Air Force and Rochester Institute of Technology have owned the Atlantic Hockey playoff titles since the two schools joined the league in 2006-07.

Atlantic Hockey's marquee rivalry takes center stage Friday when Cameron Burt and RIT host Air Force.

The rivalry may not have the luster or public visibility of Michigan-Michigan State or Boston College-Boston University, but Air Force and RIT have engaged in one of the most even rivalries in the past six years. Air Force has a slim 12-10-3 series edge since the start of the 2005-06 season and 14-13-3 lead in the all-time series. Seventeen of the last 25 meetings have been ties or decided by one goal, including last season’s league title game when Air Force prevailed, 1-0.

The teams will meet three times this season, starting with Friday’s 7 p.m. clash at Ritter Arena in Rochester.

Air Force has not lost in its last seven games (5-0-2), the second-longest unbeaten streak in the nation. The Falcons survived a tough test from visiting Sacred Heart, earning a pair of one-goal wins over the last-place Pioneers. Senior Stephen Caple has been in the nets for all seven contests, taking over for the injured Jason Torf.

RIT has stumbled a bit out of the gate. The Tigers dropped consecutive games to Canisius, No. 12 Union, and Mercyhurst, and needed two third-period goals to forge a 2-2 draw with Army last Friday. The Tigers added a 5-3 win over the Black Knights Saturday.

“I thought it was a big character win for us,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “We got down 3-1 and haven’t scored a lot of goals lately but we did a great job getting back into the game.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Lakers off to fast start: Mercyhurst swept a weekend set with Connecticut, 4-3 in overtime and 2-0, to get off to its first 3-0 start in Atlantic Hockey since 2005-06. One thing certainly helping the Lakers is their ability to stay out of the penalty box: Mercyhurst is the least-penalized team in the nation with 40 minutes in eight games.

• Struggling for a win: Sacred Heart is 0-8 this season and has lost 10 in a row dating back to last season’s quarterfinal playoff sweep. Army is 0-4-2 and winless in eight going back to last season. Sacred Heart’s power play ranks second worst in the nation at 2.3 percent (1-for-43). Army’s man-up unit ranks third worst at 4.2 percent (1-for-24).

Something’s probably going to give when the teams meet up in Milford, Conn., Friday.

•  Players of the week: It took 71 games, but Army junior Andy Starczewski posted his first collegiate hat trick in a 5-3 loss at RIT on Saturday. He shared the player of the week award with Holy Cross junior Brandon Nunn, who had a goal and three assists in the series split at Niagara.

• Goalies of the week: Junior Ben Meisner of American International was certainly busy, posting 75 saves in a 1-1 week. His 2-0 shutout win at Robert Morris on Sunday was the fifth of his career, setting a school record. Meisner shared the award with Mercyhurst senior Max Strang, who beat visiting Connecticut twice. He made 27 saves in a 4-3 overtime win on Friday and 41 stops in a 2-0 Saturday victory, his first career shutout in 15 starts.

• Rookie of the week: RIT freshman Brad McGowan tallied twice against Army as the Tigers managed a 2-2 tie and 5-3 win in Rochester. He has four points in six games.

• Don’t fear the box: Rochester Institute of Technology has killed off 20 consecutive opponent power-play chances. Senior Mark Cornacchia established a school record against Army with his fifth career shorthanded tally. Air Force, meanwhile, has killed off 13 consecutive power plays, including seven in Saturday’s win over Sacred Heart.

• Looong time: Robert Morris junior Eric Levine posted his first career shutout with a 27-stop effort against American International. It was the Colonials’ first shutout since a scoreless draw with Niagara on Feb. 28, 2009. Bentley can do one month better. The Falcons got 24 saves from Branden Komm in a 2-0 win over Canisius, their first shutout since Jan. 30, 2009.

• I’m pacing myself, sir: Mercyhurst senior defenseman Kelly Noble produced an overtime goal Friday against Connecticut. It was Noble’s fourth goal in 106 career games and his first game-winner.

• National leaders: Air Force freshman Cole Gunner is averaging 1.11 assists per game, ranking ninth. His 1.33 points per game ranks third. Adam Schmidt of Holy Cross and Brant Harris of Connecticut each have four power-play goals, one behind the two national leaders. Stephen Caple of Air Force owns a 1.81 goals against, ninth best in the country. Holy Cross has the nation’s best power play, converting on nine of 28 chances for 32.1 percent. Mercyhurst ranks seventh (6-for-23, 26.1 percent). Robert Morris finally surrendered two power-play goals, but the Colonials’ penalty kill still leads the nation at 95.1 percent (39-for-41). Air Force has the 10th-stingiest defense, allowing 2.22 goals per game, and averages 7.8 penalty minutes per game, third fewest in that category. Army ranks eighth with only 9.7 PIMs per game. Bentley ranks ninth highest with 17.4 minutes, just ahead of Canisius (17.2) and Connecticut (17.1).

• Out-of-conference: Atlantic Hockey’s record against the other four Division I leagues is 6-33-4.

• Looking ahead: Canisius plays a pair with host Bowling Green for the first time, and Holy Cross travels to Massachusetts on Friday (Holy Cross is 5-11 in the series). In league action, Air Force visits RIT and Mercyhurst; Army travels to Sacred Heart and hosts Bentley; AIC visits Bentley and hosts Connecticut (UConn has won nine in a row in the series); Robert Morris skates at Mercyhurst on Friday; and, Holy Cross hosts Sacred Heart.

