January 18, 2010 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through January 17

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Cory Conacher - Canisius Junior, Forward, Burlington, Ontario Conacher continued his dominating junior campaign against Army, recording five points during a 1-0-1 week. Conacher recorded three points in the Griffs’ 5-2 victory, netting a pair of goals, including the game-winning score, and adding an assist. In the finale, Conacher registered two primary assists, including on the game-tying goal with 7:07 remaining in regulation. Conacher, who extended his career-long streak of recording a point to 12 games, tallied his 10th and 11th multi-point games of the season. Patrick Knowlton - Sacred Heart Junior, Forward, Colorado Springs, Colo. Scored two goals and three assists in a weekend sweep over previously first place Mercyhurst...Posted a goal and two assists in the series opener, a 6-3 win Friday night...Netted SHU's first goal of that game, a power play marker, that evened the score before the first intermission...Assisted on the Pioneers last two goals Friday night to seal the victory...Gave Sacred Heart a 2-1 lead in the series finale with a power play goal midway through the second period...Assisted on Nick Johnson's third period goal which would prove to be the game winner.

Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week

Andrew Volkening - Air Force Senior, Goaltender, Genoa, Ill. Allowed just three goals to lead Air Force to a sweep at Bentley...GAA of 1.50 and a saves percentage of .944...Shutout Bentley, 3-0, on Saturday, his third shutout of the season and the 14th of his career, a school record...Played all 120 minutes in the series and has played every minute of every game in the past eight games...In AHA games this season, ranks second in the league with a 1.94 GAA and a third in the league in saves percentage .922.

Atlantic Hockey Co-Rookies of the Week

Ben Meisner - American International Freshman, Goaltender, Halifax, Nova Scotia Recorded 39 saves to record his third shutout of the season as AIC beat Holy Cross 1-0 on Saturday. Made 34 of his 39 saves in the second and thrid periods to preserve his thrid win of the season. Meisner now holds the school’s all-time record for shutouts in a season with three.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Kyle De Laurell - Air Force (Freshman, Forward, Colorado Springs, Colo.) - Scored two goals in the Bentley series...Scored the game-winner both nights...Has four goals on the season and three have been game winners...All four goals have come in league games...Leads the team and tied for 11th in the nation with three game-winners this season. Jeff Hajner - Air Force (Senior, Forward, Las Vegas, Nev.) - Three points to help lead Air Force to a sweep at Bentley...Two points, 1-1-2, in the 6-3 win on Friday...One assist on Saturday. Dan Ramirez - American Int’l (Junior, Goaltender, Rochester, N.Y.) - Ramirez stopped 38 shots enroute to his second tie of the season. Over the final two periods of regulation and overtime he stopped 31 shots, including eight in the overtime frame to preserve the tie for the Yellow Jackets Preston Shupe - Canisius (Freshman, Forward, Weyburn, Saskatchewan) - Shupe recorded a goal and an assist in a pair of games against Army during the weekend. He recorded the primary assist on the game-winning goal in the opener and then added a power-play goal in a 4-4 draw on Saturday. Shupe, who has now posted a point in a career-best seven-straight games, leads all Atlantic Hockey freshmen with 19 points this season, scoring five goals and adding 14 assists. Garrett Bartus - Connecticut (Freshman, Goaltender, St. Charles, Ill.) - Bartus finished the weekend with a 2.02 GAA in over 118 minutes played between the pipes. The rookie allowed just four goals on the weekend making 57 saves to finish the weekend with a .934 save percentage. On Saturday, Bartus made a number of key saves to help earn his first career win, ending RIT’s 13-game AHA unbeaten streak. Daniel Naurato - Connecticut (Sophomore, Forward, Livonia, Mich.) - Sophomre Daniel Naurato returned to the line up against RIT after missing four games with a concussion. He finished the weekend with one shot on goal in two games played, recording two assists. Naurato earned both of his assists on Saturday night aiding on both of UConn’s goals in the victory that ended RIT’s 13-game AHA