Huskies' Crum Chosen Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week (3/12/07)

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Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week

Ben Worker - Air Force
Senior, Goaltender, Thief River Falls, Minn. 


Recorded his third shutout in the last 12 games on Saturday vs. Holy Cross ... Stopped all 17 shots he faced ... Has won three straight games (Canisius, AIC and Holy Cross) for the first time in his career ... Has allowed just two goals in his last three starts ... Raised his goals-against average back over .900 (.902) ... Leads the team with six wins ... Is 60 minutes from qualifying for the national stats. If he did, his 2.13 GAA would be eighth in the nation.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week Nick Johnson - Sacred Heart
Freshman, Forward, Windsor, Conn. 

Johnson tallied a goal and an assist in the Pioneers win over AIC. He scored the first goal of the game, which turned out to be the game winner, in the first period. He later assisted on SHU's final goal of the night. Johnson is second amongst Pioneer rookies with 15 points, five goals and 10 assists.

Weekly Honor Roll


Mike Phillipch, Air Force (Sophomore, Forward, Lansing, Mich.) - Two points in the win over Holy Cross (1-1-2) ... Scored AFA's second goal at 5:25 of the third period for a 2-0 lead ... Assisted on Greg Flynn's goal with 1:39 remaining to seal the win ... Team-high six shots on goal and was a +1 ... Extended his point scoring streak to four games ... Has now scored in eight of the last nine games.

Josh Kassel, Army (Sophomore, Goaltender, Greensburg, Pa.) - Kassel continued his role of the brick wall that anchors Army's defense as the Black Knights defeated Bentley, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament on Saturday. The Greensburg, Pa., native made 30 stops in limiting the Falcons offense to two goals. It marked the sophomore's fifth 30-plus save effort of the season and was the 15th time this season that he held an opponent to 2 goals or less. Kassel now ranks 21st in the nation with a 2.31 goals against average and 27th with a .914 save percentage.

Tim Manthey, Army (Sophomore, Defensemen, Anoka, Minn.) - Manthey scored two goals to help lead Army past Bentley, 6-2, in the AHA Quarterfinals on Saturday. His first marker of the night tied the score at 1-1, with his second power-play goal of the evening giving the Black Knights a 2-1 lead in the opening minutes of the second period. The Anoka, Minn., native's two goal performance was the first of his career and upped his season point total to 27 and moved him to seventh among collegiate defensemen in scoring averaging 0.81 points a contest.

Ray Jean, Bentley (Senior, Goaltender, Randolph, Maine) - Jean made 30 saves in Saturday's quarterfinal game against Army, the final outing of his collegiate career. Jean leaves Bentley as the all time career leader in save percentage (.900) and goals against average (3.38).

Kane Osmars, Bentley (Freshman, Forward, Kanata, ONT) - Osmars scored his first collegiate goal to put Bentley up, 1-0, in their quarterfinal game against Army on Saturday.

Dain Prewitt, Bentley (Sophomore, Forward, Westminster, Colo.) - Prewitt scored an unassisted goal in Saturday's quarterfinal game against Army. It was Prewitt's fourth career postseason goal in four games.

Beau Erickson (Freshman, Goaltender, Merrill, Iowa) - Erickson stopped 32 Laker shots in helping the Huskies the Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinals with a 5-4 victory Saturday night over Mercyhurst.


Jason Smith, Sacred Heart (Senior, Goaltender, St. Lambert, QUE) - Smith made 16 saves to earn a shutout victory over AIC Saturday night. It was Smith's first shutout of the season and first playoff shutout for a Sacred Heart goaltender since March 13, 2004. It was Smith's 38th career victory, extending his school record.

Bear Trapp, Sacred Heart (Sophomore, Forward, Regina, SASK) - Trapp scored two goals in the Pioneers quarterfinal win over AIC. The tallies came in the second and third period and gave him 16 for the season, tying him for the team lead.