TIM SCHALLER
Providence
Jr. | F | Merrimack, N.H.

Tim Schaller

His Statistics: 2 GP, four goals, hat trick, 3 PPG, SHG, GWG

His Impact: Schaller was all over the scoresheet in Providence’s Friday victory over Vermont. He had two power-play goals, scored a short-handed goal in the second period that proved to be the game-winning goal to complete his first-career hat trick in a 5-2 win over Vermont. In Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Catamounts, Schaller scored a third-period power-play goal.

You’ve got to get a lot of shots to score a lot of goals, and Schaller is doing his part. He had 14 shots on the weekend, five Friday and nine Saturday, and his four-goal weekend moved him into the team’s goal-scoring lead with five on the season. He entered the season with seven goals in 67 career games. Providence has four wins this year, all of which have come in Hockey East play. That matches last year’s win total in conference games (4-16-7).

His Runners-Up: Nick Dineen, Colorado College; Troy Grosenick, Union; Jordie Johnson, Ferris State; Max Strang, Mercyhurst

Tough break, literally, for St. Cloud State senior forward Drew LeBlanc, the Huskies’ captain and leading scorer, who slid into the boards late in the second period of the Huskies’ 3-3 tie against visiting Wisconsin, fracturing two bones in his leg. So why the salute for LeBlanc, who has played in 129 straight games for the Huskies since arriving on campus? Well, we’re struck by his demeanor following the injury.

“I got out there [to LeBlanc] and he said, ‘Coach, I broke my leg,’” SCSU head coach Bob Motzko told Mick Hatten of the St. Cloud Times. “[The injury] was one of the more gruesome things I’ve seen. He’s got two broken bones and a compound fracture and he’s on the ice and he did not show one ounce of pain.”

LeBlanc, who had surgery Sunday to repair the damage, could return to the Huskies by season’s end. He was plotting an even quicker return to campus.

“He wanted to go to class [Monday] morning,” Motzko said. “His mom, dad and coach told him it would be OK for him to miss class. He’s a straight-A student and … he’s in the hospital room and mad he can’t go to class.”

Hockey is an emotional game, and one of the arguments for fisticuffs remaining in the rulebooks at higher levels is that players have the opportunity to take care of perceived transgressions against teammates with a scrap and five-minute major. That, of course, doesn’t exist in college hockey and instead you can end up with unseemly and awkward situations similar to what happened during Friday’s Minnesota-North Dakota game at Mariucci Arena. Gopher players took exception when they felt goalie Kent Patterson was run into by a North Dakota player midway through the second period. In attempting to stand up for their teammate, several one-on-one wrestling matches took place inside the Minnesota end of the rink and words were exchanged between players from both sides. Tempers were elevated and both penalty boxes filled. It got weird, didn’t it?

What Happened: From the Save UAH Hockey Facebook page: More than 2,500 people were at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center Friday to watch the Chargers face Ohio State. The announced attendance for Saturday’s series finale was 1,351. Now, what could’ve caused such a precipitous drop in paying customers from Friday to Saturday?

What We’re Watching: Perhaps this should be titled “What We Will Be Watching”, referring to Versus last week unveiling its 2011-12 national college hockey broadcast schedule. Versus, which becomes NBC Sports Network on New Year’s Day, kicks off its 16-game slate Dec. 31 with Boston University-Notre Dame and ends with the Hockey East tournament semifinals and finals. More televised college hockey is good for the sport, of course, and it won’t hurt to have it on an outlet that reaches more than 75 million households nationwide. And the initial lineup is quite diverse, featuring familiar names like Boston College, Denver, and Michigan and not-so-usual suspects like Dartmouth, Minnesota Duluth, and Yale.

What The … : The road trip is a time-honored tradition among college hockey fans, a tribute to camaraderie and the lengths they’re willing to go to in order to see their team play. But for Colorado College fans, the thought of hopping into the car and driving a few hours for a weekend series wasn’t an option; the trips were either way too far or, in the case of Air Force and Denver, ridiculously close.

This past weekend, however, the Colorado Springs Gazette’s Joe Paisley bumped into a dozen Tiger fans who made the 1,200-plus mile round trip from Colorado Springs to Omaha for the team’s series at Nebraska-Omaha. CC lost Friday’s opener but won Saturday’s finale, making the eight-hour trip home a bit more tolerable. And even though it was the first roadie for these fans, they traveled like seasoned pros and definitely captured the spirit of the thing.

“We just wanted to make sure we were [in Omaha] in time to drink beer,” CC fan Ken Rownd told Paisley.

@umichhockey Michigan Hockey

MICHIGAN GOAL!!! An empty netter for Kevin Lynch puts the icing on the cake at 19:00. The Wolverines now have a 5-2 lead.

• As a matter of consistency, we’d like to restate our preference that a No-Cheering-In-The-Press-Box expectation also applies to media and official team accounts on Twitter. Fortunately we don’t see as many exclamation marks in the team’s press releases.

Air Force swept the three monthly player awards in Atlantic Hockey, but coach Frank Serratore said he’d gladly trade them in if the Falcons could just take back the one point it surrendered to Canisius.

“But what are you going to do?” Serratore posed.

Canisius scored twice in the final 94 seconds, each with the extra attacker, to forge a 3-3 draw on Saturday. It was the third time this season Air Force has failed to hold on to a third-period late.

“Good teams … championship-caliber teams don’t let games get away with leads in the third period,” Serratore said.

