February 12, 2007

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Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week


Louis Menard - R.I.T.
Freshman, Goaltender, Chicoutimi, QUE

Menard helped RIT to a pair of wins over Air Force Academy his weekend. He came in relief of Jocelyn Guimond on Friday night and held the Falcons scoreless over the final 35:05, making 12 saves as RIT came from behind to beat Air Force 5-4. On Saturday the freshman netminder made 31 stops and allowed just one goal as RIT beat Air Force 2-1. He posted 0.63 goals against average and had a .977 save percentage. He is 11-0-0 versus AHA opponents this season.


Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

David Jarman - Sacred Heart 
Freshman, Forward, Toronto, ONT 

Jarman continued his strong rookie campaign with a four point weekend against Mercyhurst inlcuding two goals and two assists. Jarman scored two goals, inclduing the game winning tally in Saturday night's SHU win over Mercyhurst and also had an assist. He also had two assists on the weekend, including a helper on the game winning goal Friday night. Jarman leads all Pioneer rookies with 17 points, eight goals and nine assists.


Weekly Honor Roll
Jeff Hajner, Air Force (Fr., F, New York, N.Y.) -

Team high 10 shots on goal in the series, including a season-high seven shots ... AFA's top freshman scorer on the season.


Eric Ehn, Air Force (Jr., F, Dexter, Mich.) -
Three points in the series gives him 50 for the season ... He becomes the first Falcon to hit 50 points since Justin Kieffer (51) in 1997-98 ... 21 goals are the most by a Falcon since Andy Berg in 2003 ... Had not scored a goal since Jan. 6 at Mercyhurst prior to Friday.


Jeff Gumaer, Bentley (So., F, Webster Grove, Mo.) - Gumaer scored a goal and added two assists this weekend. Gumaer's 33rd career goal on Friday broke the Bentley Division I career goal-scoring record.


Blake Hamilton, Bentley (Fr., F, Edmonton, ALB) - Hamilton scored his first career short-handed goal on Friday night.


Jason Kearney, Bentley (So., G, Gibsonia, Pa.) - Kearney stopped 26 of 28 shots on Saturday night.


Josh Heidinger, Canisius (Fr., F, Buffalo, N.Y.) - Heidinger led Canisius with three points on the weekend, which all came on assists in the team's 5-2 win over Holy Cross Feb. 9. Heidinger has had three games of three assists on the season and ranks second in the country among freshmen with 25 helpers.


Andrew Loewen, Canisius (Fr., G, Winnipeg, MAN) - Loewen split his weekend starts and had a 2.01 goals against average as well as a .922 save percentage. Loewen stopped 29 of 31 shots in the 5-2 win on Feb. 9. Following a loss in an Atlantic Hockey start, the freshman is 6-1 in his next conference start.


Beau Erickson, Connecticut (Fr., G, Merrill, Iowa) - Erickson won his fourth straight game in helping guide the Huskies to a pair of wins over Bentley. He recorded 36 saves in Friday's 4-3 win over the Falcons, before notching 22 saves the following night in a 2-1 win over the Falcons.


Ian Dams, Holy Cross (Fr., G, Manotick, ONT) - Dams stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn the win in Holy Cross' 2-1 victory at Canisius on Saturday afternoon.


Brodie Sheahan, Holy Cross (Fr., F, Lethbridge, ALB) - Sheahan had a three point weekend at Canisius. On Friday night he scored Holy Cross' first goal of the game, while in the 2-1 win on Saturday afternoon he assisted on both goals for the Crusaders. Sheahan now has five goals and six assists for 11 points on the season.


Cullen Eddy, Mercyhurst (Fr., D, Winnipeg, MAN) - Eddy notched his 5th goal of the season to tie Saturday's game against Sacred Heart at 1-1. He has at least one point in four of his last five games.


Matt Pierce, Mercyhurst (So., F, Pakenham, ONT) - Pierce stretched his scoring streak to 7 games with a his 9th goal of the season and an assist.


Jordan Wakefield, Mercyhurst (Sr., G, Spruce Grove, ALB) - Wakefield stopped a combined 60 of 67 shots in the two games against Sacred Heart. Three of the SHU goals came on power plays. Wakefield also collected his first career assist Friday.


