November 23, 2009 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through Novmeber 22

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Mike Gurtler - Mercyhurst Junior, Forward, Rochester, N.Y. Gurtler scored three short-handed goals and added two assists as Mercyhurst swept Holy Cross by the scores of 5-1 and 4-1 this past weekend at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Gurtler became the seventh player in the history of NCAA Division I men’s hockey to score a short-handed hat trick when he accomplished the rare feat in a 5-1 victory over Holy Cross on Friday. All three goals came on 5-on-4 opportunities and helped the Lakers snap a four-game losing streak. Additionally, the hat trick was the first of his career. The next night he tallied two primary assists in helping Mercyhurst sweep an opponent for the first time this season.

Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week

Dan Morrison - Canisius Sophomore, Goaltender, London, Ontario Morrison recorded his second-consecutive shutout and third of the season in the opener against AIC, stopping 36 shots in the 7-0 victory. Morrison’s two shutouts are part of the Griffs’ three-straight shutouts, the longest run in school history and only the ninth time in NCAA history. The sophomore has blanked a team three times this season, the second-most in the country. He stopped 15 shots in the third period to preserve the shutout and killed all four AIC power plays in the victory. Andrew Loewen - Canisius Junior, Goaltender, Winnipeg, Manitoba Loewen recorded 32 saves in a 4-0 victory over AIC on Saturday, helping Canisius complete a sweep over the Yellow Jackets. Loewen was especially big on the penalty kill, helping to kill off all seven AIC power plays, including four in the third period to preserve the shutout. The shutout was the sixth of his career, tying the program’s Division I record for most career shutouts (tied with Bryan Worosz, 2001-05). It also marked the third-straight game that Canisius kept a team off the scoreboard, only the ninth time in NCAA history a team has accomplished the feat.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Brett Hartung - Bentley Freshman, Forward, Tallahassee, Fla. Hartung scored three goals on the weekend against Army. He was instrumental in Saturday’s 4-3 win, scoring two goals. His first goal, 2:37 into the second period, tied the score at 1-1. He scored again with 1:25 left in the second period, giving the Falcons a 3-1 lead. Hartung also scored Bentley’s only goal in Friday’s game, and now has four goals on the season.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Derrick Burnett - Air Force (Junior, Forward, Corona, Calif.) - Four points in the UConn series to help lead Air Force to three points...Had a hand in four of Air Force’s five goals on the weekend...One goal and one assist on Friday...One goal and one assist on Saturday. Assisted on Blake Page’s game-winning goal. Andrew Volkening - Air Force (Senior, Goaltender, Genoa, Ill.) - Played all 125 minutes in leading Air Force to three points at UConn...1.44 GAA and a .935 saves percentage...22 saves on Friday and 21 on Saturday...In Saturday’s game, made 11 saves to preserve the 3-1 win...His shutout on Saturday was broken up with 43 seconds left and UConn having an extra skater on the ice. Cody Omilusik - Army (Junior, Forward, Traverse City, Mich.) - Omilusik totaled four points, including his first career hat trick, as Army split a weekend series at Bentley. Omilusik scored three times in a 5-1 win on Friday and then handed out an assist in a 4-3 loss on Saturday. Omilusik needed four stitches to close a cut Friday after his three-goal performance. Marc Menzione - Bentley (Senior, Forward, Darien, Ill.) - Menzione had a goal and two assists on the weekend. He assisted on Brett Hartung’s game-tying goal in the second period of Saturday‘s game. He then scored a goal of his own on the power play just over four minutes later to give Bentley its first lead of the weekend. Menzione now has five points over the last four games. Cory Conacher - Canisius (Junior, Forward, Burlington, Ontario) - Conacher led the Griffs during a weekend sweep, posting six points, four goals and two assists against AIC. In the opener, Conacher set a career high with four points, netting two goals and adding a pair of assist. In the finale, the junior scored a pair of power-play goals to lead the Canisius offense. Conacher, who has already recorded six multi-point games in just 12 contests, leads the Griffs with 17 points, 10 goals and seven assists. He currently ranks 13th nationally with 1.42 points per game and sixth with 0.83 goals per game. Both tallies also lead Atlantic