Kyle DeLaurell earned Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month honors for October.

Air Force, utilizing 13 sophomores and freshmen in the lineup, failed to score on a pair of 5-on-3 power plays and gave up two breakaways in the final 10 minutes. Canisius scored the two late goals after winning face-offs in its offensive zone.

“I think it’s experience and just managing situations,” Serratore said. “You play differently in the first 40 or 50 minutes of a game than you do in the last 10 minutes. We have to differentiate that and make adjustments.”

Air Force is off to a 3-2-2 start. The Falcons host Sacred Heart for a weekend pair, and head east next week to take on Rochester Institute of Technology and Mercyhurst.

“I like our team a lot,” Serratore said. “I like our talent level. I love our heart and how we compete but there comes a time in the game where you have to manage situations and we haven’t done a good job of that up to this point. Hopefully that will begin to change here soon.”

Successful in his time – Senior Stephen Caple has played the role of backup goaltender the past three-plus seasons to Andrew Volkening and Jason Torf. Prior to this season he had appeared in just 10 games (with three starts) and played 419 minutes.

Torf suffered a rare injury in a 3-2 loss to Michigan State on Oct. 8, ripping his groin. Caple has started every game since then, posting a 3-0-2 mark and league-best 1.93 goals against average. He was named the Atlantic Hockey goalie of the month.

“He’s been waiting for an opportunity to play and he’s done a good job for us,” Serratore said. “I would think it’s easier for a senior (to step in) than a freshman. He’s been here for four years and knows the level. If, as a competitor, if he is worth his salt, he has been frothing at the mouth for this opportunity.”

Serratore said Caple doesn’t have a great strength in his skill set, nor a great weakness.

“He’s gone in and played in games against competent opponents that we could have lost had he not played solid,” Serratore said. “He hasn’t been called upon to win any games for us yet but he hasn’t lost for us either.”

As for Torf, he is feeling better and may be able to play after Christmas. He will receive an MRI next week to check on the scarring and healing process.

“Hopefully it holds up and it doesn’t re-injure,” Serratore said. “We just don’t know a lot about it.”

A winning combination – Serratore has paired freshmen Cole Gunner and Chad Demers with veteran left winger Kyle DeLaurell on his top line and it’s been very successful. DeLaurell has scored a team-high six goals and ranks second with 10 points. Gunner leads with 11 points. Demers has two goals and five assists.

DeLaurell was named the Atlantic Hockey player of the month and Gunner its rookie of the month.

“Kyle is probably our most-polished forward from the top of the circles in,” Serratore said. “He sees the ice terrific and he’s got a great shot. He’s got an offensive element to him. So does Cole Gunner – both of those guys have real good offensive skills and offensive instincts. Kyle is our best offensive veteran and Cole is our best offensive newcomer.”

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

• Major boost at Mercyhurst – Mercyhurst produced a huge weekend, beating Rochester Institute of Technology, 2-1, and rallying for two late goals in a 5-4 win over Cornell. They were the first two wins of the season for the Lakers.

Max Strang made 49 saves against RIT to support the first-period goals from Chris Bodo and Ryan Misiak. Strang needed to make only 19 saves against Cornell. The Lakers lost a 3-0 lead but Paul Chiasson scored on the power play midway through the third to tie the game and set up Nardo Nagtzaam’s game-winner two minutes later.

• Still helping at RIT – Former Rochester Institute of Technology goalie Jared DeMichiel has joined the coaching staff of the RIT women’s team as a volunteer assistant coach. He will work with the goaltenders and with recruiting.

“Jared is a great addition to our program and coaching staff,” said RIT women’s coach Scott McDonald, who was a former assistant on the men’s team when DeMichiel arrived.

DeMichiel, who graduated in 2010, led RIT to the Frozen Four in 2010. He won 41 career games and posted a 2.48 goals-against average in his four seasons.

• Top players – Sacred Heart freshman Brian Sheehan was named the Atlantic Hockey player of the week. He had two goals against American International and two more against Bentley. Niagara’s Colby Drost was named the goalie of the week, posting 42 saves in his collegiate debut, a 2-1 win over Colgate. Bentley freshman Steve Weinstein was the rookie of the week, posting four assists in a 7-3 win over Sacred Heart.

• When six is not enough – Niagara dropped a 7-6 overtime contest to No. 16 Colgate on Friday. The Raiders scored four goals with the man advantage.

“You can’t give a nationally ranked team six power plays,” Niagara coach Dave Burkholder said. “They’re ranked for a reason.”

That’s the most goals the Purple Eagles have scored in a loss since dropping a 9-6 game to Wayne State on Jan. 12, 2001. Niagara lost three games last season when scoring five goals (Connecticut, Robert Morris, Mercyhurst).

It was a change of fate the next night, though, as Niagara squeaked out a 2-1 victory over Colgate. Freshman Colby Drost earned the win in his first collegiate start.

“This is one of the most courageous wins we’ve had as a program in a long time,” Burkholder said. “Coming into Colgate’s rink after a tough outcome (Friday) night, just the character and pride we played with says a lot about the guys in the room. From Colby on out had a lot of guys who played their hearts out, and that’s what it’s going to take to have success at this level.”

• Snow job – Army attempted to make it to Storrs for a Saturday game at Connecticut but the freak snowstorm forced the Black Knights to turn back to West Point. The game has been rescheduled for Feb. 7.

