December 14, 2009 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through December 13

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Stevan Matic - R.I.T. Senior, Forward, Burnaby, British Columbia Matic tallied a goal and an assist in RIT’s 3-2 loss to Niagara on Saturday. Matic assisted on Brent Alexin’s goal midway through the second period, then tied the game at 2 with a shorthanded goal 5:35 into the third period. He rocketed a slap shot from the left face-off circle just under the crossbar on a 2-on-1 break. Matic has two goals and six assists for eight points in 16 games this season.

Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week

Thomas Tysowsky - Holy Cross Freshman, Goaltender, Amherst, N.Y. Tysowsky stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage and a 0.92 goals against average as Holy Cross tied No. 7 Quinnipiac, 1-1. For the season he has a .913 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Steven Legatto - Sacred Heart Freshman, Goaltender, Kelowna, British Columbia Recorded 35 saves and allowed just one goal in a 4-1 vicotry over Dartmouth...Made 15 saves in the third period to hold off the Big Green and earn his third victory of the season...Legatto allowed a goal on the first shot he saw Sunday afternoon but recovered immediately shutting out Dartmouth the rest of the way.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Mike McMillan - American International (Senior, Forward, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario) - Finish the week with three points including a goal and two assists. Recorded two points at Brown, netting AIC’s first goal of the game and dishing out the assist on the other, and then assisted on the Yellow Jackets second goal of the night at Quinnapiac. Everett Sheen - Holy Cross (Junior, Forward, Lethbridge, Alberta) - Sheen scored Holy Cross’ goal as the Crusaders tied No. 7 Quinnipiac, 1-1. He scored his team-best eighth goal of the season to even the game at 1-1 at 3:12 of the second period. For the season, he also leads the team with 13 points. Sheen has recorded 34 goals and 28 assists for 62 career points. Ryan Zapolski - Mercyhurst (Junior, Goaltender, Erie, Pa.) - Zapolski continued his hot play as he led the Lakers to a 1-0-1 record against Air Force this past weekend at Cadet Arena. The third-year netminder made a combined 85 saves and held the Falcons scoreless on eight power-play opportunities. On Friday, he set a new career-high with 49 saves as both teams skated to a 3-3 draw. The next day he made 21 of his 36 stops in the third period, leading the Lakers to a 3-1 victory. Zapolski is now 9-8-2 on the season and 6-0-1 in his last seven starts. Nick Johnson - Sacred Heart (Senior, Forward, Windsor, Conn.) - Posted a Goal and an assist in the Pioneers 4-1 win in Hanover, NH over Dartmouth...Scored the Pioneers third goal of the first period with 3:09 remaining on a highlight reel 1 vs. 1 goal...Now has 10 goals on the season, tying him for fourth in Atlantic Hockey...He assisted in SHU’s second goal of the game earlier in the period as the Pioneers converted on the power play to take a 2-1 lead.

