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Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through March 2
Atlantic Hockey Player and Goaltender of the Week
	CHRIS FORSMAN - CANISIUS Sophomore, Defense, Powell River, BC In his only game of the weekend, Forsman helped the Griffs earn the No. 6 seed for the Atlantic Hockey Championship with four points on two goals and two assists. He contributed on four of the Griffs' five goals and tied a Canisius Division I record for points in a single game by a defenseman. He tied a record that he already shared with Joel Tarvudd. Forsman's two goals also matched his career high and a school record for goals in a game by a defenseman, held by several players.
Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week
	BEAU ERICKSON - CONNECTICUT Sophomore, Goaltender, Hinton, Iowa After MRI's proved there was no damage to his knee he was cleared for action and made a great return to the team. He earned his second career shutout with 27 saves on Friday. He followed up with 25 saves on 27 shots (52 of 54 saved for weekend), on Saturday, including making a save on a breakaway in the third period when Brodie Sheahan broke out of the penalty box and took the puck in all alone.
Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week
	VINCENT SCARSELLA - CANISIUS Freshman, Forward, Lackawanna, N.Y. Scarsella helped the Griffs earn the No. 6 seed for the Atlantic Hockey Championship, totaling four points in a weekend series against Mercyhurst with one goal and two assists. In the opener, Scarsella posted an assist on the power play to help Canisius to a 5-3 victory. In Saturday's contest, Scarsella matched a career high with three points on a goal and an assist, helping Canisius rally from a two-goal deficit to earn a 5-5 draw. After Mercyhurst claimed it first lead of the evening, Scarsella responded with a goal just 40 seconds later to knot the game. He then recorded the primary assists on Canisius last two goals of the game to lead the team to the draw. With his four points on the weekend, Scarsella stretched his season total to 30 points (8g, 22a), which is the most on the team and also the most in Atlantic Hockey among rookies.
Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll
Greg Flynn, Air Force (Jr, D, Lino Lakes, Minn.) - Two points in the AIC series ... scored a goal on Friday and had an assist on Saturday ... scored AFA's first goal on Friday ... his +4 in the series was the best on the team. Andrew Volkening, Air Force (So, G, Genoa, Ill.) - Led Air Force to three points over AIC... GAA of 0.96 and saves percentage of .939 in the series, stopping 31 of 33 shots ... posted his third shutout in his last five games with a 5-0 win on Saturday ... has three shutouts this season and four for his career ... current shutout streak is at 104 consecutive minutes. Tom Fenton, American International (Jr, G, Sarnia, ONT) - Fenton stopped 34 shots on net, allowing only two goals against Air Force. Friday, he made his first start since January 5th, posting 22 saves en-route to a 2-2 tie. Saturday, he replaced Dan Ramirez, stopping all 12 shots fired in his direction in the third period. Owen Meyer, Army (So, F, Dundee, Ill.) - Meyer had three goals and an assist as Army swept a weekend series from Sacred Heart and won the Atlantic Hockey Association regular season title. Meyer scored two power play goals, including the game-winning goal in Friday's 6-1 win and also had an assist. He scored the tying goal in Saturday's 3-2 win that helped Army to its first-ever conference crown. Dustin Cloutier, Bentley (Fr, F, Berkley, Mich.) - Cloutier scored a goal and added an assist on Saturday at RIT. His 17 assists this season are second among Atlantic Hockey rookies. Erik Peterson, Bentley (Fr, F, Shorewood, Minn.) - Peterson scored a goal and added an assist on Friday at RIT. His 16 goals this season lead Atlantic Hockey rookies and are tied for fourth overall in the league. Dain Prewitt, Bentley (Jr, F, Westminster, Colo.) - Prewitt scored a goal and added an assist on Friday at RIT. His 30 points this season rank seventh in a single season in Bentley's Division I history. Chris Ochoa, Connecticut (So, F, Santa Monica, Calif.) - Ochoa had a four point week, scoring three goals and an assist. He was also a team best plus four for the week. On Friday against Holy Cross he assisted on the first goal, which turned out to be the game winner. He then added some insurance with a goal in the second period. On Saturday he scored two more times. He opened the scoring by beating the goalie high in the first period. Then with the score tied at two, he got the game winner in the middle of the second, scoring off the rebound of a Andrew Olson shot while falling down. Brendan Olinyk, Connecticut (So, D, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc.) - Olinyk missed six weeks with injury but returned on Friday and scored the first goal of the game, which turned out to be the game winner. It was his first goal of the season. He then assisted on Ochoa's goal in the second period that night. He added an assist on the first goal of the night Saturday to complete a three point weekend.Everett Sheen, Holy Cross (Fr, F, Lethbridge, ALB) - Sheen scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season at UConn on Saturday. His 15 goals are tied for third in the nation by rookies. Ben Cottreau, Mercyhurst (Sr, F, Toronto, ONT) - Cottreau had 3 goals (all special teams) and an assist in a 0-1-1 weekend against Canisius. He scored two power play goals in Friday's 5-3 loss and tallied a shorthanded goal and an assist in Saturday's 5-5 tie. Cottreau is now 8th all time in scoring (152 points) and 8th in assists (92). His 2 power play goals Friday marked the second time in his career he's accomplished that (March 5, 2005 in 4-2 win over Sacred Heart at Ice Center). He's tied for 4th in career power play goals with 26. The shorthanded goal, which tied Saturday's game at 5, was the third of his career and first since his sophomore season. He recaptured the team lead in goals with 12 and maintained his superiority in points with 32. Chris Risi, Mercyhurst (So, F, Thorold, ONT) - Risi scored a goal in back-to-back games for the first time this season and finished the weekend with 3 points. He scored Mercyhurst's first goal Friday and third Saturday. Anton Kharin, R.I.T. (So, F, Moscow, Russia) - Kharin scored three goals in two games this weekend, leading the Tigers to back-to-back 5-2 wins over Bentley College, securing the #2 seed in the 2008 Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Kharin scored the opening goal of Friday's win, then tallied twice in Saturday's win. Kharin tallied three times in two games after scoring just once in the previous 30 games. Louis Menard, R.I.T. (So, G, Chicoutimi, QUE) - Menard stopped 57-of-61 stops in leading the Tigers to back-to-back wins over Bentley this weekend. Menard made 27 saves in Friday's win and stopped 30 shots on Saturday. Menard improved to 14-6-5 in conference play with a 2.29 goals against average and .917 save percentage. Alexandre Parent, Sacred Heart (Sr, F, Bousbriand, QUE) - Parent scored two of SHU's three goals on the weekend. It's the eighth straight series that Parent has recoreded multiple points. The captain now has a 16 game point scoring streak and has scored a team best 16 goals.
Atlantic Hockey Team Notes
Air Force Air Force clinched the No. 3 seed in the AHA Tournament and will host Bentley, Friday-Sunday (if necessary), March 7-9, at 7:05 pm MT each night at Cadet Ice Arena. Seven different Falcons scored for Air Force and 11 different players combined for 13 assists. In total, 14 different players scored AFA's 20 points in the series. AFA was a +3 on special teams in the AIC series. The Falcons have a current five-game unbeaten streak. AFA has out-scored its opponents, 21-5, in the last five games. AFA finished the regular season with a 17-11-6 record. The 17 regular-season wins are a new school record. The six ties are also a new school record. The Falcons have clinched a winning season for the second consecutive season. The first back-to-back winning seasons under Serratore and the first 18 years. Freshman Sean Bertsch scored his first career goal on Saturday. Freshman Owen Kelly netted his second short-handed goal of the season to lead the team in that category. In his last five games, Volkening has a .939 saves percentage and a 0.98 GAA. Matt Fairchild had an assist in both games and now has a five-game scoring streak, the longest active streak on the team and the longest of his career. American International The American International College ice hockey squad earned the program's first point against the Air Force Falcons Friday evening, playing to a 2-2 tie. Prior to the contest, the Yellow Jackets had dropped 14 meetings between the two schools, dating back to their initial get-together in the 1979-1980 season. Junior goalie Tom Fenton who played well all weekend got his first start since January 5th, turning away 22 shots between the pipes Friday. D avid Turco, who leads the team in scoring since the start of the New Year, posted his fourth goal of the season while senior Chris Bolognino also found the back of the net. Saturday, the Jackets fell 5-0; Fenton was called to replace freshman goalie Dan Ramirez in the third period, stopping 12 shot attempts. AIC will hit the road to face the Army Black Knights in the first-round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Army Needing three points to win its first league regular season championship, Army swept second-place Sacred Heart to earn the Atlantic Hockey Association regular season championship. It was Army's first ever regular season championship in any league ... Army will be the No. 1 seed when the playoffs begin next weekend and will host AIC beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at Tate Rink. Army set an Academy record for conference wins by concluding the regular season with a 17-8-3 mark, topping the 15 of a year ago ... Army was picked third and did not received any first-place votes in the preseason AHA poll ... Army swept four opponents this season - Sacred Heart, Air Force, AIC (twice) and Connecticut ... Luke Flicek was chosen to the Frozen Four Skills Challenge, one of 12 male skaters and the lone representative from Atlantic Hockey ... Flicek then had five points over the weekend, including a goal and three assists in Friday's 6-1 win ... Owen Meyer scored three goals, including a game-winning tally, and had an assist while Bryce Hollweg, who centers the line with Flicek and Meyer, had four assists ... Robb Ross has a goal in each game ... Chase Podsiad and Eric Sefchik each had two assists for the weekend ... For the second time this season, Army wore its gold