unbeaten streak. Thomas Tysowsky - Holy Cross (Freshman, Goaltender, Amherst, N.Y.) - Tysowsky was outstanding in net as he only allowed two goals in two games versus AIC as he recorded a 0.97 goals against average and stopped 53 of 55 shots for a .964 save percentage. He also earned his first collegiate point with an assist. In the 1-1 tie on Jan. 15, he made 32 saves and also assisted on Holy Cross’ lone goal of the game. On Jan. 16 in the 1-0 loss to AIC, he stopped 21 shots. For the season, Tysowsky leads Atlantic Hockey with a .919 save percentage, while he is second with a 2.19 goals against average. Jared DeMichiel - RIT (Senior, Goaltender, Avon, Conn.) - DeMichiel posted his second straight shut out on Friday night. He shut out Connecticut as RIT beat the Huskies 4-0. DeMichiel made 25 saves lowering his conference goals against average to a league-leading 1.57. The week before he shut out Holy Cross and has not allowed a goal in the last 134:14 dating back to early in the third period versus Holy Cross on January 8. DeMichiel leads the conference with a .939 save percentage in conference games and has an .821 winning percentage (11-2-1) in conference games. Al Mazur - RIT (Senior, Defenseman, Burnaby, British Columbia) - Mazur tallied four points in a weekend series at Connecticut this past weekend. The senior defeneman had three assists on Friday as RIT defeated the Huskies 4-0. He scored RIT’s lone goal on Saturday in a 2-1 loss to UCONN. His goal at 10:51 of the third pulled the Tigers to within a goal. He is third among defensemen in the AHA in scoring with 16 points in conference games this season. He is second with six power play goals in AHA contests and is tied for the conference lead with 11 power play points in conference games. Steven Legatto - Sacred Heart (Freshman, Goaltender, Kelowna, British Columbia) - Earned both wins in a series sweep over Mercyhurst compiling a 2.50 goals against average and .919 save percentage...Stopped 56 total shots on the weekend, inclduing 14 with his team on the penalty kill, which went a perfect seven for seven on the series...Made 31 saves Saturday night as he improved to 8-6-2 for the season...With the Pioneers up just one he stopped a Chris Risi break away in the second, going into the splits and coming up with a highlight reel glove save.

Atlantic Hockey Team Notes

Atlantic Hockey: All Atlantic Hockey home games will be shown on the B2 Network. Click on www.b2livetv.com to see your favorite Atlantic Hockey institution in action during the 2009-10 season. Atlantic Hockey is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can see updates, stories, weekly releases and upcoming schedules on Facebook and Twitter. Hockey on Campus returns this season on hockeyoncampus.com. Tune into Bernie Corbett and Paul McNamara every Wednesday from 7-10 pm for all Atlantic Hockey News each and every week. Air Force: AFA earned its first road sweep of the season with the two wins at Bentley...AFA only scored one power play in the series, but killed 12 of 13 Bentley power plays...AFA earned its first sweep at Bentley since 2003 and the first ever as AHA opponents...AFA moved into sole possession of first place with the sweep...AFA had scored 10 goals in the previous six games entering the Bentley series. AFA scored nine goals in the two games at Bentley...Andrew Volkening earned his third shutout of the season and the 14th of his career, a school record, on Saturday...AFA is 10-1-3 when it scores the first goal of the game...AFA was winless in four games in December and early January...AFA is now on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1), tied for the sixth longest in the nation...Air Force’s top line combined for just one assist in the series...The Falcons’ fourth line combined for seven of the team’s 15 points...Freshman Stephen Carew had three points, sophomore Paul Weisgarber had two points and junior Matt Becker had two points...AFA is now 5-5-2 on the road this season...The AFA penatly kill No. 1 in the nation at 90.3 percent...Air Force hosts Holy Cross in a two-game league series, Jan. 22-23, at Cadet Ice Arena...The teams met earlier this season and the Falcons took three points in Worcester...Air Force holds a 16-4-6 lead in the series...AFA is unbeaten against Holy Cross in AHA play. Since the 2006-07 season, Air Force is 7-0-4 against the Crusaders. American International: The Yellow Jackets went 1-0-1 in