January 5, 2009 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through January 4

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Jacques Lamoureux - Air Force Sophomore, Forward, Grand Forks, N.D. Six points, five goals and one assist, in four games last week...Three power play goals and leads the nation with 10 PPG...Scored the game-winner vs. UConn late in the third period for his fifth GWG of the season which leads the nation...Two goals in the 4-3 win over UConn, Jan. 3...Two goals in the 3-2 loss at Yale on Jan. 4...Leads the team with 17 goals and 30 points this season...Second in the nation with 17 goals and third with 30 points.

Atlantic Hockey Co-Goalies of the Week

Jay Clark - Army Sophomore, Goaltender, Baudette, Minn. Clark made a career-best 56 saves to help the Black Knights upset #2 Miami, 3-2, in the consolation game of the Ohio Hockey Classic. Clark turned away 15 shots in the first, 19 in the second and 24 in the final period to help Army to its first non-conference win since 2004. Clark established an OHC record for saves in a game and tied the tournament record in just one game.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Jay Silvia - Holy Cross Freshman, Forward, Burlington, Mass. Silvia had two assists at the Denver Cup. In the 2-2 tie with No. 5 Denver, he assisted on the goal that tied the game at 2-2 in the third period, while in the 4-3 win over Rensselaer he assisted on Holy Cross’ first of four straight goals after trailing 2-0 after the first period. For the year, Silvia has four goals and five assists for nine points. He is tied for fourth on the team in goals and assists, while he is tied for fifth in points.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Andrew Volkening, Air Force (Jr., G, Genoa, Ill.) - Played all 240 minutes in four games in leading Air Force to three road points at UConn...2.74 GAA and a .887 saves percentage...Five of the 11 goals he allowed came on the power play...Season best 33 saves vs. Yale, the fourth most of his career. Tom Mele, American International (So., F, Bronx, N.Y.) - Scored twice and had an assist in a weekend series with Robert Morris. Tallied a goal in the opening period of the first game with the Colonial’s to give AIC a 1-0 lead, then later had a assist on the game tying goal. In the second game of the weekend, Mele, again, scored to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead. Dustin Cloutier, Bentley (So., F, Berkley, Mich.) - Cloutier scored two goals during Friday night’s 3-2 loss to RIT. He scored the first goal of the game in the second period to give Bentley a 1-0 lead. Then with Bentley trailing 3-1 late in the third period, he scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:12 left. He has a team leading 12 points on the season with six goals and six assists. Justin Hernandez, Connecticut (So., F, Farmington, Hills, Mich.) - Hernandez recorded four goals and an assist during the week of December 29. On December 30 during a game with Merrimack, Hernandez recorded UConn’s only two goals of the game in a 5-2 loss against the Warrirors both were of the power play type. He continued on his hot streak in an Atlantic Hockey match up with Air Force on January 3. He began the game with an assist on a Brian Reagan goal later tallying his third and fourth goals goals of the week to Give UConn a 3-1 advantage in their game against the No. 11 Falcons. Hernandez has contributed on UConn’s last five goals scored. His three point effort against Air Force was the first time that he has scored three points in a game during his collegiate career. Daniel Naurato, Connecticut (Fr., F, Northville, Mich.) - Naurato scored his second goal of the season, the first since Oct. 25 and it couldn’t have been done at a better time. His goal tied the score up 2-2 against Air Force on December 29 and the Huskies were able to hold on for the tie against the 11th ranked team in the country. Adam Roy, Holy Cross (So., G, Feeding Hills, Mass.) - Roy stopped 35 of 37 shots in the 2-2 tie at No. 5 Denver on Jan. 2. Roy was a major factor in Holy Cross holding the second best scoring offense in the nation to two goals as Denver entered the contest averaging 3.89 goals per game. In the first period, Roy made 21 saves, while he then made four saves in the second, five in the third and five in overtime. Everett Sheen, Holy Cross (So., F, Lethbridge, ALB) - Sheen scored three goals at the Denver Cup and was selected to the all-tournament team. In Holy