Falcons host Bentley in AHC opener

Oct. 19, 2016

This Week

Air Force (2-1-1) hosts the Bentley Falcons (1-1-1) for a two-game Atlantic Hockey series, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 21-22, at 7:05 pm MT each night at the Cadet Ice Arena. The series will be the conference opener for both teams.

Live Stream

Every Air Force home game and every AHC game will be video streamed live on www.atlantichockey.tv. The service is subscription based.

Radio/Internet

Friday's game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on AM 740 KVOR while Saturday's game will be broadcast on Xtra Sports 1300. Both games are available online at 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.

The Coach

Head coach Frank Serratore is in his 20th season at Air Force with a record of 331-311-72 record (714 games). The 4-3 win over Arizona State, Oct. 14, was the his 300th Division I win at Air Force. The 2016 AHC Coach of the Year, 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 10 years. In 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has an overall record of 380-403-81 (864 games).

Scouting the Bentley Falcons

Bentley is 1-1-1 overall this season. The Falcons opened the season with a 5-1 win on the road at New Hampshire, Oct. 8. Last week, Bentley tied 16th-ranked Northeastern, 1-1, at home and then fell to the Huskies on the road, 7-3. Senior forward Max French, a first-team all-conference selection last season, leads the team with five assists while sophomore defenseman Alexey Solovyev has three goals. Junior Jayson Argue has started all three games in goal and had a 3.10 GAA and a .913 saves percentage.

Killing It

The Air Force penalty kill was perfect in the Ice Breaker, killing all 12 opponent power plays. Air Force killed 16 straight opponent power plays before Arizona State scored on two straight on Oct. 16. The Falcons are tied for 18th in the nation in penalty kill percentage at 90.0 percent. Last season, Air Force led the AHC and was 11th in the nation in penalty kill percentage at 85.5 percent.

Trio Among National Stat Leaders

Junior winger Ben Kucera is tied for second in the nation with two power-play goals. He had a power-play goal in each game against Boston College and Ohio State. Junior defenseman Phil Boje is tied for fourth in the nation in points by a defenseman with five (2-3-5). His 1.25 points per game are third in the league and tied for 10th in the nation. Sophomore Shane Starrett ranks sixth in the nation in saves (110), 10th in the nation in saves percentage (.940) and 21st in the nation in GAA (2.27).

Openers

In home openers under head coach Frank Serratore, the Falcons are 11-6-2, including a three-game winning streak. The last three years, the Falcons have opened the home schedule with a win (Penn State in 2013-14, Mercyhurst in 2014-15 and Denver last season). In Atlantic Hockey openers, Air Force is 5-4-1. Air Force lost its AHC opener last season at Robert Morris. The last conference-opening win came in 2014-15 against Mercyhurst.

Trending

Ben Kucera scored a goal in the first three games ... Tyler Ledford has a three-game point streak with four points (1-3-4) in the last three games ... Dan Bailey had an assist in both games at Arizona State ... Air Force is 17th in the nation in faceoff winning percentage at 52.2 percent ... Tyler Ledford leads the team with 34 faceoff wins ... Freshman Brady Tomlak leads the team with a 60.0 winning percentage ... Seven players have scored Air Force's 11 goals this season ... Kyle Mackey leads the team with eight blocked shots ... Freshman Pierce Pluemer scored his first career goal at ASU, Oct. 16 ... He is the first Falcon freshman to score a goal this season ... Sophomore Matt Serratore is tied for second on the team with four points (2-2-4) and leads the team with a +5 ... Air Force has scored a power-play goal in three of the four games.

Players Mentioned

Dan Bailey

Phil Boje

Ben Kucera

Tyler Ledford

Kyle Mackey

Pierce Pluemer

Matt Serratore

Shane Starrett

Brady Tomlak

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