Inside College Hockey | Atlantic Hockey Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

November 28, 2008

Atlantic Hockey Fries at the Bottom of the Bag

By Ken McMillan

League honors: Dan Ramirez of American International was named Goalie of the Week. Phil Ginand of Mercyhurst was named the Rookie of the Week.

Be still my Sacred Heart: It’s very unusual to see Sacred Heart out of the top half of the league, let alone at the bottom of the standings. A two-game sweep at Air Force dropped Sacred Heart to last place at 2-6-2, 2-8-2 overall.

The Pioneers own the longest streak in Atlantic Hockey for finishing in the top five. Sacred Heart was fourth in 2007-08, second in 2006-07, third in 2005-06, fifth in 2004-05, and fourth in 2003-04. In the MAAC Hockey League, Sacred Heart was third in 2002-03, third in 2001-02, fifth in 2000-01, and fourth in 1999-2000.

Nothing Sacred here: Sacred Heart suffered its worst Atlantic Hockey weekend in history, losing 8-1 and 7-1 to Air Force. Those were the most goals allowed by Sacred Heart in one series since host St. Cloud State put up 12 (9-1, 3-1) on Jan. 28-29, 2005 — the Pioneers had done so twice earlier that season against Ohio State and during a Colgate-Cornell series.

Sacred Heart gave up 10 goals in a 3-0, 7-0 sweep at Notre Dame on Oct. 17-18, 2008. In league play, the Pioneers served up 10 goals in sweeps by Quinnipiac (Feb. 25-26, 2005) and Mercyhurst (March 4-5, 2005).

The yanks are in town: No starting netminder was safe last weekend as coaches decided to pull their starters in five contests. Army’s Josh Kassel continues to struggle coming off his All-American campaign. He was pulled twice at Mercyhurst. He gave up four goals on 16 shots in 24-plus minutes of a 6-2 loss on Friday, and surrendered five goals on 16 shots over two periods in Saturday’s 6-3 setback. Kassel’s numbers moved to 4.12 goals against average and an .861 save percentage — last season he had a 1.92 GAA and a .925 save pct.

Sacred Heart’s Stefan Drew gave up four goals on 25 shots in the first 30-plus minutes of an 8-1 loss at Air Force and was replaced by Olivier St. Onge. Drew got the start the following night and gave up all seven goals on 34 shots. Drew’s numbers moved to 4.26 and .874 — last season he was 2.83 and .908.

Louis Menard was credited with a win in relief for Rochester Institute of Technology. Jared DeMichiel gave up four goals on 16 shots in 35-plus minutes against Connecticut. Menard was called on to make just three saves over 24:10 and won, 5-4.

Adam Roy of Holy Cross was yanked after two periods of a 5-1 loss to American International. Roy gave up four goals. Roy was more impressive on Saturday, posting Holy Cross’ first shutout victory in 88 games, a 17-save effort in a 3-0 win over AIC.

Lake front warning: Mercyhurst pulled above .500 in Atlantic Hockey (3-2-1) with a 6-2, 6-3 sweep of visiting Army. Sophomore Ryan Zapolski, starting in place of struggling netminder Matt Lundin, posted his first two wins of the season, stopping 58 of 63 shots on the weekend.

The Lakers jumped out to a 4-0 lead inside 25 minutes on Friday. Mike Gurtler scored twice, with Chris Risi, Neil Graham, and Steve Cameron (one goal) each posting two points. Army jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday but Brett Robinson scored twice to tie the game before the end of the first period; Mercyhurst then added four in the second. Scott Pitt scored twice, Phil Ginand had three points, and Steve Cameron had two assists.

It was the most goals in a series for the Lakers since beating American International 7-2 and 7-1 on Jan. 20-21, 2006. Army defenseman Scott Warner scored his first two collegiate goals. Army is not a big fan of the Ice Center in Erie, having dropped four games there this year and going 1-13-1 all-time. The Black Knights are 1-3 on their current 11-game road stand.

