Air Force opens season at No. 8 Notre Dame

This Week
Air Force (0-0) opens the 2019-20 season at No. 8/9 Notre Dame (0-0), Friday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and Oct. 13, at the Compton Family Arena in South Bend, Ind. The Friday faceoff is at 7:05 pm ET, while the Sunday game will begin at 3:05 pm ET.

The Falcons on TV
Both of Air Force's games at Notre Dame will be on national television.
The season opener on Friday, Oct. 11, will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports. The puck will drop at 7:05 pm ET at the Compton Family Arena. NBC SN can be found on DirecTV (220), Dish Network (159) and on Comcast/Xfinity in Colorado Springs (56/772).
The second game of the series, Sunday, Oct. 13, will be televised live on the NHL Network with the opening faceoff at 3:05 pm ET. The NHL Network can be on found on DirecTV (215), Dish Network (157) and on Comcast/Xfinity in Colorado Springs (178/842). The game will also air on NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia and SNY.
Both games will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

Radio/Internet
Every game will be broadcast on Xtra Sports 1300 in Colorado Springs and will be available online at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. The game is also available on TuneIn. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide color analysis. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff.

Returning Numbers
Air Force returns 44 goals scored from last season, the second fewest in Atlantic Hockey (49 percent of last season's total of 96). The 44 returning goals are also the sixth fewest in the nation. Mercyhurst has the fewest returning in the AHA with 40. AIC, who won the league tournament and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, has the most at 124 (96 percent of last season's league-leading 129 goals). Niagara is second with 110 goals returning, 87 percent of last season's total. Air Force is also one of two teams in the conference that does not return a starting goaltender (Robert Morris is the other).

Scouting Notre Dame
No. 8/9 Notre Dame defeated the U.S. National Development Program, 4-2, in an exhibition game, Oct. 6, in Plymouth, Mich.
The Irish finished last season with a 23-14-3 overall record, won the Big Ten tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Northeast Regional final, before falling to UMass. It was the team's
fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth and second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship. Goalie Cale Morris was named a unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten first-team selection. He earned Big Ten Tournament MVP, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, Second Team All-Big Ten honors last season. The Irish were picked to finish second in the Big Ten preseason coaches' poll.

Series vs. the Irish
Air Force and Notre Dame have played 36 times and the Irish lead the series, 20-14-2. The teams first played in 1968, Air Force's first season of NCAA hockey. The teams have not played since the 2006 Lightning Hockey Classic in Tampa, Fla. Air Force has lost two straight to the Irish. The last Falcon win came in 1992 at the NCAA Division I Independents Tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Falcons have never played at the Compton Family Arena.

Last Win Over Ranked Team:
Air Force's last win over a ranked team came in the 2018 NCAA West Regional when the Falcons defeated No. 1 St. Cloud State, 4-1, March 23, 2018. Over the past 13 years (2007-08 to present). Air Force has beaten nine teams ranked in the top five in the nation at the time of the game.

New Faces
This season's freshman class (12) ties as the largest under head coach Frank Serratore. The class of 2023 includes defensemen Andrew Kruse. Luke Rowe, Brandon Koch and Dalton Weigel; forwards Blake Bride, Keenen Lund, Bennett Norlin, Ty Pochipinski, Luke Manning, Willie Reim and Mitch Walinski and goalie Austin Park. The freshman class of 2015-16, the graduating class of 2019, also had 12 members. The class was comprised of Dan Bailey, Matt Serratore, Evan Giesler, Kyle Haak, Evan Feno,Matt Koch, Evan Okeley (24 games), Matt Perry (2 games), Jake Ericksen (0 games), Zach Yoder (29 games), and two goalies Billy Christopoulos and Shane Starrett (70 games). That class, came in after a 16-21-4 season in 2014-15 and helped lead the team to 20 wins in 2015-16. That team also reached the semifinals of the AHA Tournament, before falling to RIT in overtime. They went on to win to two AHA Championships, earn two NCAA victories and two trips to the NCAA Elite Eight. They won 86 games, tying the school record, and posted a winning season in each of their four years.

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Players Mentioned

Dan Bailey

Blake Bride

Billy Christopoulos

Evan Feno

Evan Giesler

Kyle Haak

Brandon Koch

Matt Koch

Andrew Kruse

Luke Manning

Bennett Norlin

Austin Park

Ty Pochipinski

Willie Reim

Luke Rowe

Matt Serratore

Dalton Weigel

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