Falcons open season vs Calgary, Oct. 5

Oct. 4, 2015

This Week
Air Force opens the 2015-16 season with an exhibition game against the University of Calgary, Monday, Oct. 5, at 6:05 pm MT at the Cadet Ice Arena.
The regular-season opens on Friday, Oct. 9, against No. 5 Denver, at 7:05 pm MT at the Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force and Denver conclude the two-game series on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7:07 pm MT at Magness Arena in Denver.

Radio/Internet/Television
Every regular-season and playoff game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on Xtra Sports 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide color analysis. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff each day.

Live Stream
Every Air Force home game and every AHA game will be video streamed live on AtlanticHockey.tv. Go to AtlanticHockeyOnline.com.

Looking Back
Air Force concluded the 2014-15 season with a 16-21-4 overall record. The Falcons tied for sixth in Atlantic Hockey with a 13-12-3 record. Air Force was the No. 7 seed in tournament and swept a first-round series against No. 10 AIC at the Cadet Ice Arena. The season came to an end in the AHC Quarterfinals as No. 3 RIT, the eventual AHC Tournament champions, swept the Falcons in Rochester, N.Y.

Home Openers
Air Force will open the season at home for the second straight season, and just the second time in the last eight years. Last season, Air Force opened the season against Mercyhurst and split with the Lakers, winning the first game, 5-1, and losing the second, 4-2.
Season Openers
Air Force is 20-23-4 overall in season openers. The Falcons are 8-9-2 when opening the regular season at home. The Falcons are 6-9-3 in season openers under Frank Serratore.

Who's Back
The Falcons lose their top three scorers from last season, but the six of the top nine return. Junior A.J. Reid is the top returning scorer (10-20-30), followed by sophomore Erik Baskin (10-9-19), sophomore Tyler Ledford (2-16-18), senior Max Hartner (8-6-14) and senior Ben Carey (5-9-14). The Falcons also return five defensemen who were regulars in the lineup, junior Johnny Hrabovsky and sophomores Jonathan Kopacka, Phil Boje, Kyle Mackey and Dylan Abood. Air Force returns 51 percent of its goal scoring and 54 percent of the team's points from last season. The Falcons return 61 goals and 177 points from last season.

Fountain of Youth
Air Force is one of the youngest teams in the nation with 20 of the 27 players either freshmen or sophomores. The Falcons have eight sophomores and 12 freshmen this season. All eight of the sophomores played in more than 19 games, including seven who played more than 28 games. The sophomore class combined for 30 goals and 91 points. Erik Baskin was the top scoring sophomore with 10 goals and 19 points.

New Faces
Air Force has 12 freshmen on the roster, including two goaltenders: Shane Starrett and Billy Christopoulos. The Falcons also have four defensemen: Jake Erickson, Matt Koch, Zach Yoder and Dan Bailey and six forwards: Matt Serratore, Evan Giesler, Kyle Haak, Evan Feno, Evan Okeley, Matt Perry.

Series vs. Denver
Air Force and Denver have met 38 times and the Pioneers hold a 34-3-1 lead in the series. Denver has won two straight in the series, including last season's 7-0 win in Denver. The last time the two teams met twice in the same season was November, 2013. The teams tied 3-3 in overtime at the Academy and Denver won 3-1 at Magness. Air Force's last win in the series was a 5-2 victory in Jan. 18, 2008. Air Force is winless in the last eight vs. Denver.

Last Season vs. Denver
The 10th-ranked Pioneers used four power-play goals, and a hat trick from Quinton Shore, for a 7-0 win over Air Force, Nov. 21, at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo. Leading 1-0 after one period, the Pioneers broke the game open late in the second period with three goals in the final five minutes. Shore and Joey LaLeggia each scored in the second for a 3-0 lead. After a five-minute major on Air Force, Denver scored twice late in the period. Shore completed the hat trick and Trevor Moore scored for a 5-0 lead. Will Butcher and Zac Larraza scored in the third.
Denver outshot Air Force, 26-15, in the game. DU was 4-for-9 on the power play and scored a short-handed goal as well. Air Force was 0-for-5 on the man advantage. Chris Truehl made 19 saves for the Falcons. Evan Cowley made 16 saves for his second shutout of the season.

Scouting the Pioneers
Denver, ranked fifth in the nation in the current USCHO.com poll, was picked to finish second in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference preseason media poll. The Pioneers had seven first-place votes and 187 points. The Pioneers registered their NCAA-best 14th straight 20-win season in 2014-15, finishing with a record 24-14-2 and earning their first berth in the 'Elite Eight' since 2011. Denver returns 17 letterwinners in 2015-16, including the reigning NCHC Forward of the Year Trevor Moore and last season's NCHC Rookie of the Year Danton Heinen; both were named to the NCHC's Pre-Season All-Conference Team.

Players Mentioned

Dylan Abood

Dan Bailey

Erik Baskin

Phil Boje

Ben Carey

Billy Christopoulos

Jake Erickson

Evan Feno

Evan Giesler

Kyle Haak

Max Hartner

Johnny Hrabovsky

Matt Koch

Jonathan Kopacka

Tyler Ledford

Kyle Mackey

Matt Perry

A.J. Reid

Matt Serratore

Shane Starrett

Chris Truehl

Zach Yoder

Footer