• Final Sat, February 04
    4 Holy Cross
    0 at American Int'l
    BX | BX
    Final - OT Sat, February 04
    3 Bentley
    3 at Sacred Heart
    BX | BX | BX | LS | A
    Final Sat, February 04
    1 Robert Morris
    2 at Canisius
    BX
    Final Sat, February 04
    3 Mercyhurst
    2 at Niagara
    BX
    Final Sat, February 04
    1 Royal Military College
    9 at Army
    BX
  • Final Sat, February 04
    2 RIT
    4 at Air Force
    BX

March 25, 2009

It's a Hat Trick

It's a Hat Trick


Click here to read Allen Lessels story on the New England Hockey Journal website.


Is the third time really the charm?

The Air Force Academy won its third straight Atlantic Hockey championship on Saturday night in Rochester, N.Y., and as a reward, for the third year in a row, it is one of the 16 teams taking part in the NCAA tournament.

The Falcons are the No. 4 seed in the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn., and play Michigan, the No. 1 seed in the regional, on Friday at 3 p.m. No. 2 seed Yale and No. 3 Vermont meet in the other first-round game in Bridgeport. The winners meet on Saturday at 6:30 with a spot in the Frozen Four on the line.

Air Force has come up just short of advancing to the regional final in each of the past two seasons. Now it draws a traditionally powerful Michigan team that is 29-11-0 and in the NCAA tournament for a nation’s best 19 consecutive season.

“Michigan is a team with a lot of draft choices and they are very talented,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “I know that Michigan is extremely fast. They can flat-out go. But we skate well, too.”

Serratore liked the way his team played in Rochester — what’s not to like with a 3-0 win over Bentley in the semifinals and 2-0 blanking of Mercyhurst in the championship game — and wants to see more of its “competitive patience.”

“You can’t win these games in the first period, but you can certainly lose them, especially against the big boys,” he said. “We want to have a chance to win the game in the third period. … Have an opportunity to slay Goliath.”

The Falcons nearly did some slaying the past two NCAA tournaments.

Two years ago, they had a 3-1 lead over Minnesota with less than eight minutes to play and the Golden Gophers roared back for a 4-3 win. Last year, they were up 2-1 going into the third period on Miami and the RedHawks rallied to tie and then win in overtime.

Those experiences — and the play of junior goalie Andrew Volkening, who tossed the pair of shutouts in Rochester — can only help Air Force this weekend, said Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist.

“They’ve been there and they’re not going to be in awe,” he said. “They’re looking to get a win. They’re playing well and Volkening is playing great. That puts them in a good position.”

Player of the Week

Andrew Volkening, jr., Air Force

The defense played tight and helped limit quality scoring opportunities, and Volkening did the rest for his fourth and fifth shutouts of the season. He stopped all 51 of the shots he faced in the two games and takes a 2.02 goals-against average and .916 save percentage into the NCAA tournament.

Looking Ahead

Air Force vs. Michigan, Friday

This is it. Where you were on Dec. 27, 1973? That’s the last and only time the Falcons and Wolverines have met on the ice. Michigan outlasted Air Force 7-6 in overtime in the Flint Tournament on that date.

Around Atlantic Hockey

Air Force

The Falcons have won the Atlantic tournament title from the fifth and third and now first seeds. … Sophomore forward Jacques Lamoureux and Volkening were first-team All-Stars in Atlantic Hockey. … Junior Matt Fairchild was named to the second team and defenseman Scott Mathis was on the All-Rookie squad. Fairchild had three goals in Air Force’s last two games and was named MVP of the league tournament.

Bentley

Senior Dain Prewitt was a first-team All-Star and classmate Anthony Canzoneri was named the league’s best defensive forward. Freshman goalie Kyle Rank was named a third-team All-Star and also was selected to the All-Rookie team. And Soderquist was named the league’s Coach of the Year. … The Falcons had not been shut out in nearly two full seasons when Air Force and Volkening did it in the semifinals.

Mercyhurst

The Lakers advanced to the championship game with a wild 5-4 overtime win in the semis over RIT. Mercyhurst went up 4-3 on Scott Pitt’s power-play goal just 31 seconds into the third period and the Tigers tied it late in regulation. Chris Risi scored the game-winner 2:19 into overtime. … Forwards Steve Cameron, a sophomore, and Matt Pierce, a senior, were second-team All-Stars along with sophomore goalie Ryan Zapolski.

RIT

After sharing the regular season title with Air Force, the Tigers came up just short of getting a shot at the Falcons for the tournament championship. … Cameron Burt’s second goal of the game with the goalie pulled and 59 seconds left in regulation sent RIT’s semifinal game with Mercyhurst into overtime. … Senior forward Brennan Sarazin and junior defenseman Dan Ringwald were first-team All-Stars. Senior defenseman Bobby Raymond made the second team, junior defenseman Alan Mazur the third and freshman forward Tyler Brenner was picked for the rookie squad.