Falcons travel to Mercyhurst, Feb. 22-23

This Week: Air Force (14-12-4, 12-9-3 AHC) travels to Mercyhurst (13-15-4, 11-10-3) for a two-game Atlantic Hockey Conference series, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23, in Erie, Pa. Faceoff is at 7:05 pm ET each night.

Live Stream: Every home game and every Atlantic Hockey game will be streamed on AtlanticHockey.tv for a subscription fee.

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.

The Conference Race: With two weeks left in the conference season, AIC leads the league with 35 points with two AHC games remaining. Bentley is in second with 30 points. Air Force and RIT are tied with 27, Sacred Heart is a point back with 26 and Mercyhurst is in sixth with 25. Two points separates four teams in the middle of the pack. All four teams have four games remaining. The top four seeds get a bye in the first round and will host a quarterfinal series, March 15-17. The fifth-seed, which Air Force was last season, gets a first round bye, but goes on the road in the quarterfinals. Seeds 6-8 will host seeds 9-11 in the first round, March 8-10.

Trending: Senior Matt Koch leads the team with 20 assists and 22 points ... Koch ranks seventh in the league in points by a defenseman in all games ... Kyle Haak leads the team with 12 goals while Kieran Durgan is second with 11 goals ... Haak has scored a point in 10 of the last 16 games ... Durgan is tied for second in the nation in goals by a freshman (11) ... Billy Christopoulos leads the league in both saves percentage (.920) and GAA (2.12) in all games ... In conference games only, Christopoulos leads the league in both saves percentage (.928) and GAA (1.84) ... Air Force ranks second in the nation in penalty kill at 88.8 percent ... Air Force tied its season high with 39 shots vs. Canisius, Feb. 16.

Scouting Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst is 13-15-4 overall and 11-10-3 and in sixth place in the conference with 25 points. Mercyhurst is 1-1-2 in their last four games. Last weekend, the Lakers got one point in a series at Army. After a 1-1 overtime tie in game one, Army came from behind in game two for a 4-3 overtime win. Junior defenseman Joseph Duszak leads the team with 41 points (15-26-41). Junior Colin DeAugustine and sophomore Stefano Cantali have each started two of the last four games in goal. Cantali has the best numbers with a .900 saves percentage and a 3.15 GAA.

Series vs. Mercyhurst: Air Force leads the all-time series with Mercyhurst, 19-15-3. The teams split a two-game series earlier this season at the Academy, Dec. 7-8. Air Force won the first game, 2-0, while Mercyhurst won game two, 4-1. The Falcons have won four of the last six in the series. In games played in Erie, Air Force is 9-5-2 against the Lakers. The last time the teams played in Erie was Jan. 6-7, 2017 and Air Force swept the series, 3-1 and 4-2.

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Players Mentioned

Billy Christopoulos

Kieran Durgan

Kyle Haak

Matt Koch

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