Falcons host Robert Morris in final regular-season series
2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 22, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week Air Force (14-11-6 overall, 12-7-6 in AHA) hosts Robert Morris (18-9-5 overall, 13-7-5 AHA), Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26, at the Cadet Ice Arena Friday's game is at 7:05 p.m. while Saturday's game is at 7:35 p.m. The Falcons are tied for third place in the AHA with 30 points while Robert Morris is second with 31. Air Force is three games over .500 for the first time this season
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 Playoff Picture Air Force has clinched at least home ice in the first round of the playoffs on March 5. Air Force could still earn a bye in the first round by getting three of four points against Robert Morris RIT has clinched the top seed in the AHA Tournament and earned a bye in the first round. Either AFA or Robert Morris will get the other bye from the west pod. The other will host a first round game. Niagara will also host from the west pod. Mercyhurst and Canisius will go on the road in the first round to play either Air Force, Robert Morris or Niagara. Holy Cross has earned a bye in the east pod. Either UConn, Army or Bentley will earn the other first-round bye from the east while the other two will host AIC and Sacred Heart. The four winners on March 5 (single game playoff) will join the four bye teams to form the eight teams in the quarterfinals. The top four seeds, based on the final regular season standings, will host the bottom four in a best two-of-three series, March 11-13. For more on the playoffs, see page six of this release.
Scouting the RMU Colonials Robert Morris is in second place in the AHA with 31 points (18-9-5 overall and 13-7-5 in the AHA). RMU beat league champion RIT, 5-3, on Feb. 19 in Pittsburgh. The Colonials are on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) and are 6-2-2 in the last 10 games. RMU is 8-7-2 on the road this season, including a road win at Ohio State in October. Seniors Nathan Longpre (forward) and Denny Urban (defenseman) are tied for the team lead with 40 points. f Longpre leads the team with 14 goals while Urban leads the team with 32 assists. Longpre is seventh in the nation in points per game. f Urban is third in the nation in assists per game. Junior Brooks Ostergard has started the last four games in goal and has seen the most action this season. He has a 14-6-2 record with a 2.59 GAA and a .919 saves percentage.
Series with Robert Morris AFA and Robert Morris have played 11 times and the Colonials have a 7-4-0 lead in the series that began in 2004. Earlier this season, RMU beat AFA, 3-2, at the Consol Energy Arena (new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins) on Oct. 17 AFA had a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Nathan Longpre scored the game-winner in the third The last time the teams played at the Academy was Nov. 26, 2006. AFA won the non-conference game, 4-3 AFA and Robert Morris were both members of College Hockey America in 2004-05 and 2005-06 As CHA members, AFA won the first three games while RMU won the next six. In Colorado, AFA is 2-3 vs. Robert Morris.
Final Home Regular-Season Game for Seniors Saturday's game vs. Robert Morris is the final home regular-season game for seven Air Force seniors. The Falcons will play again at home in the playoffs. Seniors Matt Becker (52 gp, 4-10-14), Sean Bertsch (139 gp, 17-19-36), Derrick Burnett (142 gp, 32-80-112), Scott Kozlak (142 gp, 20-28-48), Jacques Lamoureux (109 gp, 71-58-129), Blake Page (141 gp, 21-30-51) and Brad Sellers (137 gp, 5-29-34) have combined to play in 862 games and score a combined 170 goals and 424 points. This group won the AHA Championship and played in the NCAA Tournament as freshmen and sophomores. They played key roles in the team's NCAA Tournament win over Michigan as the Falcons advanced to the Elite Eight, the only service academy team to ever do so. In four years, this group has a 79-49-20 record (60 percent) in four years; 21-12-6 as freshmen; 28-11-2 as sophomores;16-15-6 as juniors and 14-11-6 this season. The 79 wins ties as the second most by any class in school history. The class of 2009 also won 79. The class of 2010 holds the school record with 84 wins.