Cross’ 2-2 tie with No. 5 Denver on Jan. 2, he scored both goals as he tied the game at 1-1 in the second period and then tied it at 2-2 in the third period. With the Pioneers up 2-0 in the shootout, Sheen came up huge again and kept the Crusaders in the shootout with a highlight reel goal as he spun around with the puck and then backhanded it into the net. In the 4-3 win over Rensselaer on Jan. 3, Sheen scored his third goal in two games when he tied the game at 2-2 with just six seconds left in the second period. His seven goals are second on the team, while his 11 points are tied for third. Jared DeMichiel, RIT (Jr., G, Avon, Conn.) - DeMichiel picked up his fourth straight win, stopping 28 of 30 shots in Friday’s 3-2 win over Bentley. DeMichiel made a handful of excellent saves throughout to earn his seventh win of the season and sixth in AHA play. Matt Crowell, RIT (Jr., F, Kelowna, BC) - Crowell scored three goals and added an assists, while playing at a plus-3, as the Tigers swept Bentley over the weekend to extend their winning streak to five games. On Friday, Crowell scored twice, including the go-ahead and game-winning goal to lead RIT to a 3-2 win. He was also plus-2 On Saturday, Crowell put RIT ahead to stay with a blistering snapshot just 33 seconds into the second period. He also added a second period assist and was plus-1. Crowell now has seven goals and seven assists for 14 points this season. Stefan Drew, Sacred Heart (Sr., G, Oakbank, MAN) - Drew was spectacular in net Friday night, making a career-high 47 saves in a losing effort Friday night against Niagara. Drew made more than 40 saves for the second time in SHU’s last three games and for the third time overall this season. His performance included 18 saves in the first period and 22 in the second period. Matt Gingera, Sacred Heart (Fr., F, Winnipeg, MAN) - Gingera scored the Pioneers first goal against Niagara Saturday night. It was the rookie’s fifth goal of the season, good for second on the team.

Atlantic Hockey Team Notes

Air Force: After winning its first 13 games, Air Force is now 2-4-1 in the last seven games...Falcons reached 15 wins in the 19th game of the season, the fastest in school history...AFA was 1-2-1 in playing four games in seven days in Connecticut...Greg Flynn was named to the all-tournament team at the UConn Classic...Jacques Lamoureux scored five goals and one assist in the four games, including two goals each against UConn on Jan. 3 and Yale on Jan. 4...Lamoureux had 11 goals in his first eight games and then did not have a goal for seven games. He now has six goals in his last five games...Sunday’s game vs. Yale marked the first time all season Air Force has scored first and lost. AFA is now 13-1-1 when scoring first...Andrew Volkening had a season-high 33 saves vs. Yale on Sunday, the fourth most of his career...Josh Frider had career bests of three assists and four points vs. UConn on Jan. 3...Sophomore Matt Becker made his first appearance of the season, centering the fourth line...Air Force is now off until Jan. 16-17 when it hosts Canisius. AFA plays four straight home conference games as Army comes to Cadet Ice Arena following Canisius...Greg Flynn in the top scoring defenseman in the nation with 1.20 points per game...Lamoureux is second in the nation in goals (17) and third in points (30)...Lamoureux leads the nation with 10 PPG and five GWG...Olson is 12th in the nation in points with 26...Olson in second in the nation in assists with 21...Andrew Volkening is sixth in the nation in GAA with 1.63 and ninth in saves percentage at .932...Air Force leads the nation with 4.05 goals per game and is fifth in scoring defense, allowing 1.75 per game...The Air Force power play is tops in the nation at 26.8 percent. American International: The Yellow Jackets returned from their winter break this past weekend in a series with Robert Morris. The series was AIC’s final against non-conference opponents as they went 0-5-1 for the season. In their first game of the weekend, the Yellow Jackets lost 5-2. Sophomore Tom Mele scored the games first goal with assists from senior Matt Woodard and junior Mike McMillan to give AIC a 1-0 lead heading into the second period. After the Colonial’s scored twice to make the score 2-1, junior Chris Campanale tied the score when he found the back of the net with an assist from Mele. Robert Morris scored three unanswered goals in the third period for the 5-2 victory. Senior Tom Fenton made 29 saves on the evening, including 