Air Force to face RIT in AHA semifinals

This Week: Air Force (15-16-3) travels to Utica, N.Y., for the Atlantic Hockey Final Four. The Falcons, the sixth seed, will face the fourth-seeded RIT Tigers (18-15-4) in the semifinals on Friday, March 18, at 7:35 pm ET at the Adirondack Bank Center. The championship game will be Saturday, March 19, at 7:35 pm ET.

The Playoffs: Air Force, AIC and Mercyhurst all swept their first round series. RIT won its series in three games. Air Force and Mercyhurst both won their respective series on the road. In the other semifinal game, No. 1 seed AIC will host Mercyhurst, the No. 9 seed entering the tournament, at 4:05 pm ET on Friday, March 18.

About the Tigers: RIT reached the semifinals by defeating Sacred Heart, 3-1, in game three of their quarterfinal series on March 13. RIT is 5-2 in its last seven games. Freshman Carter Wilkie leads the team with 28 points. Will Calverley leads the team with 15 goals. Freshman Tommy Scarfone is the team's top goalie with a .922 saves percentage and a 2.38 GAA. He made 30 saves in the deciding third game against Sacred Heart.

Series vs. RIT: Air Force leads the all-time series vs. RIT, 34-25-4. The teams met just three weeks ago in Colorado and split the two games with both games going into overtime. RIT won game one, 3-2 in OT, while Air Force won game two, 1-0 in OT. The teams did not play last season due to COVID protocols. AF and RIT were scheduled to meet in the AHA Quarterfinals in Rochester in 2020, but the series was cancelled due to COVID. Air Force has won 11 of the last 16 in the series agianst RIT. Both Air Force and RIT joined Atlantic Hockey in 2006 and, since then, the teams have played 52 times in league play. Air Force leads in AHA games 31-21-3 (including the playoffs). In the history of the series, 49 of the 63 games (78 percent) have been decided by two goals or less with 17 games going into overtime (27 percent)

The Falcons and Tigers in the Playoffs: This will be the sixth season the Falcons and Tigers have met in the playoffs. Air Force won the first three meetings (2008 semifinals and 2011 and 2012 championship games). RIT defeated Air Force in a quarterfinal series (2-0) at RIT in 2015 and then defeated the Falcons in the 2016 AHA semifinal. The teams are 3-3 against each other in the playoffs. Air Force and RIT both joined the league for the 2006-07 season and combined to win 10 of 12 championships from 2007-2018. Air Force won the title in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018. RIT won the title in 2010, 2015 and 2016.

Quick Hitters
* Air Force has reached the AHA semifinals for the 10th time, tied as the most in the conference (Mercyhurst)
* Air Force is 7-2 all-time in the AHA semifinals. The last time the Falcons reached the semifinals was in 2018
* Air Force has played in five straight overtime games and seven of the last 10
* The Falcons have won three straight overtime games
* Air Force is 4-1-1 in the last six games
* Air Force will face RIT for the third time this season. The teams split a two-game series at the Academy, Feb. 25-26, at the Academy. Both games went into overtime with each team winning one
* Last week, Air Force swept Army in a playoff series at West Point. The teams have met five times in the playoffs and Air Force has advanced every time.
* Blake Bride scored the game-winner in game one at Army and Parker Brown scored the game-winner in game two at Army
* Air Force's 51 shots on Friday at Army are a season high
* The Falcons are 7-2-3 in overtime this season
* Air Force has played 34 games this season and 20 of them have been decided by one goal or ended in a tie. In those 20 games, Air Force is 11-6-3.
* Eleven of Air Force's 15 wins this season have been by one goal
* The Falcons are 13-1-2 this season when scoring first this season, including the last three wins
* Air Force is 38-14 all-time in the AHA playoffs and 14-2 all-time in the AHA Final Four
* Air Force is on a three-game winning streak, the longest since a four-gamer Jan. 14-22, 2022
* Junior Willie Reim tied his career high with two goals on Friday.
* Sophomore Sam Brennan had a career high three points (1-2-3) on Friday, including the primary assist in the game-winner
* Sophomore Nate Horn tied his career high with two assists on Friday.
* Sophomore Luke Robinson scored his first career goal to tie the game on Friday
* Sophomore Will Gavin had two assists and a goal on Saturday and has in 12 of his last 15 games.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Brennan

Blake Bride

Parker Brown

Will Gavin

Nate Horn

Willie Reim

Luke Robinson

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