No. 17 Air Force hosts Bentley College
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 29, 2008
Coach Serratore Press Conference
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week No. 17 Air Force (6-0-0 overall and 4-0-0 in the AHA) returns home to host a two-game Atlantic Hockey Association series vs. the Bentley Falcons (1-1, 0-0 AHA), Friday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The faceoff is at 7:05 p.m. MT each night at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Weekly Promotion Friday's game is on Halloween night and all kids 12 and under get in free in a costume. Accompanying adults get in for just $2. Saturday is Lightning Ticket night. Fans can purchase a regularly-priced $9 ticket and receive $5 in stored value which can be used at the concession stand or gift shop.
Radio/Internet Both games will be broadcast live in Colorado Springs on KCSF AM 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. The pregame show begins at 6:45 p.m. MT. Tony Desiere will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide the analysis. The games will also be video streamed live 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 swept a two-game league road series at American International College (AIC), 5-2 and 3-1. Bentley was idle last week. The Falcons opened the season on road, losing to Colgate and defeating Rensselear in overtime, two weeks ago.
Rankings After receiving votes every week this season, Air Force moved into the national rankings for the first time this season. Air Force entered the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll at No. 17, the Falcons' highest ranking ever in that poll. Air Force is receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine poll and, based on the number of votes, is No. 16 (up from No. 18 last week). Bentley is unranked.
The Coaches Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 12th season as the head coach of Air Force. He has led the Falcons to back-to-back conference championships and NCAA berths. Serratore is the winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey with a record of 176-201-30 and a career mark of 225-293-39 in his 16th year. Ryan Soderquist (Bentley, 2000) is in his seventh season with a 67-119-22 school and overall record.
Scouting the Opponents. Bentley College (Waltham, Mass) is 1-1 overall this season. Bentley, also the Falcons, has yet to play a conference game. BC opened the season Oct. 17-18 with a pair of road games in New York, losing to Colgate 4-1 and defeating Rensselaer, 4-3 in overtime. Senior Jeff Gumaer leads the team with two goals. Both goaltenders started a game. Sophomore Joe Calvi, who started the majority of the games last season, played vs. Colgate and gave up four goals on 22 shots. Freshman Kyle Rank earned the overtime win vs. RPI, stopping 20 of 23 shots. The Falcons return 20 of 24 lettermen from last season's team that went 9-21-6 overall and 9-13-6 for eighth place in the AHA. Bentley was picked to finish ninth in the coaches' preseason poll.
6-0 First Time Since ... Air Force is 6-0 for just the second time in school history and the first time since the 1971-72 season. The 1971-72 team opened with a school-record 8-0 start en route to a school-record 25 victories. The 6-0 start this season marks the best start in school history vs. Division I teams. The six-game winning streak ties as the longest in school history vs. Division I teams. The 2006-07 team won six in a row late in that championship season. The school record winning streak vs. teams from all division is 10 games set in 1975.
And Then There Were Two Air Force is one of just two teams in the nation who have won at least one game and are undefeated and untied. Air Force is 6-0-0 this season. Nebraska-Omaha is 4-0-0 on the year. There were seven teams last week, but Denver and Colgate lost while Colorado College, Minnesota and New Hampshire tied.
The FLO Line The Falcons' line of Frider, Lamoureux and Olson has dominated this season. Each of the three has scored at least one point in every game this season. Air Force has scored 28 goals in the six games and the FLO line has scored 16 of them. Lamoureux leads the nation with 14 points and seven goals. He also leads the nation with five power-play goals and three game-winners. Olson is tied for the national lead with 14 points and leads the nation with 11 assists. Frider is second in the nation with six goals and has 10 points. The line is the highest scoring line in the nation with 16 goals and 38 points. The trio ranks 1-2-3 in the league in scoring.
Series with Bentley Air Force holds a 12-5-2 lead in the series that began in 1998 when Bentley competed at the Division II level. AFA went on to win the next six games. As Atlantic Hockey opponents, AFA has a 6-3-1 lead. AFA is 6-2-1 vs. Bentley at the Cadet Ice Arena. The team met six times last season, splitting two games at Bentley. AFA took three points in the regular-season series at the Academy. The teams played twice in the AHA Quarterfinals at the Academy and AFA won both games, 9-2, and 3-1.
