minnesota game, his second goal came after the Falcons pulled the goalie and he tied the game at 2-2 with 1:02 remaining in the third period. As a result, Air Force earned a 2-2 overtime tie against Minnesota on the Gophers' home ice. Olson has a five-game scoring streak, the longest active streak on the team. During the streak, he has seven points (5-2-7). Olson missed the final 18 games last season to focus on academics, but has come back strong this season. He leads the team with 10 goals and is second on the team with 20 points.
No Shooting Over the past two seasons, the Falcons have been the stingiest team in the nation in allowing shots on goal. AFA has led the nation in shots allowed in each of the last two seasons, giving up just 25 shots per game. The Falcons are continuing that trend this season. AFA has allowed just 24 shots per game this season. The national average for shots per game is 29. Air Force has held its opponents to 20 shots or less five times this season, including twice last weekend at Sacred Heart.