Hockey. Alex Gerke - Connecticut (Freshman, Defenseman, Tomah, Wisc.) - Gerke finished the weekend with one goal and one assist from the backline. He was the leading point-getter for the Huskies on the weekend. His assist came on the first goal of the game for the Huskies on Friday night to give UConn a 1-0 lead. The goal that Gerke scored negated a shut out bid by the Falcons adding to his season total of three goals and four assists for seven points. Jeff Larson - Connecticut (Freshman, Goaltender, Ballwin, Mo.) - Larson finished the weekend with a .944 save percentage and a 2.44 GAA as well as an unprecedented 84 saves. Larson made a career best 49 saves on Friday night against Air Force just letting up two goals for a .960 save percentage. The 49 saves was good enough for fifth on the All-Time Division I Single Game Saves list. Ryan Zapolski - Mercyhurst (Junior, Goaltender, Erie, Pa.) - Zapolski won back-to-back games for the first time this season as Mercyhurst swept Holy Cross by the scores of 5-1 and 4-1 in Erie this past weekend. The third-year netminder combined for 56 saves and allowed just two even strength goals. On Saturday, Zapolski stopped 32 shots and held the Crusaders scoreless for 59:25, coming just 35 seconds away from his fifth collegiate shutout. He registered 24 saves in Friday’s 5-1 victory. Tyler Brenner - R.I.T. (Sophomore, Forward, Linwood, Ontario) - Brenner scored two goals in two games after missing the seven previous games due to injury. On Friday, Brenner gave RIT a 2-1 lead early in the third period, as RIT defeated Sacred Heart, 3-2. On Saturday, Brenner scored the game winnng goal with 3:37 left in regulation, breaking a 3-3 tie and lifting the Tigers to a 5-3 win. The goals were his first two of the season, after tallying 35 points as a freshman. Chris Tanev - R.I.T. (Freshman, Defenseman, Toronto, Ontario) - PTanev scored a goal and added an assist and was plus-2 in RIT’s 2-0 weekend. On Friday, he opened the scoring with a power-play goal. On Saturday, he assisted on Tyler Brenner’s game-winning goal and was plus-2 in the 5-3 win. Tanev is second among all Division I defensemen with five goals and has three assists for eight points in 13 games. He is a team-best plus-11. Kyle Verbeek - Sacred Heart (Freshman, Forward, Bloomfield, Mich.) - Scored a goal and added two assists in two games against RIT...Had a hand in both SHU goals friday night against the Tigers...First career goal in third period friday night to tie the game at 2-2...Posted his first assist of the season in the Pioneers first goal in the series opener...Added an assist on a power play goal Saturday night that gave Sacred Heart a 3-2 lead in the second period.

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: Air Force is in second place in the AHA with a 6-1-3 record...AFA is 6-5-3 overall, the first time the Falcons have been above .500 all season after the 0-4 start...AFA takes a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) into the Thanksgiving break...AFA’s unbeaten streak is the fourth longest in the nation...AFA is off until Dec. 4-5 against AIC at home...AFA plays the next four games at home before the holiday break...Derrick Burnett had one goal and one assist in each game. He leads the team with 11 assists and is second with 13 points...Burnett is 29th in the nation in assists...Jacques Lamoureux scored a power-play goal in each game and leads the team with seven goals and 15 points...Lamoureux is tied for second in the nation with five power-play goals...Blake Page scored his first goal of the season with a breakaway on Saturday in the second period. It was the eventual game-winner, the third of his career...AFA is now 3-3-2 on the road this season after an 0-3 start...AFA’s penalty kill is No. 1 in the nation at 92.4 percent, killing 61 of 66 opponent power plays...The AFA power play is 10th in the nation at 23.2 percent American International: The American International College men’s ice hockey team played host to the Canisius Golden Griffins over the past weekend. Canisius took both games, wining 7-0 on Friday night and then 4-0 in the weekend finale. Friday night’s loss was the first for the Yellow Jackets at home and the first for freshman netminder Ben Meisner at the Olympia Ice Center. Meisner made a strong effort between the pipes stopping 42 of 49 shots. Saturday’s matinee was much of the same as the Golden Griffins walked away with a 4-0 win. Senior Dan Ramirez stopped 29 shots for AIC. With the losses the Yellow Jackets record fell to 2-8-1 overall thus far this season and to 2-6-1 in the conference. Next up, AIC hosts Mercyhurst for two games at the Olympia Ice Center over the Thanksgiving weekend beginning