Air Force travels to Army, Nov. 21-22

THE GAMES
Game 1: at Army, Friday, Nov. 21, 7:05 pm ET, Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.
Game 2: at Army, Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:05 pm ET, Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:        None
Stream:              FloHockey
Radio:                 XtraSports 1300 AM / xtrasports1300.com;
Live Stats          StatBroadcast

THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts:    Air Force   Army
Record:              5-6-1, 2-4-0 AHA 3-5-3, 1-5-2 AHA
Streak:                L 2 L 3
Last Series: Swept by Holy Cross, 2-3; 1-4 Swept by Niagara, 4-6; 1-4

THE COACHES
Head Coach:                 Frank Serratore Zach McKelvie
School Record:             477-463-103 (29th yr)               3-5-3 (1st yr.)
Career Record:             526-555-112 (33rd yr)               3-5-3 (1st yr.)

THE SERIES
Overall:              AF leads 53-30-10
Last Meeting: Army took 10 of 12 points last season
Streak: Army unbeaten in 4 vs. Air Force

One Timers
* Last week, Air Force dropped a couple close games at home to first-place Holy Cross, 3-2 and 4-1 (with two empty-netters). Holy Cross scored first in both games and never trailed.
* Junior Dominik Wasik started both games against Holy Cross and has started the last seven games. Against Holy Cross, he stopped 41 of 45 shots. This season, he ranks fourth in the AHA in GAA (2.11) and is fourth in saves percentage (.924)
* Defensemen Chris Hedden, Nolan Cunningham and Will Staring are tied for the team lead with four goals each, tied for sixth in the nation among defensemen
* Nick Sajevic and Sam Stitz are tied for the team lead with 10 points, tied for seventh in the AHA
* Sajevic leads the team, and the AHA, with nine assists, tied for 23rd in the nation
* Sajevic is fifth in the AHA, and 12th in the nation, with 133 faceoff wins. His winning percentage of .619 leads the league and is second in the nation among players who have taken more than 200 draws. Sajevic won a career-high 16 draws in game one at SHU.
* Air Force's top line of all sophomores, LW Will Dawson, C Nick Sajevic and RW Sam Stitz has been on the ice for 11 of the team's 19 even-strength goals this season.
* Air Force is ... 4-1-0 when scoring three or more goals; 3-1-1 when scoring first; 4-1-1 when tied or leading after the first period; 4-3-1 when tied or win special teams; 3-2-0 in November
* Air Force has won 57 percent of the faceoffs the last six games and 51.9 for the season
* AF defensemen have scored seven of the 10 goals over the last four games
* Air Force begins a four-game road swing with a pair of games at Army. AF leads the all-time series vs. Army, 53-30-10. The Black Knights took 10 of the 12 points last season . Army won 3-2 in regulation and 4-3 in overtime last season at West Point. At Air Force, Army won 2-1 in regulation and earned a shootout win with a 4-4 overtime tie. In the last 10 games, AF is 5-4-1 vs. Army. Since becoming the Falcons' coach in 1997, Serratore is 41-20-9 (65 percent) vs. the Black Knights (70 games). At Tate Rink, Air Force is 24-19-4 against Army.

About the Black Knights
Army is 3-5-3 overall and 1-5-2 in the AHA and tied with Air Force for sixth place with six points. Army is winless in their last six games. The Black Knights were swept last weekend at Niagara, 6-4 and 4-1. In the series at Bentley two weeks ago, Army won a shootout (3-3 tie) and lost 3-2. The last win came against Hoy Cross, 5-2, Oct. 24 at Tate Rink. Nils Forselius leads the team with seven assists and nine points. Nik Hong leads the team with five goals and is second with eight points. Sophomore J.J. Cataldo has started 10 of the 11 games in goal and has a 2.77 GAA and a .910 saves percentage. He started the first game against Niagara last weekend in the 6-4 loss. Sophomore Jacob Biron started game two vs. the Purple Eagles, the 4-1 loss.

Series vs. Army
Air Force leads the all-time series vs. Army, 53-30-10. Air Force had won five straight and eight of nine from 2022-24 in the series, but Army had the upper hand last season. The Black Knights took 10 of the 12 points. Army won 3-2 in regulation and 4-3 in overtime last season at West Point. At Air Force, Army won 2-1 in regulation and earned a shootout win with a 4-4 overtime tie. In the last 10 games, AF is 5-4-1 vs. Army. In Atlantic Hockey games (since 2006-07), Air Force leads the series, 28-17-8 (including playoffs). Since becoming the Falcons' coach in 1997, Serratore is 41-20-9 (65 percent) vs. the Black Knights (70 games). In games played at the Cadet Ice Arena, Air Force is 26-10-6 against the Black Knights. At Tate Rink, Air Force is 24-19-4 against Army.

Note: There has always been a discrepancy in the series records according to Army and Air Force. In 1969, AF's first season of varsity hockey, the Falcons and Black Knights played twice in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Army won by scores of 12-4 and 8-0. The games are reflected in Army's series record (32-53-10 vs. AF), but have not been counted by Air Force (53-30-10 vs. Army). According to Air Force records, the games were considered exhibition games and were not on the team's original schedule or final results that season

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Players Mentioned

Nolan Cunningham

Will Dawson

Chris Hedden

Nick Sajevic

Will Staring

Sam Stitz

Dominik Wasik

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