10 in both the first and second periods. In the series final game, the Yellow Jackets played to a 1-1 overtime tie, it was the teams first tie of the season. After a scoreless first period, Mele, again, put AIC on top 1-0 when he netted a goal in the second period with assists from classmate Greg Vatano and Woodard. The Colonial’s tied the score when they found the back of the net in middle of the third period. Sophomore Dan Ramirez stopped 35 shots in the tie for the Yellow Jackets. Army: The Black Knights concluded an 11-game road trip with a 3-2 upset of #2 Miami in the consolation game of the Ohio Hockey Classic at Ohio State … Cody Omilusik scored twice and Eric Sefchik netted the game-winner to help Army shock the Red Hawks, a day after a 6-1 loss to Ohio State … Sefchik and Omilusik both scored short-handed goals … Omilusik was named to the All-Tournament Team … Sophomore G Jay Clark established a tournament record with 56 saves in the win. Clark made 15 saves in the first, 19 in the second and 24 in the final period … Clark is the first Army goalie to make at least 50 saves since Brad Roberts turned away 51 shots against Bentley on March 11, 2006 … Army’s win against Miami was the first non-conference win since a 3-2 victory at Colgate on Oct. 30, 2004 … Army’s last win against a CCHA opponent was a two-game sweep at Nebraska-Omaha Nov. 6 and 7, 1998 … Cody Omilusik leads the team in scoring with nine goals and eight assists … Will Ryan has an assist in each of his last two games … Army went 3-8 on its road trip … Eric Sefchik leads the team with three game-winning goals … Army is 1-1-0 against ranked opponents with a 5-4 overtime loss to #20 Dartmouth … Army will play 12 of its final 16 games at home … The first of two Army national television games is Saturday against Mercyhurst at 7 p.m. on CBS College Sports Network … Army returns to Tate Rink for the first time since Nov. 8 when Mercyhurst visits for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday. Bentley: Bentley had a disappointing start to 2009, dropping a pair of games to RIT at Ryan Skating Arena by scores of 3-2 and 4-2. It is the first time this season that the Falcons have been swept in an AHA series. In Friday’s game, sophomore Dustin Cloutier gave Bentley a 1-0 lead in the second period after a scoreless opening period. The Tigers though were able to reel off three unanswered goals, two in the second period and one in third. Matt Crowell’s goal at 8:45 of the third period proved to be the game-winner. Cloutier added his second goal of the game, an extra-attacker goal with 1:12 remaining in the game making the score 3-2, but the Falcons were unable to tie the game after that. On Saturday senior Dain Prewitt scored his team leading eighth goal in the first period to give Bentley a 1-0 lead, but RIT scored four consecutive goals over the first and second periods en route to the victory. The story of this game was the power play. RIT went 3-8, including goals on both of its 5-3 opportunities, while Bentley went 0-6. Cloutier’s two goals on Friday is the third time this season a Falcon has had a multiple goal game. He leads the team in points with 12. Bentley is at Canisius this weekend. The Falcons swept two games from the Golden Griffins on the weekend of Nov. 21 at Ryan Skating Arena. Bentley went 0-1-1 in two games at Canisius last season. Canisius: Loewen currently ranks second in Atlantic Hockey with a 2.44 goals against average and third with a .926 save percentage. In home games, Loewen owns a goals against average of 0.95 and a save percentage of .969. The Griffs ended the year in third place of the Atlantic Hockey standings with 12 points and a 5-4-2 record. Canisius returns to action on Jan. 9, hosting Bentley at the Amherst Pepsi Center. Connecticut: UConn hosted the Toyota UConn Classic and returned to action for the first time in 24 days against the No. 11 ranked Air Force Falcons. After allowing Air Force to get out to an early 2-0 lead a penalty shot made by Pat McAuley and Daniel Naurato’s second goal of the season, the first since Oct. 25 helped UConn to come back and take the tie. The tie was the first of the season for both UConn and Air Force. In their second game of the week, UConn took on Merrimack in the consolation match of the Classic (after falling to Air Force in the shootout). Merrimack also got out to a 2-0 lead on the Huskies but even after a two-goal effort by Justin Hernandez, UConn could not come back and fell to the