on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Army: The Black Knights scored eight goals over the weekend and split a weekend series at Bentley … Army entered the weekend averaging 2.1 goals per game but secured a 5-1 win on Friday before settling for the split with a 4-3 loss on Saturday … Cody Omilusik netted his first career hat trick on Friday and scored three times despite needing four stitches to close a cut … Omilusik is the first Army player to score a hat trick since Bryce Hollweg accomplished the feat On Nov. 16, 2007, also against Bentley … All three Army goals scored on Saturday came on the power play … Army is now 12-of-73 with a man advantage … Owen Meyer scored a power play goal and collected two assists over the weekend … Meyer now has 54 career goals and is tied with Alexandre Parent of Sacred Heart of Matt Pierce of Mercyhurst for ninth place on the AHA all-time goal scorers list … Sophomore Marcel Alvarez scored two power play goals on Saturday, his first career multiple-point game, and also had an assist, having a hand in all three scores … John Clark assisted on a goal Saturday, his first career point … Mike Hull had three points with a goal and two assists over the weekend … Andy Starczewski, moved to the top line, dished out two assists on Friday … Eric Sefchik also had a pair of assist on Friday … Chris Spracklen returned to the lineup after missing 10 games … Joey Ammon had an assist Friday, his first point of the season … Omilusik leads the team in scoring with nine goals and seven assists … Omilusik is one of four players with seven assists, joining Marcel Alvarez, Owen Meyer and Eric Sefchik … Army will begin a five-game homestand this weekend with Canisius … Games on Friday and Saturday are set for 7:05 p.m. at Tate Rink. Bentley: Bentley split its weekend series with Army at Ryan Skating Arena. The Falcons dropped Friday’s game by a score of 5-1, but rebounded on Saturday night with a 4-3 win. Army jumped on Bentley early in the first game, scoring three goals in the first period which proved to be too much to overcome. The Falcons got a second period goal from freshman Brett Hartung to make it a 3-1 game, but Army scored two quick goals early in the third period to put the game away. In Saturday’s game, Army again scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the second period. Bentley though rallied, getting three goals in the period. Hartung scored twice, and senior Marc Menzione scored a power play goal. Sophomore Herbie Kent gave Bentley a 4-1 lead just 1:56 into the third period, but two goals by Army’s Marcel Alvarez trimmed the lead to just one. Bentley though was able to hang on the rest of the way to earn its fourth win of the season. Sophomore goalie Kyle Rank made 27 saves to pick up his first win of the season. Hartung led Bentley’s offense during the weekend with three goals, while Menzione also had three points with a goal and two assists. Junior Dustin Cloutier also notched an assist in Saturday’s game, his first point since missing six games with an injury. The Falcons have three games this week, starting with Tuesday’s game at Brown in what will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. Bentley will then travel out to Troy, N.Y. to play in the RPI Holiday Tournament. The Falcons will play Rensselaer. Canisius: Canisius swept a pair of games from AIC during the weekend, defeating the Yellow Jackets 7-0 and 4-0. The Griffs extended their unbeaten streak to six games and are 5-0-1 since Nov. 7. The six-game unbeaten streak is the longest for Canisius since going six games without a loss during the 2003-04 season. The Griffs are currently in third place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 6-3-1 league mark. Sophomore Dan Morrison and senior Andrew Loewen both shut out the Yellow Jackets during the weekend. The Griffs have now not allowed a goal in three-straight games for the first time in school history this season. It is just the ninth time in NCAA history that a team has recorded a shutout in three-straight games and only the fourth time since 1965 (joining Air Force in 2009, Colgate in 2008 and Wisconsin in 2006). Canisius’ shutout streaks spans 187:45, the 10th-longest in NCAA history. Morrison stopped 36 shots in the opener for his second-straight shutout and third of the season. Morrison, who is the first Griff to post back-to-back shutouts since Loewen in January, 2007, ranks second nationally with his three shutouts this season. Loewen recorded 32 saves during the finale against AIC, recording his sixth shutout of his career. Loewen is now tied with Bryan Worosz (2001-05) for the most career shutouts in the program’s Division I history. Junior Cory