alternate uniforms in Saturday's 3-2 win ... Josh Kassel finished the regular season with a 16-9-2 record, a .924 save percentage and a 1.90 goals against average. Bentley Bentley concluded the regular season with a pair of 5-2 losses at RIT ... The Falcons finished the season in eighth place ... Junior Dain Prewitt enters the playoffs with 30 points, seventh-most in a season in Bentley's Division I history ... Freshman Erik Peterson has 16 goals, most among Atlantic Hockey rookies and tied for third-most in a season in Bentley's Division I history ... Bentley will face Air Force in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament ... The Battle of the Falcons will be taking place in the postseason for the first time ... Bentley went 1-2-1 against Air Force this season and were 0-1-1 on their trip to Colorado this season in early February ... Bentley has pulled off a postseason upset in three of the last five seasons ... This is the third season in a row that Bentley opens the playoffs against a service academy after facing Army each of the last two seasons ... Last season, Army defeated Bentley in the AHA quarterfinals. Canisius The Griffs won three of four points in a home-and-home series against Mercyhurst, winning the opener at home, 5-3, and rallying for a tie in the finale at Mercyhurst, 5-5. With its three points, Canisius clinched the number six seed for the Atlantic Hockey Championship and will return to Mercyhurst for a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals. In Friday's game, the Canisius seniors combined for three goals and six points to earn a 5-3 victory over Mercyhurst on Senior Night. Captain Greg Brown scored his second goal of the season and his first game-winning goal of the year. Classmate Kyle Bushee matched a career high with three points on two goals and an assist, while fifth-year senior David Kasch added two assists. Following the game, Canisius honored the trio plus Scott Follett and Bryce Luker following Friday's contest. Bushee added two assists in Saturday's game and finished the regular season with career high marks in goals (six), assists (12) and points (18). His 18 points led all Canisius defenseman and ranked fourth in Atlantic Hockey for scoring among defenseman. Kasch also set career high marks as a senior with 10 goals, 14 assists and 24 points. In Saturday's game, sophomore Chris Forsman tallied two goals and two assists for four points, tying a school record for points in a game by a defenseman. Forsman tied his own mark set against Connecticut last season and also set by Joel Tarvudd during the 1999-00 campaign. Sophomore Ryan Klusendorf added a career-best two goals for the Griffs, while freshman Vincent Scarsella recorded three points on a goal and two assists. Scarsella was tied with Bentley's Erik Peterson heading into Saturday for points among rookies but he raised his season total to 30 points (8g, 22a), three more points than Peterson. The Griffs and Lakers will continue its rivalry next weekend with a best-of-three series, beginning on Friday. Canisius went 2-1-1 against Mercyhurst this season. Connecticut The four game winning streak is the longest of the season for UConn. The Huskies had not had a winning streak longer than two games until then. It ties an earlier four game streak (January 18-26) for longest unbeaten streak of the season. In that previous streak Connecticut went 2-0-2. Andrew Olson's empty net goal on Saturday gave him 13 on the year and tied a Connecticut Division I freshman record for most goals in a season. UConn has drawn Sacred Heart in first round. The Pioneers have beaten the Huskies in all four meetings this season, but Connecticut leads the all-time series 20-16-3. The teams played three weeks ago, with the Huskies jumping to a 3-1 lead before falling 6-4. Beau Erickson suffered a knee injury in that game which was originally feared to put him out for the season until he made his return this weekend. Sacred Heart beat Connecticut 4-0 the next night in Milford 4-0 with Brad McInnis in goal. UConn and Sacred Heart have split their two previous playoff meetings. In the inaugural season of the AHA in 2004, the Pioneers were the four seed and the Huskies were the five seed. The two teams met at West Point in the quarterfinals with Sacred Heart coming up with a 3-0 win. In 2006, UConn was the six seed while Sacred Heart was the three seed. Playing at Milford, the Huskies were able to upset the Pioneers 4-1 to move to the semifinals. Holy Cross Freshman goalie Adam Roy's 702 saves this season are the most for a Holy Cross freshman goalie in a single-season since the program started playing a full Division I schedule in the 1998-99 season. He is currently ranked third on the Holy Cross Division I single-season saves list. The record is 840 by Tony Quesada in the 2005-06 season. Seniors Matt Burke and Dale Reinhardt have each played in 136 career games which are tied for fifth on the Holy Cross all-time career games played list. Holy Cross will play at RIT in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. The Crusaders have a 7-2 record all-time in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament as they have won two of the first four titles (2004 & 2006). Last year, Holy Cross lost at Air Force in the quarterfinals. In 2006 at the Hart Center, Holy Cross defeated AIC in the quarterfinals (3-1), UConn in the semifinals (4-1) and