Air Force travels to Army, Jan. 19-20

THE GAMES
Game 25: Friday, Jan. 19, vs. Army, 7:05 pm ET, Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.
Game 26: Saturday, Jan. 20 vs. Army, 4:05 pm ET, Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:............... None
Stream: .................. FloHockey
Radio:..................... XtraSports 1300 AM (Jay Ritchie, Dave Toller); xtrasports1300.com
Live Stats................ SideArm stats
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts: ........... Air Force                                          Army
Record: .................. 11-12-1, 8-5-1 AHA                      7-15-1, 5-10-1 AHA
Streak: ................... L 1                                                    W 1
Last Game/Series: .. Split AIC (H), W 6-2; L 1-4           W SHU, 5-3 (H)

THE SERIES
Overall: .................. AF Leads 51-27-9
Last Meeting: ......... AF swept Army, 4-3 ot and 4-0, Nov. 10-11 at USAFA
Streak: AF W 3

One Timers
* Air Force's win over AIC snapped a 10-game winless skid to Yellow Jackets (0-9-1).
* Air Force has scored a power-play goal in four of the last five games.
* The Falcons' 20 power-play goals this season lead the AHA and are eighth in the nation.
* The Falcons have blocked 79 shots the last four games.
* Air Force's 13 goals in the two games vs. Bentley and AIC ties as the most since the 2018-19 season when the Falcons scored six against Bemidji State and seven against St. Lawrence.
* Air Force has five short-handed goals this season, second in the AHA and sixth in the nation. Air Force is 3-0 this season when scoring a shortie
* The six goals scored in win over AIC are the most against the Yellow Jackets since an 8-2 win, Jan. 8, 2016
* Guy Blessing had 44 saves in the AIC series. Over his last 10 games, he has a 2.16 GAA and a .913 saves percentage.
* Chris Hedden had a career-high two goals and matched his career high with three points vs. AIC, Jan. 12
* Austin Schwartz scored his second shortie of the season vs. AIC and ranks fourth in the nation in SHG.
* Clayton Cosentino won 35 faceoffs in the AIC series and leads the nation with 370 faceoff wins. Among players who have taken more than 500 draws, he leads the nation in winning percentage at .601.
* The Falcons are 11-4-0 when scoring three or more goals and 0-8-1 when scoring two or less.
* Air Force is 7-3-0 when scoring the first goal of the game
* Air Force leads the AHA and is fifth in the nation with a .547 faceoff winning percentage.
* Air Force's penalty kill (83.8) is fifth in the AHA and 15th in the nation.
* Luke Rowe leads the league with 18 assists and Chris Hedden is tied for second with 17.
* Will Gavin leads the league with nine power-play goals and is second with 13 goals.
* Gavin is second in the nation in PPG and is 37th in the nation with 0.54 goals per game.
* Hedden is tied for the league lead with 24 points. Gavin is tied for third with 22 and Rowe is tied for sixth with 21 points. Rowe is 10th in the league in blocks (36).
* Hedden earned his second AHA weekly award as he was named the Defensive Player of the Week for posting three points, including a career high two goals, in the AIC series.

About the Black Knights
Army is 7-15-1 overall and 5-10-1 and in 10th place in Atlantic Hockey. The Black Knights opened the season 0-9, but since then are 7-6-1. Army is 2-1-1 in the last four games, all against top four teams in the AHA. The Black Knights beat first-place Sacred Heart, 5-3, at Tate Rink, Jan. 16. Army tied first place Sacred Heart (lost in shootout) on Jan. 9 and then split with Holy Cross, Jan. 12-13. The Black Knights have split with Canisius and Mercyhurst and have non-conference wins over UMass-Lowell and No. 16 New Hampshire (Dec. 29). Joey Baez leads the team with 10 goals (5 PPG) and 21 points. Max Itagaki has 14 assists and 19 points. Junior Evan Szary has seen the most action in goal with 16 starts. He has a 2.97 GAA and a .908 saves percentage. He started both games against Air Force, Nov. 10-11, and made 69 saves in the series, including a season-high 39 in the 4-3 overtime loss. Szary made 25 saves in the shutout win over Holy Cross, Jan. 12 and had 29 in the win over Sacred Heart earlier this week.

Series vs. Army
Air Force leads the all-time series vs. Army, 51-27-9. Air Force took five of the six points earlier this season at the Academy with a 4-3 overtime win and a 4-0 shutout victory. In the last 15 games, Air Force is 9-3-3 against Army. In Atlantic Hockey games (since 2006-07), Air Force leads the series, 26-12-7 (including playoffs). In games played at West Point, the Falcons are 22-17-4 against Army. Since becoming the Falcons' coach in 1997, Serratore is 39-17-8 (67 percent) vs. the Black Knights (64 games). Eight of the last 15 games in the series have gone into overtime.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Clayton Cosentino

Will Gavin

Chris Hedden

Luke Rowe

Austin Schwartz

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