Yellow Jackets create buzz: American International won twice in the past week, and has split its last three series. AIC used goals from five different players to post a 5-1 win over visiting Holy Cross on Friday. Nielsson Arcibal, Chad Richardson, Steve McLeod, and Luciano Primiani each had two points for the Yellow Jackets. Dan Ramirez stoped 37 of 38 shots.

Following a 3-0 loss at Holy Cross on Saturday, AIC earned its first road win with a 3-1 decision at Bentley. McLeod, Michael Penny, and Frankie DeAngelis scored for the Jackets, who had lost all five of their games on the road this season and eight in a row. The AIC road winless streak had reached 0-10-1, with the last win at … you guessed it, Bentley (6-5 win on Feb. 9).

Falcons nip Griffs: Bentley slowed down a hot Canisius squad with a 4-3, 4-2 home sweep. The Falcons had four different goal scorers Friday, with Dustin Cloutier (who netted the game-winner with 2:11 to play) and Casey Russell each posting two points. Bentley shot out to a 4-0 lead on Saturday. Dain Prewitt had two goals, with Erik Peterson, Cloutier, Bobby Preece, and Jeff Gumaer posting two points apiece. Joe Calvi made 18 stops in the opener and Kyle Rank made 26 saves in the nightcap.

Bentley’s bid for three consecutive wins and five-game unbeaten streak was snapped by visiting AIC on Tuesday.

Huskies, Tigers split:Connecticut earned a 2-1 win and lost 5-4 at home against RIT. All of Friday’s scoring took place in the opening 10 minutes, with Andrew Olson and Chris Ochoa scoring for UConn. Beau Erickson stopped 18 shots over the final two periods and 24 overall for the win. RIT defensemen Al Mazur, Dan Ringwald, and Chris Haltgin all had two assists in Saturday’s come-from-behind win. UConn could not hold leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3. Tyler Brenner scored the game-winner at 6:34 of the third period. Erickson lost despite stopping 31 shots.

“If this weekend shows us anything it’s that effort plays a big part in winning and losing,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “(Friday) night we didn’t put forth a great deal of effort and came up short. (Saturday) we played with a little more heart and came out on top.”

Failed Crusades: Holy Cross played Boston University for the first time on Tuesday and left Agganis Arena with a 3-2 loss. Jordan Cyr’s goal pulled Holy Cross within 2-1 late in the second period. Everett Sheen’s tally at 9:48 of the third again shaved the BU lead to one. Adam Roy lost despite stopping 25 shots.

Holy Cross is 3-3-2 in its last eight games against Hockey East foes, and 22-77-2 all-time against the league’s current members.

Finally: Connecticut had its 0-for-43 streak on the power play end with a goal by Chris Ochoa in Friday’s 2-1 win over RIT. The Huskies tacked on two more power play goals on Saturday.

Powerless: Holy Cross was scoreless on 12 power play chances against American International, while AIC was 1-for-8. Canisius was 1-for-14 in two losses at Bentley. Sacred Heart was 0-for-10 on the power play in two losses at Air Force. Army was 1-for-9 in two losses at Mercyhurst.

Looking ahead: Mercyhurst plays in the Rensselaer tournament. The Lakers open with the hosts, and then play either Northeastern or Princeton. Mercyhurst won its last outing with RPI. … Canisius travels to Clarkson for a pair. The Griffs are 0-5 all-time against ECAC Hockey foes. … Army plays at Union on Friday. The Black Knights have lost to the Dutchmen the past two seasons, 4-1 in Schenectady two years ago and 3-2 at West Point last January. … RIT plays at UMass-Lowell Saturday. … Connecticut plays at Brown Saturday. The Huskies are 0-3 against ECAC Hockey this season and were 1-3 last season. UConn lost at Brown in Jan. 2002. … Sacred Heart hosts Connecticut Tuesday.