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’s 10-game unbeaten, tied as the longest in the nation, ended with a 3-1 loss to Mercyhurst Saturday...AFA is 6-1-4 in the last 11...Falcons are tied for first place in AHA with Mercyhurst...Mercyhurst and Air Force have played 14 times and the series is dead even at 6-6-2...In six games played at Air Force, Mercyhurst is 4-1-1 vs. the Falcons...The 10-game unbeaten streak was the longest since a 13-game winning streak at the beginning of the 2008-09 season...Air Force killed all 12 opponent power plays in the series...The Falcon penalty kill is at 90.7 percent to rank third in the nation...In the 18 games this season, the Falcons have held the opponent without a PPG 14 times...AFA has killed 15 straight opponent power plays and 51 of the last 54...The Falcon power play was 0-for-8 in the MC series and the unit fell to 17th in the nation at 20.9...Entering the series, AFA had scored at least one PPG in 14 of the 16 games, but were held without one in both Laker games...Jacques Lamoureux and Derrick Burnett each have six-game scoring streaks...Jeff Hajner and Lamoureux each had one goal and one assist in the MC series to lead Air Force 20.9...Derrick Burnett leads the team with 14 assists in 18 games to rank 25th in then nation...Jacques Lamouruex ranks sixth in the nation with six power-play goals...Lamoureux ranks 19th in the nation with 23 points (11-12-23) and 23rd with 11 goals...Lamoureux is second in the league in points and third in goals...Air Force is now off until Jan. 2-3 at Sacred Heart...Matt Fairchild is 20th in the nation with two game-winners American International: The Yellow Jackets went 0-2-0 in non-conference action during the week losing 5-2 at Brown and No.7/8 Quinnipiac. With the loses AIC falls to 2-14-1 so far this season. In Tuesdays 5-3 loss at Brown, the Bears stepped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, as sophomore Jack Maclellan, classmate Jeff Buvinow, and senior Aaron Volpatti each netted goals in the first 10-minutes. Senior Mike McMillan put AIC on the board in the 11th-minute when he found the back of the net with an assist from junior Mike Little. Junior Tom Mele cut the Bears lead to 3-2 when he lit the lamp three-minutes later, on the power-play. Classmate Steve McLeod and McMillan were credited with the assists. With less than three-minutes remaining in the period, junior Harry Zolnierczyk increase the Brown lead to 4-2 when he netted an unassisted goal. After a scoreless second period, the Bears added a goal late in the third for the 5-2 victory. Senior Dan Ramirez made 32 saves for the Yellow Jackets. In Saturdays loss, In the first period, Quinnipiac got out to a 3-0 lead as senior Mike Atkinson, classmate Jean-Marc Beaudoin, and Brandon Wong each tallied a goal. Sophomore Nielsson Arcibal got the AIC on the board when he lit the lamp early in the second period with assists from junior McLeod and McMillan. The Bobcats then found the back of the net twice more to take a 5-1 lead heading into the third period. Mele netted a goal midway through the third with assists from seniors Josh Froese and Chris Campanale. Junior goaltender Ramirez made 27 saves in the loss. Next up, AIC takes a three-week break for the Holidays and returns after the New Year with a weekend series at Mercyhurst beginning on January 8. Army: The Black Knights, idle since sweeping Sacred Heart, return to action Jan. 2 at home against Union. Connecticut: UConn is off until December 29 when they host the Toyota UConn Classic in Storrs featuring AHA foe Bentley, No. 18 Union and No. 15 Massachusetts. The Huskies will begin the second half of their schedule on December 29 against Bentley at 7:15 p.m. Holy Cross: The Crusaders only allowed one goal as they tied No. 7 Quinnipiac, 1-1. Quinnipiac entered the game with the nation’s third ranked offense with 4.07 goals per game. Holy Cross is now 4-5-2 in its last 11 games against ECACHL opponents. The Crusaders return to action on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 2-3, when they compete at the Ledyard National Bank Classic hosted by Dartmouth. Holy Cross will play No. 9 UMass Lowell on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., while on Sunday the Crusaders will play either Dartmouth or Northeastern. Six of Holy Cross’ last seven goals have been scored on the power play. All three of the Crusaders’ three goals against Yale were on the man-advantage and all three of Holy Cross’ three goals over two games versus RIT were on the power play. The Crusaders are 6-18 (.333) over the last four games while on the power play. Tysowsky stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage and a 0.92 goals against average versus Quinnipiac. For the season he has a .913 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average. Freshman Rob Linsmayer and sophomore Mike Daly lead the team with seven assists. Daly’s seven assists is a career-best. Junior Everett Sheen is first on the team with eight goals and 13 points. Senior Brodie Sheahan has 20 career power play goals which are tied for sixth on the all-time Holy Cross Division I list, while his 35 overall goals are 10th on the school’s Division I career goals list. His 35 goals, 50 assists and 85 points are the most by any current Crusader. The Crusaders are 1-4-4 at home so far this season. Last season Holy Cross went 7-8-2 at the Hart Center. Holy Cross has a 295-187-32 (.605) all-time record at the Hart Center since it started playing there in 1975-1976. 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. Holy Cross held the event for the first time two years ago. Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst extended its unbeaten streak to eight games as the Lakers went 1-0-1 at Air Force this past weekend…Both teams skated to a 3-3 tie on Friday before Mercyhurst prevailed 3-1 on Saturday…Junior Ryan Zapolski combined for 85 saves and held the Falcons scoreless on eight power-play opportunities. He stopped a career-high 49 shots on Friday to mark his sixth 40-plus save game of his career and third against Air Force…Junior Brandon Coccimiglio scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season in the 3-1 win. He now has 21 points on the season and is one point shy of tying his career-high of 22…With the victory on Saturday, head coach Rick Gotkin improves to 393-261-51 at Mercyhurst…The Lakers have the next three weeks off before they return to ice against 12th-ranked Minnesota Duluth in the first game of the 2010 Catamount Cup Tournament. Depending on the outcome, the Lakers could face either Vermont or Alabama-Huntsville the very next day. Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT had its national-best 10-game unbeaten streak snapped by visiting Niagara on Saturday, 3-2 before a sellout crowd at Ritter Arena. It was RIT’s first loss in 49 days (Oct. 24 at Air Force). RIT out-shot Niagara 32-24. But could not convert in seven attempts with the man-advantage. Seniors Brent Alexin and Stevan Matic scored for RIT. Matic’s goal was RIT’s second shorthanded tally of the year. Both shorthanded goals have come in losses. Goaltender Jared DeMichiel allowed more than two goals in a game for the first time since Oct. 24 at Air Force, a span of 10 games. The Tigers also had their eight-game home winning streak snapped. RIT is 2-6-3 all-time against Niagara, and 0-4-1 since 2005. The Tigers haven’t defeated Niagara since Feb. 8, 1997. The Tigers fell to third place in the AHA standings, one point behind Mercyhurst and Air Force. The Tigers have four games in hand on Mercyhurst, and two in hand on Air Force. RIT is off until Jan. 1-2, 2010, when they travel west to play a pair of games at Minnesota State. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 3-1-0, and played all four games when Minnesota State was previously Mankato State University. It will be the first meeting between the schools since Dec. 6, 1986. RIT advanced against Mankato State in the 1983 NCAA Division II Quarterfinals en route to winning the National Championship. Sacred Heart: Sacred Heart snapped a seven game winless streak and a five game skid with a 4-1 victory over Dartmouth Sunday afternoon...Sacred Heart scored four unanswered goals in the first period to take control of a game in which neither team found the back of the net in the final 40 minutes...SHU spread their offense around as Matt Gordon (Lynnfield, MA), Erik Boisvert (Drummondville, QC), Nick Johnson (Windsor, CT), and Tommy Castonguay (Rimouski, QC) each posted a goal...Freshman goaltender Steven Legatto (Kelowna, BC) made 35 saves in his third win of the season and appears to have won the starting job in goal after splitting time in net to start the year...The Pioneers finish a grueling nine game road trip 2-6-1 as they return to the ice again after the winter holidays with an eight game home stand...SHU finishes their non conference schedule with a 2-3-1 record against ECAC opponents.