• Falcon fun – Bentley dropped a 3-2 decision to Clarkson on Friday but managed to secure a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Brett Hartung’s goal midway through the third period tied the game. Branden Komm made 32 saves for Bentley.

• Coming up – It’s the first weekend where all 12 teams engage in two-game league sets. Holy Cross travels to Niagara, Army goes to RIT, Connecticut plays at Mercyhurst, AIC treks to Robert Morris, and Bentley heads to Canisius.

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend—Sunday morning at 2 a.m., to be exact—so we must remember to turn our clocks back one hour or risk being late for work (like really late, as opposed to the typical five or so minutes late) Monday morning. But while we can’t forget to fall back, outcomes of some key hockey matches during this fall weekend could help the winners spring forward. Confused? Just read on, and don’t forget about that clock thing.

Defenseman Mark Alt has helped Minnesota to its best start in a decade.

North Dakota at Minnesota (Friday-Saturday): Over the past decade, this series has been more even than you might expect—North Dakota holds a 20-15-3 edge since the start of the 2001-02 season. Fighting Sioux fans would say that statistic is somewhat deceiving since four of the Gophers’ 15 wins during that span came in 2001-02; Gopher boosters would say they’ve out-national championshipped NoDak 2-0 over the last 10 years, so you can have those four wins.

At 7-1-0, Minnesota is off to its best start since that magical 2001-02 campaign (please note that based on winning percentage, 7-1-0 is better than the Gophers’ 5-0-3 start in 2008-09) and the Gophs lead the WCHA in scoring offense, scoring defense, and power-play and penalty-kill success. North Dakota, meanwhile, ranks 10th in the Dub in scoring offense and scoring defense and has the circuit’s seventh-best power play and penalty kill; scoring balance, goaltending, and across-the-board consistency have been concerns for the Fighting Sioux thus far.

As clichéd as it sounds, this is one of those rivalries where records don’t matter and in the recent past we’ve seen the struggling team manage a sweep or a win and tie. All signs point to a big weekend for Minnesota, but North Dakota is arguably the best backed-into-a-corner team in the nation.

Western Michigan at Michigan (Friday-Saturday): With five wins and three ties in its first eight games, Western Michigan is off to its best start since 1973-74 when, in its first season of varsity hockey, the Broncos reeled off 16 in a row against the likes of Algoma and Henry Ford Community College. This weekend, they’re off to Ann Arbor where WMU has won just 12 times in 51 tries.

The Broncos and Wolverines actually match up quite well. Shawn Hunwick gives Michigan an edge in goal, but Western probably has the better defensive corps with Dan DeKeyser, Garrett Haar, Matt Tennyson, and Luke Witkowski. U-M has more balance at forward, but WMU has been slightly better on special teams. The games could hinge on which team gets off to a better start—the Broncos have outscored foes in the first period by a 14-3 margin, but if the Wolverines jump out to the lead first, Western could start to press knowing full well of their woes at Yost.

Colgate at Yale (Saturday): Colgate, rated 13th in the most recent INCH Power Rankings, is an interesting team. Not Dos Equis man interesting; curious is probably a better choice of words. Every Raider game has gone down to the wire—their 4-2-1 record includes three one-goal wins, two of them coming in OT, and a pair of one-goal losses. They’ve beaten some quality opponents (Miami, Nebraska-Omaha) and had some head-scratching results (tying Army, losing at home to Niagara). They’re not a particularly high-scoring team, nor are they a lock-down defensive club. A visit to Ingalls Rink should serve as a measuring stick. Also, Saturday’s match gives fans the chance to see two of country’s top senior forwards—Yale’s Brian O’Neill and Colgate’s Austin Smith.

Minnesota Duluth at Denver (Friday-Saturday): Despite a loss and tie at Michigan Tech last weekend, the Pioneers enter this weekend with optimism. First, forward Beau Bennett, who missed the series in Houghton with a hand injury, is listed as probable this weekend. Second, goalie Adam Murray, who was hurt 10 minutes into Friday’s loss to the Huskies and sat out Saturday, returned to practice this week and should be full go. Third, freshman goalie Juha Olkinuora acquitted himself nobly in Murray’s stead, allowing three goals in 110 minutes of work. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have three wins and a tie in their last four games after starting the year with a win and three losses. Senior forward Jack Connolly is on the verge of three career milestones—his next goal will be his 50th, he’s two assists shy of 100, and is three points short of 150.

Also: Maine is 3-2-1 with losses to Merrimack and North Dakota. We should have a better read on the Black Bears after this weekend’s games at Boston College and New Hampshire. … Seems odd, but Colorado College has never played at Nebraska-Omaha. The second-ranked Tigers trek to the Qwest Center this weekend. … Northern Michigan is 3-0-1 at home and 1-3-0 on the road. The Wildcats, who play three of their next four series in Marquette, host Notre Dame. … Welcome to the dance, Harvard! The Crimson, the last team in the country to start its season, hosts Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend. Saturday’s contest against Harvard is Quinnipiac’s 11th game of the season.

Whenever Holy Cross manages to knock off a big-time opponent, the comparisons are always made to the 2006 Atlantic Hockey championship team that upset No. 3 Minnesota in the NCAA tournament.

Well, that was six seasons ago and none of the players on this year’s Crusader squad were on that celebrated title team. That’s what made Saturday’s 5-4 victory at seventh-ranked Boston University special for the current-day players.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Adam Schmidt, who scored two goals. “This is by far the most fun we’ll ever have in our life. Personally, beating a top-10 team in the country is something I’ve always dreamed about.”