Team Notes

Air Force: Air Force won its first ever game in the AHA Tournament and the first ever home playoff game ... It was the Falcons' first conference tournament win since a CHA win over Wayne State in 2005 ... AFA advances to the tournament semifinals for the first time in 2005 and for the fifth time in school history (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005 in the CHA) ... Theo Zacour netted the game-winner in the first period, his second game-winner of the season ... Zacour also netted the game-winner in AFA's last tournament win in overtime vs. Wayne State in the 2005 CHA Championships ... Greg Flynn's goal in the third period was the first of career ... Mike Phillipich had two points (1-1-2) and extended his point scoring streak to four games ... Eric Ehn had two assists in the game, extending his scoring streak to five games (3-9-12) ... Ehn leads the nation in scoring with 1.68 points per game (62 points in 37 games) ... Ben Worker earned his third shutout in the last 12 games making 17 saves ... Worker has now won three straight starts and has allowed just two goals in the three games ... AFA won the battle of special teams and is now 13-0-4 when doing so ... AFA finished the home schedule with a 9-6-3 record, the most home wins in five years ... Ehn's two assists give him 38 on the season, the sixth most in school history and the most in 30 years (1976-77) ... AFA will face Sacred Heart in the AHA semifinals, March 16 ... AFA and SH tied twice earlier in the season at the Cadet Ice Arena, 3-3 and 1-1, on Dec. 1-2 ... AFA holds a 3-0-3 lead in the series with the Pioneers ... Of the six games in the series, four have gone into overtime ... The teams have played twice on neutral ice and both games went into overtime: a 2-2 overtime tie at the UConn Tournament in 2003 (AFA won a shootout on a goal by Zacour) and a 3-2 AFA win in overtime at the RPI Tournament in 2004.


American International: The Yellow Jackets closed out the season with a loss to Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals...AIC had 11 players score at least 10 points this season as compared to eight one season ago...the Yellow Jackets graduate just five seniors, defensemen Jeremy Leroux (Lunenburg, ON) and Ben Ellsworth (Saranac Lake, N.Y.), forwards Jeason Lecours (Sherbrooke, QUE) and Mark Fuqua (Shelby Township, Mich.) and goaltender Matt Tourville (Sandwich, Mass.).


Army: The Black Knights skated to a 6-2 victory over Bentley in the AHA Quarterfinals on Saturday ... the victory put Army in the Atlantic Hockey Final Four for the first time in school history and only two wins away from the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament ... the six goals are the most-ever by an Army team in the post-season ... the Black Knight's scored five unanswered goals for the first time since Jan. 6, 2006 ... Army scored two power play goals for the fourth straight game ... Josh Kassel recorded his fifth 30-plus save effort of the season ... also the 15th time this season he has held an opponent to 2 or less goals ... Kassel now ranks 21st in the nation with a 2.31 GAA and 27th with a .914 save percentage ... Tim Manthey scored two goals in a game for the first time in his career ... upped his season point total to 27 and moved him to seventh among NCAA defensemen averaging 0.81 points a game ... Bryce Hollweg registered two goals and an assist in the win, marking the first three-point game of his career ... Army will face Connecticut in the semifinals on Friday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. ... the Black Knights won the season series this winter, 3-0-1.


Connecticut: The University of Connecticut men's hockey team won its first ever Atlantic Hockey Tournament home game with a 5-4 win over Mercyhurst Saturday night. With the win, the Huskies advance to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinals for the second consecutive season. The Huskies move on to face Army in the semifinals Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Army is the only team in Atlantic Hockey the Huskies have failed to beat this season. UConn is 0-3-1 against the Black Knights this season.


Holy Cross: Senior James Sixsmith led the Crusaders in goals (17), assists (30) and points (47) this season. His 30 assists tied current San Jose Shark Patrick Rissmiller for the Holy Cross Division I single-season assists record. He ends his Holy Cross career with 48 goals and 104 assists for 152 points in 142 games played. Sixsmith who already holds the school's Division I career points and assists records, is now tied for eighth on the all-time points list with 152, dating back to the first varsity season in 1966-67. His 142 games played ranked third all-time at the school. Holy Cross' five seniors Tanner Fogarty, Rob Godfrey, Jon Landry, Sean Nappo and captain James Sixsmith are one of the most successful classes in the history of Holy Cross men's hockey. They have been a part of 75 wins, two Atlantic Hockey titles, two NCAA Tournaments and one NCAA Tournament victory. Their 75 wins is the second most in a four-year period in school-history.


Sacred Heart: The Pioneers posted a 4-0 victory over AIC Saturday night in the AHA quarterfinals. Bear Trapp scored two goals to tie for the team lead with 16 on the season. Jason Smith made 16 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. It was the first playoff shutout for a Sacred Heart goaltender since Kevin LaPointe shutout UConn in the quarterfinals on March 13, 2004. It was the first playoff victory for SHU since beating Mercyhurst in the semifinals on March 14, 2004. The victory was the 21st of the season for the Pioneers, tying the school record for wins in a season, set last year. The top-seeded Pioneers will face Air Force in the AHA semifinals Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.