Air Force hosts AIC, Jan. 12-13

THE GAMES
Game 23: Friday, Jan. 12, vs. AIC, 7:05 pm MT, Cadet Ice Arena
Game 24: Saturday, Jan. 13, vs. AIC, 4:05 pm MT, Cadet Ice Arena

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:............... Friday, Jan. 12, Altitude 2; Sat., Jan. 13, No TV
Stream: .................. FloHockey
Radio:..................... Jan. 12: XtraSports 1300 AM | Jan. 13: KVOR AM 740
Live Stats................ StatBroadcast
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts: ........... Air Force                                          AIC
Record: .................. 10-11-1, 7-4-1 AHA                      12-9-1, 8-5-1 AHA
Streak: ................... W 2                                                L 1
Last AHA Series: ..... Swept Bentey (A); 3-1, 7-3         2 points vs. Holy Cross (H/A)

THE SERIES
Overall: .................. 34-14-5
Last Meeting: ......... AIC swept AF, Feb. 17-18, 2023 (3-2 and 4-3) at USAFA
Streak: AF L 3

One Timers
* Air Force earned its first six-point league series sweep since Mercyhurst, Jan. 21-22, 2022. Air Force swept Army earlier this season, taking five of the six points with the first win coming in overtime
* Air Force has scored a power-play goal in three straight games. The Falcons' 18 power-play goals this season are tied for the AHA lead and tied for 10th in the nation.
* Air Force's 23 blocked shots at Bentley on Jan. 6 are the third most of the season. The Falcons blocked 40 shots in the Bentley series, the second most in a series this season (Michigan State 53).
* Prior to the Bentley series, Air Force had scored one goal in its previous three games and just eight goals in the previous seven games for a 1-5-1 record. Air Force had 10 goals in the Bentley series.
* The Falcons are 10-4-0 when scoring three or more and 0-7-1 when scoring two or less.
* Air Force scored first in both games at Bentley and is 7-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game
* Air Force leads the AHA and is tied for first in the nation with a .547 faceoff winning percentage.
* Air Force's penalty kill (84.3) is fourth in the AHA and 16th in the nation.
* Junior goalie Guy Blessing has been stellar recently. Over his last eight games, he has a 2.16 GAA and a .917 saves percentage.
* Clayton Cosentino leads the nation with 335 faceoff wins. Among players who have taken more than 450 draws, he leads the nation in winning percentage at .595. He has taken 563.
* Will Gavin leads the league and is second in the nation with nine power-play goals. His nine PPG are the most by a Falcon since Jacques Lamoureux had 13 in 2010-21. Lamoureux, Andy Berg and Mark Manney are tied for the school record with 15.
* Gavin is second in the league with 13 goals and is 19th in the nation with 0.59 per game. Gavin's 13 goals are the most by a Falcon since he had 16 in 2021-22
* Luke Rowe leads the AHA with 18 assists and Chris Hedden is second with 16.
* Hedden and Gavin are tied for second in the league with 21 points. Rowe is fifth with 20.
* Rowe is ninth in the league in blocks (34).
* Air Force's 7 goals on Jan. 6 at Bentley tie as the most since scoring 8 vs. AIC in 2016
* Air Force's 10 goals in the Bentley series tie as the most in an AHA since Bentley (11 in 2017)

Series vs. AIC
Air Force and AIC have played 53 times and the Falcons hold a 34-14-5 lead in the series that began in 1980. As Atlantic Hockey rivals, the teams have played 45 times and Air Force has a 26-14-5 lead in the league series. AIC is 9-0-1 in the last 10 against Air Force. Air Force's last win in the series was a 4-1 win at the Academy, Jan. 3, 2020. The Falcons have just one win over AIC since the 2017-18 season (1-11-2). The teams met four times last season and AIC took 11 of the 12 points with all four games being close. In Springfield in November, the Yellow Jackets took five of the six points. After a 3-3 overtime tie in game one (AIC won the shootout in the sixth round), the Yellow Jackets won game two, 3-1. AIC swept AF at the Academy in February, 3-2 and 4-3.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets
AIC is 12-9-1 overall and in third place in Atlantic Hockey. With 25 points, the Yellow Jackets are five points ahead of the Falcons in the standings. Early in the season, AIC suffered close losses to No. 13 UMass, No. 5 Quinnipiac and No. 20 Penn State. Last weekend, AIC tied Holy Cross (won the shootout) at home and then lost at Holy Cross, 6-2. Prior to the Holy Cross series, AIC split with RIT and Canisius. Forward Dustin Manz leads the team with 17 assists and 19 points. Defenseman Brian Kramer leads the team with nine goals and has 18 points. Freshman goalie Nils Wallstrom has started 19 of the 22 games and has a 2.49 GAA and a .906 saves percentage to rank fifth in the AHA in both categories.

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Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Clayton Cosentino

Will Gavin

Chris Hedden

Luke Rowe

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