Eric Giosa, Sacred Heart (So., F, Northville, Mich.) - Giosa sparked the Pioneer offense in a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst, figuring in on six of the Pioneers nine goals on the weekend. Friday night he scored the game winning goal in the second period and assisted on two others in the third period. Saturday night he piled up three more assists, including a helper on the game winning goal early in the third period. Giosa is fourth on the team in scoring with 24 points, 11 goals and 13 assists.


Stefan Drew, Sacred Heart (So., G, Dugald, MAN) - Drew made 31 saves in Saturday's win over Mercyhurst. His performance included double digit saves in the first period and third period.


Team Notes
Air Force:

  AFA was swept for the second time in consecutive weekends and has now lost four straight, the longest losing streak since last year ... Goalie Peter Foster started his first game since Jan. 12 and stopped a season-high 26 shots for a saves percentage of 92.9 ... Andrew Ramsey had two assists on Friday and now has 99 career points, just one shy of hitting 100 for his career ... AFA fell below .500 for the first time since early November ... AFA needs one more win to tie the school record for Division I wins in a season (14) ... Freshman Matt Fairchild scored on Friday for his fourth of the season, but his first since Nov. 3 ... AFA hosts Canisius at Cadet Ice Arena, Feb . 16-17 ... The series is the final one for eight Falcon seniors: Ben Worker, Peter Foster, Andrew Ramsey, Theo Zacour, Brian Reese, Brian Gineo, Billy Devoney, Jay Medenwaldt ... AFA split at Canisius earlier this season in Buffalo.


Army: The Black Knights were idle this past weekend and saw their status in the AHA standings drop from second to third ... with two wins this weekend against Bentley, or one win and a Holy Cross loss, Army can clinch home ice for the first time in school history ... Army is 8-1-4 at Tate Rink this weekend and will put that impressive mark on the line when they face the Falcons on Friday and Saturday ... the teams split the first weekend series of the season in Waltham back in November ... freshman Owen Meyer enters the finals four weeks of the regular season 29th on the nation's rookie scoring leaderboard averaging 0.72 points per outing ... sophomore Tim Manthey ranks 14th among college's defensemen in scoring averaging 0.78 points per game ... goalie Josh Kassel stands 22nd in the country with a 2.33 goals against average and 27th with a .914 save percentage.


Bentley: The Falcons were swept by Connecticut this weekend in a pair of one-goal games, losing 4-3 on Friday night and 2-1 on Saturday ... Sophomore Jeff Gumaer broke the Bentley Division I career goal-scoring record with his 33rd career goal on Friday night ... Freshman Blake Hamilton scored his first career short-handed goal on Friday night ... The Falcons unleashed a season-high 39 shots on Friday night, but were unable to escape with a win in Storrs ... Bentley travels to Army this weekend for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday ... The Falcons and Black Knights split their series earlier this season in Watertown, Mass.


Canisius: Canisius closed out its regular-season home schedule with a split against defending league champion Holy Cross. The win for the Golden Griffins over the Crusaders was the first in Buffalo for Canisius over Holy Cross since Oct. 28, 2000. Canisius finished its home schedule with a 6-8-1 record, which ties for the most home wins in the last four seasons and doubles its home win total from 2005-06. The 2-1 loss on Feb. 10, was the first this year for Canisius when holding its opponent to two goals or less as the Griffs were 6-0-1 leading up to that game. Michael Cohen (Williamsville, N.Y.) became the third player in program history to record 100 career points at the Division I level. Cohen hit the century mark by recording points on the team's first two goals in the 5-2 win Feb. 9. He is third on the school's list in points, goals and assists. Cohen has recorded at least 20 points in all four of his seasons with the Blue and Gold. Josh Heidinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Griffs with three points on the weekend - all coming on assists in the 5-2 victory. Heidinger has had three assists in a game three times this season. In four games against Holy Cross, Heidinger has seven assists. Heidinger is one assist away from breaking the school record for single-season assists, which is 26 by Chris Duggan in 1998-99. He now ranks fifth for points in a season with 33. Heidinger is tied for seventh in the country among rookies with 33 points and second among freshmen with 25 assists. Andrew Loewen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) received both starts in net for the Griffs. Loewen allowed four goals for the second straight weekend and earned the win Feb. 9, by stopping 29 of 31 shots. Following a loss in an Atlantic Hockey start, Loewen is 6-1 in his next conference start. Freshmen Dave Cianfrini (Dundas, Ont.) and Peter MacDougall (Lumsden, Saskatchewan) each recorded their first collegiate goal Feb. 9. Canisius returns to the road this weekend with its first-ever games in the state of Colorado. The Golden Griffins travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to face the Air Force Academy. Earlier this season, the Griffs and Falcons split a series in Buffalo.


