Falcons off until Dec. 30-31 at Bentley
12/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 16, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Up Next Air Force (6-7-2, 4-3-2 AHA) is off until Dec. 30-31 when the Falcons travel to Waltham, Mass., for a two-game Atlantic Hockey series against Bentley (5-8-2, 4-5-1 AHA). Faceoff is at 7:05 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 30 and at 5:05 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 31. The Falcons are tied for seventh place in the AHA with 10 points while Bentley is tied for ninth with nine points. Bentley is also off until Dec. 30.
Radio/Internet The games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on The Sports Animal AM 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will be the color analyst. Both games will be video streamed with audio by America One Television. Subscriptions can be purchased at www.americaone.com/college.
The Coaches Air Force coach Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 14th season as the Falcons' head coach. He led the Falcons to three straight conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths (2007, 2008 and 2009). Winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey with a record of 220-234-40 (14th year at AFA) and a career mark of 269-326-49 (18th year). Bentley head coach Ryan Soderquist is in his ninth season with a school and overall record of 102-162-8. Scouting the Bentley Falcons Bentley is 5-8-2 overall and 4-5-1 in the AHA tied for ninth place with nine points. Bentley is winless in its last four games, including a 3-1 loss to Army on Dec. 10. Bentley does not play again until hosting Air Force on Dec. 30 Bentley's last win was a 3-2 victory over Canisius on Nov. 27 Bentley is 3-1 at home this season. Senior Erik Peterson leads the team with six goals and 12 points. Senior Joe Calvi and junior Kyle Rank have split time in the nets. Calvi has seen the most action with a 2.58 GAA and a .922 saves percentage.
Recovering after Rough Start Air Force got off to a rough start with an 0-4 record. However, Air Force is 6-3-2 since then. Air Force enters the break with a 4-1-2 record in the last seven games In the last seven games, Air Force has beaten current No. 1 (No. 3 at the time) Yale and won at Niagara. The only loss in the last seven games came at No. 12 Denver.
Balanced Scoring Air Force has had 18 different players score the team's 54 goals this season. Twenty-one skaters have played this season and 19 have at least one point. Air Force has one player with eight goals, one with six, two with five and four with four goals. Seven players have scored 12 or more points.
Goals in Bunches Air Force has scored 54 goals this season and is averaging 3.60 goals per game to rank ninth in the nation However, those numbers are a bit deceiving. Air Force has scored 26 of the 54 goals (48 percent) in three games (12-0 over AIC, 7-6 over Niagara and Holy Cross). In the other 12 games, Air Force has scored 28 goals, an average of 2.3 per game.
Series with Bentley AFA and Bentley have played 28 times and Air Force holds a 19-6-3 lead in the series that began in 1998. As AHA foes, the teams have played 19 times since the 2006-07 season and AFA has a 13-4-2 lead in the series. In games played in Massachusetts, AFA is 7-3 against Bentley. AFA is 11-1-2 in the last 14 games against Bentley AFA is 3-1 in the last four games played at Bentley, including a sweep last season at the John A. Ryan Center by scores of 6-3 and 3-0 First Goal Not the Biggest Goal More times than not, the team that scores the first goal of the game, wins the game. Over the last three years, Air Force is 67-17-12 (76 percent) when scoring the first goal of the game. However, this season has been much different. Air Force has scored the first goal in nine games this season and is 4-4-1 in those games. Air Force is 2-3-1 when the opponent scores first. In the win over No. 3 Yale, Air Force gave up the first three goals and came back to win, 4-3.