Bentley in the championship game (5-2), earning their second title and second NCAA Tournament appearance. Holy Cross won the first-ever AHA Tournament in 2004, earning the program's first ever spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Crusaders defeated AIC (5-0), Canisius (4-1) and Sacred Heart in the title game (4-0). In 2005, Holy Cross defeated Sacred Heart, 4-2, in the quarterfinals, but then fell to eventual champion Mercyhurst, 4-3 (OT), in the semifinals. In 1999, the Crusaders won the MAAC Tournament Championship by defeating Canisius, 4-3, in the finals. This season's group of 10 seniors: Matt Burke, Brent Franklin, Brian Gabriel, Bryce Nantes, Frank O'Grady, Dale Reinhardt, Cal St. Denis, Chris Trovato, Jim Tselikis and Matt Werry has been a part of 63 wins, one Atlantic Hockey regular season and tournament title and a victory in the NCAA Tournament. Holy Cross is ranked second in the nation and leads the league in fewest penalty minutes per game with 10.4. The Crusaders' 23.0 power play percentage is ranked third in the nation. The Crusaders are 38-165 on power play opportunities. Senior Dale Reinhardt currently has 45 goals and 71 assists for 116 points in 136 career games. Reinhardt is ranked seventh on the all-time Holy Cross Division I assists list, while he is eighth in points and goals. This season he is second on the team in assists with 17 and points with 24, while he is fourth in goals with seven. Freshman forward Everett Sheen's 15 goals lead the team. Sheen also has eight assists as he is third on the team in points with 23. Sophomore Brodie Sheahan leads the team with 20 assists and 32 points, while he is second on the team in goals with 12, which are all career best marks. Holy Cross will host the 2008 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Division I Northeast Regional at Worcester's DCU Center on March 29-30. Holy Cross will host again in 2010. Mercyhurst Mercyhurst senior Ben Cottreau is now 8th all-time in points (152) and assists (92) after a 3-goal, 1-assist weekend. All three goals came on special teams, including two power play goals Friday. He's tied for 4th all-time on power play goals with 26. Sophomore Chris Risi scored a goal in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Mercyhurst and Canisius combined for 18 goals in the two games, including 12 (6 each night) in the middle period. The Lakers have been outscored 26-16 in their last 6 conference games (1-3-2) and are winless in their last five games. Canisius, next weekend's opponent in the quarterfinals, won the season series 2-1-1 and outscored Mercyhurst 16-13. The two teams have met twice previously in Division I conference playoffs. The Lakers prevailed 4-3 in the MAAC Hockey League semifinals March 15, 2001 at UConn and defeated the Golden Griffins 7-2 at the Ice Center March 11, 2006 in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals. Mercyhurst honored four seniors before Saturday's game: forward Kerry Bowman, defenseman Jamie Coghlan, forward Ben Cottreau, and forward Ryan Toomey. Toomey, injured early in the season, has applied for a medical redshirt. Rochester Institute of Technology The Tigers finished the regular season on a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) to earn the #2 seed in the 2008 Atlantic Hockey Tournament. The Tigers will host #9 Holy Cross on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) at Ritter Arena. Tickets for each game are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children under 18. Friday and Saturday's contests begin at 7:05 p.m. Sunday's time is to be determined. The Tigers defeated Holy Cross twice this season, both in Worcester, Mass., 5-2 on Jan. 4 and 5-1 the following night. It will be RIT's first playoff game since moving to Division I in 2005. Sophomore Anton Kharin scored three goals in the weekend sweep over Bentley after tallying just once in his first 30 games this season. It is the first postseason game for the Tigers as a Division I program. RIT's last postseason game came on March 4, 2005 against Manhattanville. The Tigers last home postseason contest came on March 8, 2003 in the ECAC West Championship against Elmira. RIT has scored a power-play goal in nine straight games. The Tigers are 15-for-37 (40.5 percent) with the man advantage during that span. Senior forward Simon Lambert has 16 points during a nine-game point scoring streak (nine goals, seven assists). He leads Atlantic Hockey with 45 points (21-24-45) and tied for fourth in the nation. He is tied for the team-lead with teammate Matt Smith in goals. Sophomore defenseman Dan Ringwald is second in the nation among defenseman in scoring among blueliners with 31 points. RIT has scored a season-high five goals in a game nine times this season. RIT has 33 goals in its last eight games. Sacred Heart The Pioneers closed out the regular season being swept by Army, 6-1 and 3-2. Senior Alex Parent two goals to record his eighth straight multi-point weekend. Parent now has a 16 game point-scoring streak. The captain has 136 career points, good for third place in SHU history. Junior Bear Trapp two assists on the weekend. He now has 74 career assists, moving him into fifth place all-time. Sacred Heart will be the #4 seed in the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Pioneers will host UConn in the quarterfinals Friday-Sunday at the Milford Ice Pavilion.