“It’s fantastic for this group of guys,” said coach Paul Pearl, “because none of these guys were there for Minnesota. This is as big as that or any other win. This is a testament to these guys working hard.”

The Crusaders took an early 1-0 lead on a tally by Erik Vos, gave up two quick goals and pulled ahead again by the end of the first period on the two goals by Schmidt, his second and third of the season. Andrew Cox scored in the second period and Brendan Baker staked Holy Cross to a 5-2 lead at 7:17 of the third.

The Terriers picked up goals from Alex Chiasson and Matt Nieto but Holy Cross netminder Matt Ginn made six of his 22 third-period saves in the closing nine-plus minutes for the win.

“Obviously, they (the Terriers) are very good and we were very fortunate at times but you need that,” Pearl said. “We converted on the power play (3-for-6), which I thought was big. All of those things add up to having a shot at the end. We did, and we got a couple really nice saves in net.”

Schmidt said his team played with a purpose and followed the game plan by crashing the net. He said his team embraced the role of underdog.

“It’s always fun to be the underdog,” he said. “You don’t have to worry as much. You just go out and play your game. They had the pressure on them. We just go out, play hockey and got a win.”

What respect do the Crusaders get for their win? They get 14 votes in the media poll, essentially ranking 28th in the country, and one vote in the coaches’ poll, ranking 24th.

Connecticut showed no respect on Thursday night, posting a 4-2 win over the Crusaders in Storrs. Schmidt and Brandon Nunn produced game-tying goals for the Crusaders, but Billy Latta knocked in the game-winner at 8:12 of the third and Cole Schneider deposited an empty netter with 44 seconds left.

The win was the 600th in Connecticut history, going back to 1960.

FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG

Perfect killers: Robert Morris ranks best in the country on the penalty kill, perfect on 23 attempts. Visiting Quinnipiac was 0-for-5 in a 5-4 loss on Friday and 0-for-8 in a 4-1 win on Saturday.

“Our penalty kill, we’re not going to go 100 percent the whole year, but we did what we needed to do,” Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Colonials, who travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State in a Friday-Saturday set. The Spartans’ power play ranks 22nd in the nation at 19.2 percent (5-for-26).

Falcon flying high: Air Force junior Kyle De Laurell was named the Atlantic Hockey player of the week. He had two goals and two assists in the weekend series at Alabama-Huntsville. De Laurell leads the team with five goals and nine points.

Golden Griffin: Senior Dan Morrison of Canisius was named the Atlantic Hockey goaltender of the week. Morrison turned aside 33 of 34 shots as the Golden Griffins beat Rochester Institute of Technology 3-1 last Thursday, snapping an eight-game losing streak in the series.

Fresh in the nest: Air Force freshman forward Cole Gunner was named the Atlantic Hockey rookie of the week. He had two goals and two assists in the Alabama-Huntsville series. Gunner is the top point getter among the nation’s rookies with nine.

Chowder draw: Army took a 2-0 lead into the third period of its Cape Cod Classic game with No. 16 Colgate on Saturday but the Raiders rallied for an overtime draw. Army (0-3-1) remains winless after four games. Hall of Famer Jack Riley, the father of Army head coach Brian Riley, dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Shot to the heart: Sacred Heart dropped a set at Clarkson (3-0 and 5-2) last weekend and bowed 7-3 at home to Bentley on Tuesday. The Pioneers have lost all five regular-season games this season and their last seven, dating back to last year’s playoff sweep at Air Force. Sacred Heart was blanked in its first three games, plus the opening 11 minutes, 21 seconds of Saturday’s loss.

National leaders: Brant Harris of Connecticut and Adam Schmidt of Holy Cross are tied for fourth in the nation with an average of one goal per game. Harris has six tallies and Schmidt has four. Four of Harris’ goals have come on the power play, tying him for second in the country. Air Force senior Stephen Caple has been more than capable filling in for injured Jason Torf, ranking 12th in the nation with a 1.70 goals against average. Connecticut goalie Garrett Bartus ranks 11th in save percentage at .935.

Let the grumbling begin: The major problem with the new “pod” scheduling in Atlantic Hockey is the odd-game out in the three-game sets. This month, Niagara, Robert Morris and Canisius flew to Colorado Springs for just one game, instead of the usual two against Air Force, and none of the three teams were able to schedule a second non-league contest. When the Falcons jet to the east on Nov. 11-12 they will play games at both RIT and Mercyhurst, getting more bang for the travel money.

Slow start: Atlantic Hockey teams are 4-28-3 in non-conference contests against the other four Division I leagues.

Coming up: Niagara plays a unique home-and-home non-conference series with Colgate, hosting on Friday and traveling to Hamilton on Saturday. Army will have a one-game weekend for the third time this month when the Black Knights visit Connecticut on Saturday. UConn prevailed, 5-0, in their first meeting on Oct. 14. Bentley will host Clarkson in a weekend set. Mercyhurst will host RIT on Friday and travel to Cornell on Saturday. American International hosts Sacred Heart on Friday and travels to Union on Saturday.

JUSTIN FLOREK
Northern Michigan
Sr. | F | Marquette, Mich.

His Statistics: 2 GP, 1-4—5 in the Wildcats’ win and tie against Michigan.

His Impact: Florek has always been a reliable scorer—he entered the season with 35 goals and 81 points in 120 career games—but the Marquette native looking more like the elite power forward people thought he’d be when he joined the Wildcats following a stint with the U.S. National Team Development Program.

