No. 20 Air Force (18-8-4, 15-5-2 AHC) vs. American International (7-17-6, 6-13-5 AHC)
When/where: Friday 6:35 p.m., Saturday 5:05 p.m. at Cadet Ice Arena
TV/radio: Friday, ASN; Friday and Saturday at 1300 AM
Overview
Not only are the Falcons back in the USCHO.com top 20 but they’ve climbed to No. 17 in the PairWise Rankings, an important factor in selecting teams for the NCAA Tournament. Of course Air Force would earn an automatic tourney berth if it wins the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Falcons also have a good chance at the AHC regular-season title, sitting one point behind Canisius in the standings with six games to play. AFA has a game in hand. AIC has swept by Holy Cross last week and is 4-8 in the new year. The Yellow Jackets have been outscored 21-6 in their past four games, all losses. They have lost to the Falcons nine times in a row. Meanwhile, Air Force is on a 5-1-1 run.
Who’s hot?
The question for Air Force really should be, who isn’t? It starts in net, where sophomore Shane Starrett has been on a roll for for more than two months. Starrett has allowed more than two goals just once in his past 12 games. … Leading scorer Kyle Haak is coming off a three-goal (two game winners) weekend and has 24 points and 10 goals. Linemate Jordan Himley has 15 goals. Junior center Tyler Ledford has eight points in his past six games after registering nine in his first 23. Freshman center Brady Tomlak has seven in six games after eight in his first 20 games. … Phil Boje‘s 21 points are the second most in the conference among defensemen, and he and co-captain Dylan Abood are in the top eight in blocked shots with 59 and 50, respectively. …
Senior forward Austin Orszulak has goals in three of the past five games for AIC, and he and freshman Blake Christensen each have eight tallies. Christensen has a team-high 20 points, while fellow freshman Martin Mellberg has 17. Another freshman, Dominik Florian, has a team-high 10 goals.
Need-to-know numbers
The Falcons’ 18 wins are the second most in Division I (one behind Union), and their 11 road wins are tied for the most. … If Air Force gets three goals, it wins. Its record is 16-1-2 in such situations, with the only loss a 4-3 overtime thriller to No. 2 Denver back in November. … Air Force’s penalty kill is second-best in Division I, effective 88.6 percent of the time. It will face a test in AIC’s power player, which is 14th at 20.3 percent. Only Robert Morris has better numbers on the PP in AHC. … The Falcons’ PP has resided in the middle of the pack all season, and hits at 18.1 percent of the time (33rd). … The Yellow Jackets score 2.43 goals per game (46th) and allow 3.43 (52nd). Only Niagara has worse defensive stats in AHC, while only the Purple Eagles and Sacred Heart score fewer goals per game.
