Air Force hosts No. 20 Arizona State, Oct. 4-5

THE GAMES
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 4, 7:05 pm MT, vs. No. 20 Arizona State, Cadet Ice Arena
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 5, 7:05 pm MT, vs. No. 20 Arizona State, Cadet Ice Arena

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:           Game 1: Altitude TV (Tyler Maun, Ryan Kaufman)
Stream:                www.FloHockey.tv (Jay Ritchie, Dave Toller)
Radio:                 XtraSports 1300 AM (Jay Ritchie, Dave Toller); xtrasports1300.com
Live Stats             Statbroadcast

THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts:        Air Force                              Arizona State
2023-24 Record: 18-19-1                              24-8-6 (Independent)
Streak:                 L2                                           W 1
Last Game:          L AIC, 2-3 OT (H)               W Alaska-Anchorage, 5-2 (A)
Next Series:        At Ice Breaker Tourn.      Hosts Michigan, Oct. 11-12

THE COACHES
Head Coach:                       Frank Serratore                                 Greg Powers
School Record:                  456-436-99 (28th year)                 132–148–24 (NCAA Division I, 10th yr D1)
Career Record:                   505-528-108 (32nd year)              Same

THE SERIES
Overall:                 ASU Leads 4-3-0
Last Meeting:     ASU won 2-0, 1/7/23, in Tempe, Ariz.
Streak:                 ASU W 3

Looking Back at Last Season
* Air Force finished the 2023-24 season 18-19-1 overall and 15-10-1 in Atlantic Hockey
* Air Force's fourth-place finish in Atlantic Hockey was the highest since the Falcons finished third in 2019.
* Air Force's 18 wins were the most since the 2017-18 team went 23-15-5, won the AHA Tournament and reached the NCAA Elite Eight.
* The Falcons hosted an AHA quarterfinal series, but fell to AIC, 3-1 and 3-2 OT, March 8-9.
* The Falcons' 34 power-play goals last season led the AHA and were ninth in the nation.
* Air Force led the AHA and was seventh in the nation with a .542 faceoff winning percentage.
* Air Force's penalty kill (84.8) was third in the AHA and sixth in the nation.
* AF led the nation with nine SHG. Air Force was 6-0 last season when scoring a shortie
* The Falcons were 16-7-0 when scoring three or more goals and 2-12-1 when scoring two or less.
* Chris Hedden led the team with 37 points (8-29-37). He is the first defenseman to lead the team in scoring since Brandon Koch had 25 points in 2018-19 and just the fourth in school history.
* Hedden's 37 points are the most by a Falcon defenseman since Greg Flynn had 42 in 2008-09
* Hedden's 29 assists tie as the third most in the conference era and tie as the most since Greg Flynn had 35 (2008-09)
* Clayton Cosentino led the nation with 594 faceoffs won. His .592 winning percentage is the best by any player who won more than 500 faceoffs.
* Austin Schwartz led the nation with four SHG last season. They are the most shorties by a Falcon since Ben Carey had five in 2015-16.
* Head coach Frank Serratore, entering his 28th season, earned his 500th career win at Army, Jan. 20, 2024. He became just the 16th coach in the history of NCAA Division I hockey to reach 500 Division I wins. Only three active coaches have 500 or more career wins.

Series Record
Air Force and Arizona State have played seven times over the past eight seasons. ASU holds a 4-3-0 lead in the series that began in 2016. The teams first met in 2016 in Arizona and split the series. Air Force swept a series at the Academy in 2017. The Sun Devils swept the Falcons at the Academy in 2019. The teams last played on Jan. 7, 2023 in the Desert Hockey Classic and ASU beat Air Force, 2-0. at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State broke a scoreless tie midway through the second period as Ryan Alexander scored. Sun Devil Jack Judson scored an empty-netter with 22 seconds left. Air Force outshot ASU, 32-26. The Falcons were 0-for-1 on the power play and killed all five of the Sun Devil power plays. ASU goalie T.J. Semptimfelter had 32 saves while Falcon junior Maiszon Balboa had 24.

About the Sun Devils
Arizona State was 24-8-6 overall last season as an NCAA Division I Independent. The Sun Devils enter their first season in the NCHC in 2024-25. ASU narrowly missed an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament last season after a school record 24 wins, including a win over eventual 2024 national champion Denver and four nationally ranked opponents. ASU boasted the sixth-best winning percentage in the country (.711). Senior Lukas Sillinger set a program record for points in a single season with 48. Sillinger announced his return for his fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility in the upcoming 2024-25 season. ASU finished the season as one of the country's best scoring offenses with an average of 3.39 goals per game. With a 26.5 percent success rate, the Sun Devils boasted the sixth-best power play squad in the country.

Air Force hosts No. 20 Arizona State, Oct. 4-5

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maiszon Balboa

Clayton Cosentino

Chris Hedden

Brandon Koch

Austin Schwartz

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