With five points in NMU’s win and tie against previously unbeaten Michigan this past weekend, Florek now has nine points (five goals, four assists) in six games for the Wildcats, who are off to their best start since 2005-06. He’s figured in on nearly half of his team’s 21 goals this season, including five of eight goals against the Wolverines.

Among CCHA skaters, only Notre Dame’s Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan have more points than the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Florek, and only Lee and Ferris State’s Travis Ouellette have more goals. He’s second in the league to Oullette with three power-play goals and his six power-play points leads the conference.

His Runners-Up: Bill Arnold, Boston College; Ryan Leets, Army; Allan McPherson, Clarkson; Jason Zucker, Denver.

The issues surrounding the demise of the Alabama-Huntsville hockey program are too numerous and complex to attack in this limited space; it’ll likely be the lead item on an INCH Podcast later this week. Instead, we’ll focus on the many great moments in Charger hockey history, including NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1998 and runner-up finishes in 1994 and 1997, College Hockey America regular-season championships in 2001 and 2003, and CHA playoff titles in 2007 and 2010.

Alabama-Huntsville was 0-2 in two trips to the NCAA Tournament, but they were memorable appearances—in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., the Chargers took top-seed Notre Dame to double overtime before losing, 3-2, and in 2010, UAH nearly bounced another top seed, Miami, in the Midwest Regional first round in Fort Wayne, Ind, losing 2-1.

Every so often, a team will get bitten by the injury bug. Then there’s Minnesota State, which has been mauled by the injury grizzly.

The Mavericks headed to Denver with 18 skaters and two goaltenders—injuries kept forwards J.P. Burkemper, Michael Dorr, Max Gaede, and Eriah Hayes and defensemen Tyler Elbrecht and Danny Heath at home. Then things got worse. In Friday’s 4-2 loss to DU, forward Chase Grant suffered a lower-body injury that, according to Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting via Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press, could keep him out for a while. The following night, defenseman Brett Stern was hurt in the first period of MSU’s 10-2 loss and did not return.

Mercifully, the Mavs are off this weekend.

What Happened?: Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena is a beautiful venue, but like any new facility there are a few kinks to work out. About 30 minutes after the inaugural game at the 5,000-seat rink Friday, someone or something inadvertently set off a fire alarm, prompting the building to be evacuated until the Notre Dame Fire Department arrived and gave the all clear. We’re not sure what went down, but our hunch is that someone found out what they thought was a shortcut to the parking lot wasn’t that at all.

What We’re (Not) Watching: Harvard, yet. It was nice to see the Ivy League schools get into some sort of competitive action this past weekend with some exhibitions and scrimmages, including Harvard’s game against Western Ontario. Up next for the Crimson … no games this weekend. Harvard plays its first regular season games Nov. 4-5 at home against Princeton and Quinnipiac. By the time the Crimson and Bobcats take the ice that Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center, Quinnipiac will have played 10 games.

What the …?: Through five games this season, Boston University has been as predictable as a Tracy Morgan soliloquy. In their opener, the Terriers shut out New Hampshire (which seemed impressive at the time). The following weekend, BU lost at Providence, then beat Denver the next night. Then this past Saturday, the Terriers were beaten by Holy Cross. Sense a trend? No, neither do we.

@Walldawg27 Andrew Wallace

Big fan of the cauliflower ear look. Open invitation for someone to sock me in the ear #streetcredit

• The biggest problem we had in this selection was choosing which of Bowling Green sophomore forward Andrew Wallace’s tweets to choose for this honor. His entire timeline is gold, including the claim that he leads the nation in “practice bar-downs” – not bad for a guy with five career points in 45 games. He’s a beauty.

Pull the tail of the Tiger: Canisius pulled off a 3-1 victory over visiting Rochester Institute of Technology on Thursday night, earning its first win over the Tigers since the 2007-08 season.

“It’s an awesome feeling right now,” senior Scott Moser said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our young team, being able to bounce back from last weekend (in a pair of losses at Quinnipiac). … This game means a lot to us having fought four years in the league and getting our first win against RIT.”

Trailing 1-0, the Griffins picked up goals from Preston Shupe on the power play, Scott Moser and an empty netter from Kyle Gibbons to post the win. Dan Morrison made 33 stops for his first win of the year.

“The confidence that we gained from a hard-fought victory against a very good RIT team is critical for the development of our younger players,” Canisius coach Dave Smith said. “Our seniors led with passion and that filtered down to the rest of the team, which was huge for us in earning this victory.”

Josh Watson made 21 saves for RIT.

An INCH Here, An INCH There: If you didn’t read Inside College Hockey earlier this week, you missed out on Cameron Burt’s selection as INCH’s National Player of the Week. The senior from Rochester Institute of Technology set up the game-tying goal with nine seconds left and set up the game-winner 14 seconds into overtime as the Tigers upended upended Saint Lawrence, 6-5, at Blue Cross Arena. Burt was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week as well.

Top Rookie: Air Force freshman Cole Gunner was named the Rookie of the Week. He had two assists in a 3-2 overtime win over Niagara on Friday and added another helper in a 4-2 win over Robert Morris on Sunday. Gunner leads all Atlantic Hockey freshmen with five points, all assists.

