Air Force travels to Bentley for AHA series
12/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 5, 2012
This Week fà Air Force (4-7-3 overall and 3-4-1 AHA) travels to Waltham, Mass., for a two-game Atlantic Hockey series with Bentley (6-7-0, 5-4-0 AHA). fà The two teams play on Friday-Saturday, Dec. 7-8, at 7:05 p.m. ET at the John A. Ryan Center.
The Coach fà Head coach Frank Serratore is in his 16th season at Air Force with a record of 259-257-54 record (570 games). fà He is the winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey, having led Air Force to five AHA championships and five NCAA Tournaments in the last six years. fà In his 20th season as a collegiate head coach, he has an overall record of 308-349-63 (720 games).
Scouting the Bentley Falcons fà Bentley University (Waltham, Mass.) is 6-7-0 overall and 5-4-0 in the AHA. fà The Bentley Falcons are tied for fourth place in the AHA with 10 points. fà Bentley has lost two straight and three of the last four. The team split a home series with Mercyhurst two weeks ago. fà Last weekend, Bentley lost at home to Army (3-2) and at 11th-ranked Dartmouth (5-2) fà Bentley is the top scoring team in the nation, averaging 3.92 goals per game. fà Bentley also has the No. 1 power play in the nation at 28.6 percent. fà Junior forward Brett Gensler is second in the nation in scoring with 22 points (8-14-22) in 13 games. fà Junior goalie Brendan Komm has started 12 of the 13 games and has a .902 saves percentage and a 3.34 GAA.
Last Season vs. Bentley fà Bentley took three points from Air Force in a series at the Academy last January. fà In the first game, Kyle De Laurell¡¦s power-play goal early in the third period tied the game in the 2-2 overtime tie. AFA outshot Bentley, 42-22. Brendan Komm made 40 saves for Bentley while Stephen Caple mad 20 for AFA. fà In the second game, Tony Thomas gave Air Force a 1-0 lead in the first period. However, Bentley scored the game-winner early in the third on the power play in a 2-1 AFA loss. Bentley outshot AFA, 23-20. Komm made 19 saves for Bentley. In his first start back from a groin injury, Jason Torf made 21 saves.
Series with Bentley fà Air Force leads the overall series, 21-7-4, in the series that began in 1998. fà As AHA rivals (beginning in the 2006-07 season), AFA leads the series, 15-5-3 fà The teams played twice last season at the Academy and Bentley took three points with a 2-2 overtime tie and a 2-1 win. fà Prior to the loss, Air Force was unbeaten in eight games vs. Bentley (6-0-2). fà The last four games have been decided by one goal or ended in a tie. fà In games played in Bentley, AFA has won four straight. The last time the teams met in Waltham, Mass., AFA won by scores of 3-2 in overtime and 3-2 in regulation.
1 is the Loneliest Number fà Air Force has seven losses this season and four of them of been one goal. Two of the games in which Air Force lost by more than one goal came against No. 6 Denver and No. 19 Colorado College. fà In three of the four one-goal losses, AFA had a lead in the second period (Holy Cross, UConn and Mercyhurst). fà In Air Force three ties this season, the Falcons led in every game (Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks and Canisius).