a home-and-home with Holy Cross this past weekend. AIC tied the Crusaders 1-1 in the series opener and then tallied the New Year’s first win on Saturday in a 1-0 shutout. The Yellow Jackets improved their record to 3-16-2 overall and to 3-12-2 in the AHA. In Friday’s 1-1 tie, junior Steve McLeod gave AIC a 1-0 lead one-minute into the second period when he found the back of the net with an assist from freshman Richard Leitner. Senior Brodie Sheahan tied the score at 1-1 for Holy Cross, with just over six-minutes remaining in the period, when the puck deflected off of his skate and into the back of the net. The game was pushed to overtime after a scoreless third period, where the Yellow Jackets were outshot 8-2. Junior Dan Ramirez played very well between the pipes making 38 stops on the night for AIC, while freshman Thomas Tysowsky had 32 saves for the Crusaders. The Yellow Jackets were outshot 39-33 by Holy Cross on the night, but held a 9-7 advantage in the first period and a 15-13 in the second. Saturday night’s 1-0 shutout snaps an 11-game winless streak and is the first time since the 2000-01 season that AIC swept a season series with Holy Cross. Junior Tom Mele netted the only goal of the game at 2:17 of the first period with assists from senior Josh Froese and freshman Steve Mele. Freshman Ben Meisner made 39 saves in his third shutout of the season. Meisner now holds the all-time individual school record for shutouts in a season with three. AIC’s third shutout of this season is also an all-time school record for shutouts in a single season. Holy Cross almost tied the score at 1-1 early in the third period when junior J.P Martignetti poked home a rebound but the play had already been blown dead after Meisner covered up the initial shot. Tysowsky stopped 21 shots in the loss. AIC was outshot 39-22 but held a 7-5 advantage in the opening period of play. Next up, the Yellow Jackets host RIT this weekend, beginning on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Olympia Ice Center. Army: The Black Knights moved to 7-11-4 overall and 6-7-3 in league games after a tie and loss at Canisius … Army lost 5-2 and then skated to a 4-4 overtime tie on Saturday … Army was 4-of-12 on the power play for the weekend … Kyle Maggard scored his first goal of the season during Saturday’s contest … Eric Sefchik posted two assists in both games. He has six multiple-point games this season and 23 for his career … Owen Meyer scored two power play goals in the third period Saturday to continue his climb up the Atlantic Hockey Association and Army record books. Meyer now has 58 goals and is in seventh place in the AHA record books, passing Tyler McGregor of Holy Cross. Pierre-Luc O’Brien of Sacred Heart is the all-time leading goal scorer with 67 … Including the two goals Meyer scored against RMC, he has 60 goals and 59 assists for 117 career points, moving him to 38th on Army’s career ledger, passing Ed Roubian (’73) and Luke Flicek (’08) who each had 116. Meyer has three multiple-point games this season and 27 for his career … Freshman Andy Starczewski was credited with two assists on Saturday and has five multiple-point games for his career … Army returns home for a four-game homestand at Tate Rink beginning this weekend. The Black Knights host Connecticut Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and then welcome service academy rival Air Force. Bentley: Bentley suffered a sweep at the hands of Air Force over the weekend, losing by scores of 6-3 and 3-0. In the first game Air Force jumped out to a 2-0 lead before sophomore Jamie Nudy scored with 1:11 left in the first period. Air Force extended its lead to 3-1 in the second period, then to 4-1 in the third period with a goal 40 seconds in. Junior Jeremy Robert got Bentley to within 4-2 with his second goal of the year, but Air Force tacked on two more goals for a 6-2 lead with 12 minutes to play. In Saturday’s game, senior goalie Andrew Volkening shut out Bentley for the second time this season in a 3-0 win for the visitors. Saturday’s game was the first time Bentley has been shut out at home since a 3-0 loss to RIT on Feb. 23, 2007. It’s also the first time the Falcons have been swept since last Jan. 2 and 3 to RIT. The Falcons will play their next six games on the road, starting with this weekend’s series at Mercyhurst. The teams split a series in Watertown in late October, with Bentley winning the first game 4-2 and the