Garrett Bartus

Lead Netminder: Garrett Bartus of Connecticut was named the Goalie of the Week. The junior posted his first collegiate shutout, in his 59th game, with 47 saves in a 5-0 victory at Army on Friday. Bartus owns a .954 save percentage, ranking fifth in the nation. It was UConn’s first shutout victory in 118 games, dating back to Feb. 29, 2008, in a 3-0 win over Holy Cross.

It Starts With a Pair: Atlantic Hockey finally scratched out two non-conference victories this week. First, RIT rallied to beat Saint Lawrence, 6-5 in overtime. On Tuesday night, Connecticut picked up an overtime goal from Marcello Ranallo for a 3-2 victory at Massachusetts-Lowell. Atlantic Hockey teams are 2-24-1 in non-conference action.

Torf Sidelined, Caple Emerges: Air Force starting goalie Jason Torf remains injured with a groin strain suffered on the opening weekend. Senior Stephen Caple was called upon to start a pair of league contests and beat both Niagara and Robert Morris. It was the first time Caple had posted consecutive wins.

“This was huge for us to get four points with the guys we have out of the lineup,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “With Jason Torf, Mitch Torrel and Casey Kleisinger all out, we needed some inexperienced guys to step in and they did.”

Where’s the Gold?: Mercyhurst came up empty in its visit to Fairbanks for the Alaska Gold Rush. The Lakers bowed to Alaska, 5-2, on Friday and lost to Alaska-Anchorage, 6-2, on Saturday. Senior Derek Elliott scored once in both games. Senior Max Strang stopped 38 shots on consecutive nights.

Mercyhurst went winless in the same tournament to open the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Power Play Grounded: Air Force is 0-for-15 with the man advantage this season. Niagara is 0-for-14. Sacred Heart is 0-for-23.

No Harm Done: Five Atlantic Hockey teams have penalty-kill percentages of 85 percent or better. Robert Morris is perfect on 10 kills. Niagara has allowed one goal on 15 chances, and Holy Cross has given up one tally on eight tries. Air Force (86 percent) has given up two power play goals and Connecticut (85 percent) has surrendered four.

Early Starts: Three freshmen goaltenders have seen action this season. Sacred Heart’s Andrew Bodnarchuk is 0-3. Matt Ginn of Holy Cross is 1-1, earning his first win on Saturday with a 14-save effort in a 2-1 decision over American International. Army’s Rod Tadazak made his debut Saturday in a 3-2 loss at No. 13 Merrimack, stopping 37 shots.

Chowder Cup: Brian Riley takes his Army team into his dad Jack’s backyard as the Black Knights face Colgate in a Saturday matchup in Hyannis, Mass. Colgate prevailed, 3-1, in last year’s matchup in Cape Cod.

Just Like Old Days: Former College Hockey America foes Air Force (2-2) and host Alabama-Huntsville (0-6) square off in a twinbill on Friday and Saturday. Both teams were original members of the CHA and met 29 times from the 1999-2000 season through 2005-06 with UAH registering a 21-7-1 series edge. The Chargers own a 38-17-2 all-time series edge with Air Force sporting a 3-21-1 record in Huntsville. This is Air Force’s first trip to Alabama since 2006.

MassPike Visit: Holy Cross heads east to take on Boston University on Saturday. It will be the clubs’ second all-time meeting. BU prevailed 3-2 on Nov. 25, 2008.

Also On Tap: American International visits Clarkson for a pair. Robert Morris hosts two games with Quinnipiac. Union visits Niagara on Friday and RIT on Saturday. Connecticut visits Merrimack on Saturday.

There’s a bit of a theme in this week’s Four-cast—three of the four matchups we spotlight pit teams we expected to do well against under-the-radar clubs with promising early results. And in each case, the upstart also serves as the host.

Reilly Smith and Miami open CCHA play this weekend with a trip to Ferris State.

Miami at Ferris State (Friday-Saturday): The Bulldogs, unbeaten in four games and outscoring foes by a 15-3 margin, notched an impressive sweep of Rensselaer last weekend, but Ferris State starts the CCHA portion of its schedule with a visit from Miami followed by a trip to Michigan. The RedHawks, who’ve split their first two series, have been outshot by a 108-83 margin through four games; in the first period, Miami has is getting outshot, 41-21.

Minnesota Duluth at Providence (Friday-Saturday): It’s far too soon to proclaim Providence is back and bury UMD, but there a couple trends that make this series one to watch. First, the Friars, who ranked 55th in the nation in scoring offense last season, scored a combined 11 goals in wins over Boston University and Massachusetts. The Bulldogs, 1-3 after getting swept by Minnesota last weekend, has given up 18 goals in four games including five in each of the last three games—all losses. UMD has scored 15 goals, however, including four from Travis Oleksuk and three from Mike Seidel.

Michigan at Northern Michigan (Friday-Saturday): The Wolverines have scored 24 goals in their first four games, all at Yost against non-league competition that would make Brady Hoke drool. We’ll know more about Michigan in a month; series with Ferris, Western Michigan, and Miami follow this trip to Marquette. The Wildcats, notoriously slow starters, won three of four against Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. Senior forward Justin Florek has four goals in as many games and goalies Reid Ellingston and Jared Coreau have been solid.

Union at RIT (Saturday): In its first three games, RIT played Niagara to a scoreless draw, beat St. Lawrence in overtime (tying the match with nine seconds left in regulation and getting the winner 14 second into OT), and dropped a 3-1 decision at Canisius. Does that mean Saturday’s game will be a shootout? The Dutchmen, fresh of a pair of ties against Western Michigan, start a stretch in which they play five of six away from home. Sophomore goalie Troy Grosenick has been outstanding in his three starts as evidenced by his 1.90 goals against average and .923 save percentage.