Conacher led the Griffs offense with six points during the weekend, recording four goals and two assists. In Friday’s 7-0 victory, Conacher set a career high with four points, scoring two goals and adding a pair of assists. He then netted two power-play tallies in the finale to help Canisius complete the sweep. Conacher, who has already posted six multi-point games in just 12 contests, leads the Griffs with 17 points, 10 goals and seven assists this season. He currently ranks 13th nationally with 1.42 points per game and sixth with 0.83 goals per game. Both tallies also lead Atlantic Hockey. Senior Josh Heidinger registered a pair of assists during the weekend, to move atop the Canisius record book. On Friday, the senior registered on assist, marking his 100th career point and tying the school record with his 71st career assist. Heidinger became the fourth player in the program’s Division I history to record his 100th career point. With his assist on Saturday, Heidinger moved atop the program’s assist record with his 72nd career helper. David Deeves previously held the program’s Division I record with 71 assists, recorded from 1998 to 2002. Heidinger also moved into third in the program’s Division I history with his 101st career point, passing former teammate Michael Cohen, who posted 100 points from 2003 to 2007. Sophomore Dave Kostuch scored a goal and added an assist during the weekend. In five games during the month of October, Kostuch recorded just one assist. In seven games during the month of November, the sophomore has scored six goals and added one assist. Freshmen Ben Parker and Preston Shupe both scored their first collegiate goals during Friday’s 7-0 victory. Canisius is back in action on Friday, beginning a two-game series at Army. Last year, the Black Knights won the season series, 2-1-1. Army took 3-of-4 points in West Point last season. Connecticut: UConn played in their final home series of the fall season this past weekend when they took on Air Force on November 20 and 21. The Huskies came away from the weekend with a 0-1-1 record. On Friday night, UConn battled Air Force to a 2-2 overtime tie. The Huskies were the first to get on the board in the first period at 11:18 in the first period. Junior Andrew Olson (Alexandria, Minn.) recorded his second power play goal of the season giving UConn a 1-0 lead. Air Force tied the game up before the end of the first period and then went ahead at the end of the second. The Huskies were able to tie the game up with less than seven minutes remaining and hung on for the 2-2 tie. Air Force took an unbelievable amount of shots during the game, but thanks to the solid Husky defense and the goalkeeping abilities of freshman Jeff Larson (Ballwin, Mo.) only two goals hit the back of the net. Larson finished the game with a career best 49 saves which was also good enough for fifth on the All-Time Division I Single Game Saves list. He finished the night with a .960 save percentage. On Saturday, neither team was able to get on the board in the first period but in the second, Air Force scored three unanswered goals early into the period. The Huskies were unable to get on the board until the very end of the third period when they pulled the goalie and added an extra man to the ice. On a play started by junior Matt Miller (Bayonne, N.J.), freshman Alex Gerke (Tomah, Wisc.) recorded his second point of the weekend on the Huskies’ first goal of the night. Also aiding on the play was junior Jason Krispel (Cypress, Calif.) which squelched the shut out bid by Air Force’s goalie Andrew Volkening. Larson finished the weekend with a .944 save percentage and a 2.44 GAA and 84 saves after finishing Saturday with 35 saves. Eight different Huskies recorded a point on the weekend. Holy Cross: The Crusaders will play their next five games at home starting when they play at the HartCenter against Connecticut on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The Crusaders are 0-2-2 at home so far this season. Last season Holy Cross went 7-8-2 at the HartCenter. Holy Cross has a 294-185-30 (.607) all-time record at the HartCenter since it started playing there in 1975-1976. On Saturday freshman Evan Zych recorded an assist for his first collegiate point. Junior Jordan Cyr leads the team with five goals and 11 points, while he is second with six assists. Freshman Rob Linsmayer leads the team with seven assists and he is third with seven points. Junior Everett Sheen is second on the team with eight points, while he is tied for second with four goals. 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 DCUCenter 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. Holy Cross held the event for the first time two years ago. Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst completed its first series sweep of the season with a pair of wins over Holy Cross this past weekend at the Mercyhurst Ice Center…The Lakers defeated the Crusaders by the scores of 5-1 and 4-1, marking their highest two-game goal total since scoring 11 against Army in the AHA semifinals last season…The back-to-back wins also marked the first time Mercyhurst won consecutive games since winning five in a row last season…Junior Mike Gurtler led the offense with three short-handed goals, becoming the seventh player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey history and the second player in Mercyhurst history to score a short-handed hat trick. Former Laker great Scott Burfoot accomplished the feat with three man-down scores against Scranton on Jan. 24, 1992, when Mercyhurst was competing as a Division III member. He also added two assists for five points on the weekend…Junior Brandon Coccimiglio took over the team lead in points (13) with two goals and an assist - all of which came in game two…Junior Ryan Zapolski won both games with 56 saves and two goals allowed. On Saturday, the third-year netminder stopped 32 shots and held the Crusader scoreless through 59:25…Mercyhurst continues AHA play this weekend with a two-game set at American International, beginning on Friday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. …The Lakers swept the season series against the Yellow Jackets last year, taking the four-game set by a combined score of 25-6…Mercyhurst leads the all-time series 27-2-1. Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT has now won eight straight games, longest active winning streak in the nation, after sweeping Sacred Heart, 3-2 and 5-3 last weekend at Ritter Arena. The eight-game winning streak is the second longest by RIT at the Division I level. Last season, RIT won 11 straight games. Sophomore forward Tyler Brenner returned from missing seven games due to injury to score in each of RIT’s wins over the weekend. On Saturday, he broke a 3-3 tie scoring with 3:37 left in regulation. Freshman goaltender Shane Madolora picked up his first collegiate win in his first start on Saturday, stopping 24 shots. Senior defenseman Alan Mazur is tied for second among all skaters nationally with five power-play goals. Mazur is first nationally among defensemen with six goals, while senior Dan Ringwald and freshman Chris Tanev are tied for second among defensemen with five goals. Ringwald is also second nationally with 14 points. Junior forward Andrew Favot has his 10-game point-scoring streak snapped on Saturday. He tallied five goals and 13 assists during that time. He is first in scoring in AHA play, and tied for sixth nationally. Goaltender Jared DeMichiel has allowed just nine goals in his last seven games, lowering his goals against average to 2.28 this season. During that span, DeMichiel has a 1.32 goals against average and .947 save percentage. RIT has outscored its foes 34-12 during the eight-game winning streak. RIT defensemen have 19 of the team’s 46 goals this season. The Tigers are both 13th nationally in goals for (3.54) and goals against (2.38). RIT is ninth in the nation on the power-play, converting 23.5 percent of its chances. The penalty killing unit is 15th nationally. RIT leads the AHA in goals per game (4.00) and is second in goals allowed (2.00) per game in conference play. The Tigers have won eight straight games at home dating back to last season, scoring 29 goals in six home games this season, and 44 over the eight games at home. RIT is off this weekend and returns to action on Dec. 5-6 at Holy Cross. Sacred Heart: Sacred Heart dropped a pair of tight games, 3-2 and 5-3, to Atlantic Hockey leader RIT over the weekend...Matt Gordon opened the scoring for SHU friday night with his first goal of the season to tie the game at one...Kyle Verbeek added his first collegiate goal in the third period after a no look backhand pass from Eric Delong...Olivier St. Onge made 26 saves in net and surrendered three goals...Matt Gingera led a Pioneer comeback effort early Saturday night scoring two goals in under a minute in the first period...Gingera scored his first knocking the puck out of mid air after a rebound off the glass behind the net. His second goal came on a great individual effort after a back handed wrap around shot...The Pioneers went 2 for 7 on the man advantage Saturday night but could not take the lead on three opportunities in the third period...Steven Legatto made 21 saves between the pipes in the series finale...The Pioneers will play just one game this week, Tuesday against #9 Yale, agaisnt head coach C.J. Marottolo’s former squad.