Warriors, 5-2. On Saturday, UConn participated in their third game of the week, competing once against against Air Force. The Huskies were able to get out to a 3-1 lead thanks to a goal by Brian Reagan, his first of the season, as well as another two-goals by Hernandez. Hernandez had an assist on the Reagan goal giving him his first three-point game of his collegiate career. But UConn game up their lead and after three unanswered goals, Air Force came out on top earning their 15th win of the year and their 12th in Atlantic Hockey play. UConn will return to action against Sacred Heart on Tuesday, January 6 at 7:05 p.m. followed by a weekend series at RIT. Holy Cross: Sophomore Everett Sheen (Lethbridge, Alberta) was selected to the all-tournament team at the Denver Cup for his three goals in two games and for his shootout goal against No. 5 Denver. With the 4-3 win over Rensselaer in the third-place game of the Denver Cup on Jan. 3, Holy Cross has now won three in a row over RPI, including two wins in the 2005-2006 season. The Engineers lead the all-time series, 4-3. The Crusaders are now 4-4-0 in their last eight games against teams from the ECACHL. With the 2-2 tie with No. 5 Denver on Jan. 2 at the Denver Cup, Holy Cross is now 1-1-1 in its last three games against teams from the WCHA, including a 5-2 loss at North Dakota in the 2006 NCAA West Regional Finals and a 4-3 overtime win over Minnesota in the 2006 NCAA West Regional Semifinals. Holy Cross held the second best scoring offense in the nation to two goals as Denver entered the contest averaging 3.89 goals per game. The Crusaders now have a 56-51-3 all-time record in 59 regular season tournaments. Holy Cross did not give up a power play goal in the two games as No. 5 Denver went 0-7 and Rensselaer went 0-3. With the win over RPI, the Crusaders are now 3-2-1 in their last six games on neutral ice. Freshman Jay Silvia (Burlington, Mass.) has at least one point in four straight games. Senior Dewey Thomson (Northbridge, Mass.) played in his 100th career game at Holy Cross in the 4-3 win over Rensselaer. Rochester Institute of Technology: The Tigers are on a roll, having won five straight games. It is the first five-game winning streak for RIT since Feb. 24 to March 8, 2008. The Tigers have outscored their foes 21-12 over their winning streak. RIT moved to 10-9-1 in 2008-09, the first time RIT has been over .500 all season. RIT has sole possession of second place in Atlantic Hockey with 19 points, six points behind first place Air Force, and seven ahead of third place Canisius and Mercyhurst. RIT leads all of Division I with seven shorthanded goals. RIT is tied for 15th in Division I averaging 3.25 goals per game. RIT has seven players with at least 10 points. The line of Andrew Favot, Matt Crowell and Jesse Newman combined for 12 points (4-8-12) in the two wins over Bentley last weekend. Favot has nine points (3-6-9) in his last five games. Crowell has eight points (3-5-8) and Newman, seven (2-5-7) over the same span. Each player had four points. The goaltending duo of Jared DeMichiel and Louis Menard each won a game over the weekend. Menard started for the first time since Nov. 30 and excellent in net for RIT, stopping 27 shots on Saturday. RIT’s special teams shined brightly over the weekend, going 4-for-12 with the man-advantage, including tying a season-high with three power-play markers on Saturday. In addition, RIT killed off all 11 Bentley power-play attempts over the weekend. The Tigers return home to face Connecticut this weekend at Ritter Arena. Both games start at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Sacred Heart: The Pioneers were swept by Niagara, 2-0 and 4-2, at the Milford Ice Pavilion over the weekend. It was the second time this season the Pioneers have been swept at home in a weekend series, the other coming Oct. 10-11 against Air Force. Friday night was the first time the Pioneers had been shutout at home since a 4-0 blanking to RIT on January 12, 2007. Freshman Matt Gingera and senior Eric Giosa scored the Pioneers goals. Gingera’s goal in the first period Saturday night snapped a 156 minute scorless streak for SHU, going back to the third period of the first game at Colorado College on December 19. Senior Stefan Drew made a career high 47 saves in goal Friday night in a losing effort. The Pioneers have completed non-conference play for the season. They return to league play againt UConn Tuesday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion.