Air Force Academy
American International
Lamoureux has hat trick in 12-0 win over AIC
10/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 23, 2010
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Jacques Lamoureux recorded his third career hat trick and Stephen Caple posted a shutout in his first career start as Air Force erupted for a 12-0 win over American International College (AIC) in an Atlantic Hockey Association game Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.
The two teams split the two-game series as Air Force earned its first win of the season and improved to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the AHA. AIC fell 1-4 overall and 1-4 in the league.
For the fifth straight game, Air Force scored the first goal of the game. However, this time, Air Force then scored the next four to build a 5-0 lead in the first period. Paul Weisgarber scored first at the 2:43 mark when he zipped a wrister past AIC freshman goalie Ryan Kerpan. Adam McKenzie and Scott Mathis assisted on the play. Jacques Lamoureux gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead at 8:07 from Kyle De Laurell and Derrick Burnett. De Laurell made a cross-ice pass to Lamoureux at the bottom of the right circle for his first of the season. John Kruse gave AFA a 3-0 lead at 10:32 of the first period when he tipped in a shot by Scott Mathis. Freshman Jason Fabian scored his first of the game at 14:42 on the rush. Kruse made a centering pass through two Yellow Jackets in the slot for a 4-0 lead. Fabian scored again at the 17:07 mark. Tony Thomas took a shot from the circle that hit a skate and Fabian collected it in the slot and scored his second of the night and third of the series. After five goals in the first period, the Falcons added six in the second period. Kerpan, who gave up five goals on 15 Air Force shots, and was replaced by Ben Meisner in the AIC goal. Weisgarber scored his second of the night just 2:32 in to the second period. A couple nice passes from his linemates Sean Bertsch and Matt Becker led to the goal. AFA took a 7-0 lead on Kruse's second of the night.
Defensemen Tim Kirby and Scott Mathis started the play in their own zone and Kruse skated through a couple AIC players and the fired a wrister over the glove of Meisner. Lamoureux's second of the game came at 10:01 and gave Air Force an 8-0 lead. The goal came on the power play and Lamoureux stole the puck from two AIC defensemen and scored from the right side. Following the goal, Meisner was replaced in goal by Jake Anderson. Anderson was welcomed to the game by Falcon senior Blake Page who scored his second of the season at 11:17. His first shot was saved but then Page retrieved the puck and behind the goal line and shot it off the goaltender's skate and in the net for a 9-0 lead. AFA took a 10-0 lead on Thomas' first career goal. McKenzie took a shot from the center point and Thomas redirected it from the slot on the power play. De Laurell's first goal of the season gave AFA an 11-0 lead at 15:28 on the power play. Lamoureux and Burnett assisted as De Laurell put back a rebound of his own shot.
The final goal of the game sent hats onto the ice as Lamoureux scored at 4:54 of the third period. De Laurell and Burnett got the puck to Lamoureux in the neutral zone. The senior captain skated down the right wing and snapped a wrister past Anderson for a 12-0 lead.
The 12 goals are the most scored by Air Force since at 14-2 win over Hamline in 1994. The school record for goals in a game is 16 vs. Stanford in 1972. The 12-goal victory margin ties as the most since that Hamline game.
Air Force out-shot AIC, 47-23, in the game. Caple, a junior from Rice Lake, Wis., made his first career start tonight and stopped all 23 shots he faced. AFA was 3-for-5 on the power play while AIC was 0-for-1.
Kruse had a career high five points on the night with two goals and three assists. Lamoureux tied his career high with four points on three goals and one assist. Freshman Tony Thomas had a career-high four points (1-3-4) as well. De Laurell (1-2-3), Burnett (0-3-3), and Mathis (0-3-3) all tied career highs with three points. Weisgarber and Fabian each had a career high two goals in the game.
"We have such better depth and personnel than we did last year and when everyone is difficult to play against, we can have some success," head coach Frank Serratore said. "The guys were having fun tonight and every line scored. This team has been through hell the last couple weeks losing our first four games. Some of that was self-inflicted, but it was sure nice to get this one tonight. Stephen Caple did his job tonight. Regardless of how many goals your team scores, what matters is that he didn't let any get past him. I can only judge him on tonight's performance, but he took a huge step in the right direction. It is certainly nice to have this kind of performance going into an off week. We can get rid of that bitter taste we had in our mouths."
Air Force is off next weekend. The Falcons are back in action on Nov. 5 when Air Force host Mercyhurst at 7:05 p.m. at Cadet Ice Arena.
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