Lakers taking the second 6-2. Bentley took three points in a series at Mercyhurst last season. Canisius: Canisius took 3-of-4 points against Army this past weekend, defeating the Black Knights in the opener, 5-2, and playing to a 4-4 draw in the finale. The Griffs are now 9-7-2 in Atlantic Hockey play and currently stand in fourth place with 20 points. Senior Jason Weeks tallied a power-play goal in each game and in the process, tied the program’s Division I record for career goals. Weeks has now tallied 49 career scores, tying the mark set by David Deeves from 1998 to 2002. Weeks also passed Deeves to move into third on the school’s power play goals list. Weeks has netted 18 career extra-man goals, one more than Deeves’ 17. Weeks has tallied 11 points (4g, 7a) in the last seven games after recording just six points (4g, 2a) in his first 15 contests of the season. Junior Cory Conacher continued his impressive run against Army, totaling five points during the weekend on two goals and three assists. Conacher recorded three points on a pair of goals and one assist in the opener, including the game-winning goal. In the finale, the junior registered a pair of assist, including the primary helper on the game-tying score. Conacher has now recorded a point in his last 12 games, the longest by a Griff since Chris Duggan recorded a point in the final 15 games of the 2001-02 season. The junior has not been held off the scoreboard sine the Griffs’ 1-0 victory over Connecticut on Nov. 15. Conacher also posted his 10th and 11th multi-point games of the season and his fourth-consecutive. During his 12-game run, Conacher has recorded 25 points. In total, Conacher has recorded a point in 18-of-22 games this season. In 22 games this season, Conacher has amassed 36 points on 17 goals and 19 assists. He has also tallied five power-play goals and five game-winning scores. Conacher’s 36 points already are the third-most in the program’s Division I history, while his five game-winning goals are tied for first and his 17 total goals rank fourth. Conacher currently is tied for the national lead with his 17 goals, ranks second with 36 points, 10th with 19 assists, 24th with five power-play goals and first with five game-winning scores. Junior Vincent Scarsella added four points during the weekend, scoring the game-tying goal in Saturday’s game and registering three assists. Scarsella has posted 29 points on the season, scoring nine goals and adding 20 assists. With 65 combined points, Conacher and Scarsella are currently the third-highest scoring duo in the country, behind only Minnesota-Duluth’s Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine (69 points) and Massachusetts James Marcou and Casey Wellman (67 points). Freshman Preston Shupe added a power-play goal and an assist during the weekend, extending his career-best streak of recording a point to seven games. Shupe has recorded 19 points on five goals and 14 assists this season. He currently leads all Atlantic freshmen with his 19 points this season. Canisius is back in action next weekend, playing two games at Sacred Heart. Canisius took of 3-of-4 points in Buffalo against the Pioneers last season. Connecticut: The Huskies returned home to take on RIT who was on a 12-game AHA unbeaten streak entering the series. On Friday night, RIT came out strong scoring just a couple of minutes into the game and adding at least one goal in each of the three periods, including an empty netter, to take the 4-0 victory. On Saturday night, however, the tables were turned as the Huskies were the team to come out firing scoring their first goal of the night just 4:17 into the game when freshman Tom Janosz (Elma, N.Y.) netted the first goal of his collegiate career with some help from sophomore Daniel Naurato (Livonia, Mich.) and Chris Waterstradt (Tulsa, Okla.). The Huskies hung on to their lead adding a second goal to the total in the second period as sophomore Josh Bernard recorded his first goal of the season, also aided by Naurato and freshman James Gallagher (Marquette, Mich.). RIT cut into the lead in the third period but the Huskies were able to hang on as freshman Garrett Bartus (St. Charles, Ill.) recorded his first career win making 30 saves in the process. With the victory, the Huskies ended RIT’s 13-game AHA unbeaten streak. Holy Cross: On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Holy Cross men’s hockey program will host Pink The