Connecticut: The University of Connecticut men's hockey team posted a pair of wins over Bentley for its fourth consecutive victory. The four-game winning streak is the first of its kind since Dec.3-29, 2005. Coupled with RIT's two wins over Air Force, the Huskies currently sit in fourth place in the league. With the two wins over Bentley, the Huskies have a total of 13 wins in the league, the most ever since joining Atlantic Hockey. UConn took game one Friday night after netted two third period goals to overcome a one-goal deficit early in the third period. Matt Scherer scored the game-tying goal for his second goal of the game before freshman Alec Kirschner netted the game-winning goal for UConn's third straight home win. The following night, Scherer scored both goals to up his season total to 19 in a 2-1 victory at Bentley. With a total of four points over the weekend, Scherer now boasts 98 career points and is two shy of becoming the 27th player in UConn hockey history to reach 100 career points.


Holy Cross: Freshman Brodie Sheahan had a three point weekend at Canisius with a goal on Friday and two assists on Saturday. Sheahan has five points in the last three games including two assists at Army on February 3. Senior James Sixsmith leads the team in assists (28) and points (41), while he is second in goals (13). His 1.37 points per game are seventh in the nation and his .93 assists per game are fourth nationally. Sixsmith's 28 assists are tied for third on the Holy Cross Division I single-season assists list. The record is 30 set by current San Jose Shark Patrick Rissmiller in the 2001-02 season.


Mercyhurst: The Lakers got goals from 4 different players in the two games against Sacred Heart. Senior goaltender Jordan Wakefield picked up his first career assist in Friday's 5-2 setback. The Lakers have now dropped 7 of the last 8 meetings against the Pioneers, including all four this season, and trail the all-time series 14-10-2. Senior captain Kyle Gourgon had a goal Saturday and has at least one point in five of his last six games. The Lakers scored 2 power play goals in their first five chances in the series but were blanked in their final 9. After allowing a shorthanded goal in 3 straight conference games early in the season, the Lakers hadn't surrendered another one until SHU connected Friday night. Sacred Heart also scored empty net goals in both contests, doubling to 4 the total output against Mercyhurst this season. The Lakers visit RIT Friday and Saturday. The Tigers won both earlier meetings in Erie by scores of 5-2 and 6-4 and lead the all-time series 18-10-3.


Rochester Institute of Technology:
RIT maintained their lead in the Atlantic Hockey Association with a sweep of Air Force. The Tigers came from behind in both games to earn their 18th and 19th wins of the season. RIT needs two wins in their final four games to clinch the AHA regular season title. Senior Brad Harris scored the game-winning goal on Friday night and added an assist. Simon Lambert's power play goal early in the third period on Saturday proved to be the game-winner on Saturday. Saturday's win was the Tigers third straight. The Tigers feature a balanced scoring attack with 14 players scoring at least 10 points and six over the 20-point plateau. Sophomore Steve Pinizzotto leads the team in scoring with 38 points on 12 goals and 26 assists. He is seventh in Division I in assists per game and 14th in points per game. Simon Lambert is second on the team in scoring with 34 points on 12 goals and 22 assists. He is 21st in the country in assists per game. Lambert has 29 goals and 44 assists for 73 points since the start of last season, which leads the team by a wide margin. Matt Smith leads the team in goals with 16. He has 10 power play goals, tying him for third in Division I. RIT is second in the conference in goals allowed (78) and goals allowed per game (2.68). The Tigers are up to 5th in Division I, killing off 87.8% of their opponents power plays.


Sacred Heart:
The Pioneers swept a weekend series from Mercyhurst in Erie by counts of 5-2 and 4-2 and in doing so clinched home-ice for the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. The victories completed a series sweep of the Lakers for the Pioneers. SHU has won six straight games against Mercyhurst and seven of the last eight meetings with the Lakers. Sophomore Eric Giosa led the attack with a goal and five assists on the weekend. Sophomore Paul Ferraro and freshman Dave Jarman each had two goals in the series. Senior Pierre-Luc O'Brien scored an empty net goal Saturday night, his 66th goal of his career, setting a new school record for goals in a career. O'Brien already holds the career marks for points and assists in a career.