Air Force faces Colorado College, Oct. 28-29

THE GAMES
Game 1: at Colorado College, Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 pm; Robson Arena
Game 2: Colorado College, Saturday, Oct, 29, 7:07 pm; Cadet Ice Arena

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television: Oct. 28 on AT&T Sports; Oct. 29 on Altitude 2
Stream: NCHC.TV (Friday only); FloHockey.TV (Saturday only)
Radio: XtraSports 1300 AM on Friday; KVOR AM 740 on Saturday
Live Stats SideArm stats Friday; StatBroadcast on Saturday

THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts: Air Force CC
2022-23 Record: 2-3-1 2-4-0
Streak: L 1 L 4
Last Game: L 2-4 H vs. RIT L 1-6 at ASU

THE COACHES
Head Coach: Frank Serratore Kris Mayotte
School Record: 428-398-97 (26th yr) 11-28-3 (2nd yr)
Career Record: 477-490-106 (30th yr) 11-28-3 (2nd yr)

THE SERIES
Overall: CC leads 64-14-2
Last Season: Oct. 29, 2021, AF W 5-4 ot, at AF; Oct. 30, 2021, CC W 1-8, at CC
This Season: Oct. 1: CC won 5-1 exhibition game
Streak: CC W 1

Quick Hitters
* Air Force split a two-game conference series at home with RIT last weekend
* The Falcons earned their first conference win and first home win of the season, Oct. 20
* Sophomore goalie Guy Blessing was named the AHA Goalie of Week.
* In the RIT series, Blessing recorded a .917 saves percentage and a 3.07 GAA while stopping 66 of 72 shots. He also stopped a penalty shot with under a minute left in game one
* Will Gavin had two points in the series, including the game-winner on Thursday
* Gavin has a point in five straight games
* Luke Rowe also had two points (1-1-2) in the series, both coming on Friday
* Willie Reim also had two points (1-1-2) in the series, both coming on Thursday
* Freshman Mason McCormick scored his first career goal in game one
* The Falcons are second in the league, 12th in the nation in scoring offense (3.67/game)
* AF leads the AHA, and is 15th in the nation, in faceoff winning percentage at 52.8.
* The Falcon power play of 25.0 percent is fourth in the AHA and 16th in the nation.
* Air Force and CC will battle for the Pikes Peak Trophy this week. The teams split the two-game series last season, so CC retained the Trophy
* CC defeated Air Force, 5-1, in an exhibition at the Academy, Oct. 1
* Luke Rowe scored Air Force's lone goal and Blessing made 30 saves in the exhibition game
* Last season, the teams split a pair of regular-season games with Air Force winning 5-4 in overtime at Cadet Ice Arena and CC winning 8-1 at Robson Arena.
* CC retained the Pikes Peak Trophy with the split last season.
* The Tigers have had the Trophy since 2018. Air Force had the Trophy from its inception in 2013 through 2017.
* While the Tigers have dominated the history of the series, Air Force has won six of the last 11 matchups dating back to 2013 (not including exhibition games).

About the Tigers
Colorado College is 2-4-0 overall this season with a pair of wins over Alaska-Anchorage to open the season. Last week, the Tigers were swept in a pair of games at Arizona State, 5-3 and 6-1. Hunter McKeown leads the team with three goals and five points. Bryan Yoon leads the team with five assists and also has five points. Matt Vernon and Kaidan Mbereko have each started three games in goal with similar numbers (Vernon 3.37/.889 and Mbereko 3.68/.871).

Series vs. Colorado College
Air Force and Colorado College have played 80 times in the regular season and the Tigers hold a 64-14-2 lead in the series that began in 1969. Last season, Air Force defeated Colorado College, 2-1, in an exhibition game. The teams then split a pair of regular-season games with Air Force winning 5-4 in overtime at Cadet Ice Arena and CC winning 8-1 at Robson Arena. CC retained the Pikes Peak Trophy with the split last season. While the Tigers have dominated the history of the series, Air Force has won six of the last 11 matchups dating back to 2013 (not including exhibition games).

The Pikes Peak Trophy
The Pikes Peak Trophy, named in honor of the late John Matchefts, was jointly created in 2013 by Air Force and Colorado College and is awarded annually to the winner of the CC-Air Force game/series.
Matchefts, who served stints as head coach for both Air Force (1974-85) and Colorado College (1966-71), is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Matchefts led Air Force to 151 wins, the second most in school history.
Since the Trophy's inception in 2013, the Falcons have won it four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017) and retained it once (2015). Colorado College has won it twice (2018 and 2019) and retained it once (2021). The teams didn't play in 2020 due to COVID.
Air Force won the first two trophies with a 3-1 win at the World Arena in 2013 and a 3-1 win at the Cadet Ice Arena in 2014. In 2015, the teams played twice with each team winning 4-3 on home ice. As a result of the split, the Falcons retained the Trophy. In 2016, Air Force won the Trophy with a 6-3 win at World Arena. In 2017, Air Force defeated the Tigers, 6-3, at the Academy. CC won the trophy for the first time with a 6-1 win over Air Force at the Broadmoor World Arena in 2018. Colorado College won both games in 2019 and the teams split in 2021.

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Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Will Gavin

Mason McCormick

Willie Reim

Luke Rowe

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