Rink at the HartCenter during its game versus Bentley. The team will be wearing a special edition pink jersey to show its support for breast cancer awareness. The jerseys will be auctioned off throughout the game with all proceeds going to the LevineCancerCenter in Worcester. The Crusaders have already played in six overtime games this season with a 0-1-5 record in those games. The five ties are tied for the third most ties in a season at the school as the record is seven set in the 2007-2008 season. The most overtime games played in a single-season at Holy Cross was last season when the Crusaders played 10 and went 2-3-5 in those games. Since the 2006-2007 season and 132 total games, the Crusaders have played 32 overtime contests with a 2-8-22 (.406) record as .242 percent of their games have gone to overtime. Earlier this season, Holy Cross played three straight games that went to overtime as it tied RIT, 1-1, lost to RIT, 3-2, and tied No. 7 Quinnipiac, 1-1. This was the fourth time in program history that the Crusaders had played three straight overtime contests as Holy Cross did it twice in the 2008-2009 season and once in the 1986-1987 season. The school record is four consecutive overtime games set in the 2007-2008 season. Freshman goalie Thomas Tysowsky leads Atlantic Hockey with a .919 save percentage, while he is second with a 2.19 goals against average. Last week he only allowed two goals in two games versus AIC as he recorded a 0.97 goals against average and stopped 53 of 55 shots for a .964 save percentage. He also earned his first collegiate point with an assist on Jan. 15. His 521 saves this season are 10th on the Holy Cross Division I single-season list. The Crusaders return to action on Jan. 22-23, when they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play Atlantic Hockey opponent Air Force. The Falcons lead the season series, 1-0-1. Earlier this season in Worcester on Nov. 13, Air Force won, 1-0, while on Nov. 14 the two teams tied, 2-2. Eleven of Holy Cross’ last 14 goals have been scored on the power play. All three of the Crusaders’ goals against No. 11 Yale were on the man-advantage and all three of Holy Cross’ goals over the two games versus RIT were on the power play. The Crusaders then went 0-1 versus No. 7 Quinnipiac and 0-5 against No. 14 UMass Lowell, but then went 3-7 in the 4-2 win over Dartmouth and 2-7 in the 5-2 loss at RIT on Jan. 8. Holy Cross went 0-2 against RIT on Jan. 9. In the games against AIC the Crusaders went a combined 0-6 on the power play as their lone goal of the series came at even strength. The Crusaders are 11-45 (.244) over the last 10 games while on the power play. Junior co-captain Everett Sheen leads the team with 15 points and is tied for first with eight goals, while he is tied for fourth with seven assists. For his career, he has 34 goals and 30 assists for 64 points. Senior Brodie Sheahan has the most career goals (38), assists (51) and points (89) of any current Crusader. His 38 goals are tied for ninth on the all-time Holy Cross Division I goals list and his 89 points are 10th. Also his 21 career power play goals are tied for fifth on the all-time Holy Cross Division I list. So far this season he has posted eight goals and four assists for 12 points. His eight goals are tied for the team lead and his 12 points are third. Junior forward Jordan Cyr is second on the team with 14 points, while his eight assists are tied for first and his six goals are tied for third. Junior defenseman Mark Znutas and sophomore defender Mike Daly are tied with Cyr for the team lead in assists with eight. Znutas has 10 goals and 29 assists for 39 career points. Daly’s eight assists are a career best as he also has a goal this season as his career-best nine points are tied for fourth on the team. For his career, he has three goals and 13 assists for 16 points. The Crusaders are 1-4-5 at home this season and are 4-8-0 on its opponents’ home ice this season. Holy Cross will host the 2010 NCAA Men’s Hockey Division I Northeast Regional. The dates are Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28 at the DCU Center in Worcester. The semifinals will be at 1:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on March. 27, while the finals will be at 5:30 p.m. on March 28. All three games will be on ESPNU. HC held the event for the first time in 2008. Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst suffered its first two-game sweep since mid-November this past weekend, as Sacred Heart defeated the Lakers by the scores 6-3 and 3-2…It was the first time that the Lakers were swept since Nov. 13-14 when RIT did it at the Mercyhurst Ice Center…Mercyhurst also suffered its first conference loss in 10 games, going 9-0-1 since that last defeat to RIT…Five different Lakers found the back of the net in the series, including team-leader junior Brandon Coccimiglio with his 14th goal of the season and classmate Mike Gurtler with his nation-leading fourth short-handed goal…Freshman Paul Chiasson scored a goal and added an assist for the second time in three games on Friday. He also added an assist in game two to extend his point streak to four games…Junior Scott Pitt also extended his point streak to four games with an assist on Saturday. In Friday’s contest, he marked his third-consecutive game with two assists. He currently ranks second on the team with 24 points and is 10 away from cracking 100 for his career…With the wins, Sacred Heart moved to 18-14-3 in the all-time series…The Lakers return home this weekend to host AHA foe Bentley on Friday, Jan. 22 and Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7:05 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers and Falcons split a two-game series in Watertown, Mass., earlier this season…Overall, Mercyhurst leads the all-time series 24-8-5. Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT had their 13-game unbeaten streak in AHA games snapped on Saturday with a 2-1 loss at UCONN. Prior to Saturday, the Tigers had not lost a conference game since October 24 at Air Force posting a 12-0-1 record in that span. The Tigers posted their third shut out of the season on Friday, defeating Connecticut 4-0. It was the second shut out of the season over the Huskies, shutting them out 7-0 back on October 31, and second in as many AHA games. RIT head coach Wayne Wilson picked up his 200th career win on Friday. He is 200-100-25 in his 11 seasons behind the Tigers bench and is the all-time leader in wins at RIT. The Tigers had their scoreless streak snapped on Saturday. Prior to Saturday’s goal at 4:17 of the first period by UCONN, RIT had not allowed since 5:46 of the third period on January 8 versus Holy Cross, a span of 138:31. RIT out shot the Huskies 62-54 on the weekend as the Tigers split with UCONN. The Tigers went 3-for-17 (17.6%) on the power play versus UCONN and held the Huskies scoreless in 13 power play attempts. RIT scored three special teams goals on Friday with a short-handed goal and two power play goals in a 4-0 win. They also added an empty-net tally late in the third period. Sacred Heart: The Pioneers are now officially the hottest team in the nation as they boast the longest unbeaten streak going 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Sacred Heart is currently 5-0-1 on its current eight game homestand which concludes next weekend...SHU lit the lamp in every period in their weekend sweep of Mercyhurst, 6-3 and 3-2. Evan Mladenoff made the play of the game Friday night, creating a turnover on the forecheck in the third period and beating Laker goaltender Ryan Zapolski for the unassisted game winner...Earlier in the game the Pioneers scored twice off the stick of senior Paul Ferraro on a five minute major power play to take a 3-1 lead...Sacred Heart’s top line of Nick Johnson, Dave Jarman, and Patrick Knowlton all netted a goal and two assists in the series opening victory...The Pioneers fell behind 1-0 Saturday night for the second consecutive evening...SHU would go on to score three unanswered goals by Eric Delong, Knowlton, and Johnson...Freshman Steven Legatto had another sparkling weekend between the pipes for Sacred Heart, making 56 total saves, but coming up huge at crucial points of both games...Special teams was also a crucial element in the Pioneer sweep...Sacred Heart went 4-for-10 on the weekend on the power play and a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill...The Pioneer power play currently ranks first in the conference and seventh in the nation...Nick Johnson is fifth in the country in goals per game while Eric Delong leads the AHA and is ninth in the country in points per games for rookies...Senior Dave Jarman has 20 assists in 2009-10, tying him for first in Atlantic Hockey...Sacred Heart has certainly found their groove offensively now boasting the conference’s highest goals per game average.