Also: Michigan Tech, a.k.a. America’s Team, has a chance to do something it hasn’t done in forever in its series at Bemidji State. A win Friday would be the Huskies’ fifth straight—Tech hasn’t won five in a row since 1990. With a series sweep, the Huskies would have a six-game winning streak for the first time since the 1983-84 season. … Rensselaer travels to Notre Dame in a dress rehearsal for the 2013-14 Hockey East regular season (we kid, we kid). Seriously, the game is the first at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the 5,000-seat venue replacing the quirky Joyce Center. … Most years, North Dakota at Wisconsin would be the highlight of the weekend. This year, it’s a series featuring a Fighting Sioux team that hasn’t hit its stride and a Badger club trying to infuse a bunch of new faces into the lineup.

• INCH Pick ‘Em is back for the 2011-12 season. Log in and make your picks by 4 p.m. Friday.

CAMERON BURT
RIT
Sr. | F | Detroit, Mich.

Cameron Burt

His Statistics: 1 GP, 2-3–5, 6 shots, +3 rating

His Impact: Burt was at the center of the action all night long as RIT played its annual early-season game at the downtown Rochester Blue Cross Arena. After a 0-0 tie in the season-opener against Niagara, this game had plenty of scoring. Burt got the Tigers on the board just three and a half minutes into the first period, but his most important contributions came at the end of the game.

RIT trailed 5-4 in the closing seconds of the third period, but Burt assisted on Adam Hartley’s goal with nine seconds left to send the game to overtime. On the first shift of the extra session, Burt was also in on the assists as Adam Mitchell scored at 14 seconds of overtime. RIT got a 6-5 win in front of an enthused hometown crowd of more than 10,000 at Blue Cross Arena.

The game in downtown Rochester has become a tradition for the Tigers and will continue for at least the next two seasons as part of the school’s Brick City Weekend (Homecoming). The next two opponents are Penn State in 2012 and Michigan in 2013.

His Runners-Up: Kyle Jean, Lake Superior State; Jeremy Langlois, Quinnipiac; Josh Robinson, Michigan Tech; Riley Wetmore, UMass Lowell

Well before Detroit and Warroad, Minn., staked claim to the moniker, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the home of Lake Superior State University, was the first U.S. city dubbed Hockeytown. Based on the early-season play of the Lakers and their north-of-the-Mackinac-Bridge brethren Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan, perhaps Hockey Peninsula is a more appropriate nickname.

The three teams have a combined 11-1-0 mark, with the lone loss belonging to NMU; the Wildcats dropped a 3-2 decision at Wisconsin on Oct. 8. We’re not sure how long this run will last—Northern Michigan hosts Michigan this weekend, and Michigan Tech faces Denver and Lake State goes to Miami next weekend—but if we know anything about Yooper hockey fans, they’re enjoying the moment.

In our slightly reformatted First Shift for the 2011-12 season, we’ve eschewed a dedicated space for Rankings Outrage and instead will be folding some of those ideas into our other categories. This season has been rife with surprising results in the early going, and that makes ranking teams a little difficult. One thing we can’t seem to reconcile with what we saw in the other national polls is the overall support for a 1-3-0 Minnesota Duluth team, that has played all four of its games on home ice. Sure, it’s no easy task to deal with Notre Dame nor Minnesota, but there wasn’t any room for the Bulldogs in the INCH Power Rankings. In our opinion, they haven’t proved that they belong to be listed among the nation’s top-20 teams.

What Happened?: Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to New Hampshire’s method of restocking its lineup—freshmen and sophomores mature and assume the role as the team’s offensive weapons as upperclassmen. And while it’s worked in the past, the Wildcats are struggling mightily thus far, outscored by 15-1 margin in their first three games.

“It’s frustrating of course,” senior forward Stevie Moses told Al Pike of Foster’s Daily Democrat following UNH’s 5-1 loss to Boston College Saturday. “We expect to win every night. But I think we’ve gotten better each period … If we can finish a few more pucks and maybe tighten up in the D-zone a little bit I think we’re going to be pretty good moving forward.”

What We’re Watching: Our Friday Four-cast is reserved for later in the week, but there are already some interesting decisions to be made about which games matter most this early in the year. One of those series is taking place in Providence, as the undefeated, upstart Friars host the 1-3-0 defending national champions from Minnesota Duluth. Of course it’s only two games, but it’s another chance to gain some knowledge about two teams with eyebrow-raising results thus far.

What the …?: Whoa, whoa, whoa down everyone. Among several coverage stories forecasting end-of-season NCAA brackets, the publication of rankings of NCAA Tournament criteria, and the buzz in some social media circles there’s already thoughts on the end-of-year national showcase. We’re not even into November, people. Relax and enjoy the season. The NCAA Tournament stuff will sort itself out over the next several months. Forecasting and projecting the bracket now is like declaring the horse with the cleanest break to be the Kentucky Derby winner.

@derekschooley Derek Schooley – 15 Oct
We could have had a CHA reunion weekend as Niagara, Robert Morris, Air Force and Bemidji all in Col Springs. #goodleague #cha

• All Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley needed to do to complete the roundup of ex-College Hockey America members was extended an invitation to Alabama-Huntsville and get the Wayne State band back together. That last one might be difficult.

CCHA PLAYERS STEP INTO BIGGER ROLES

As INCH’s First Shift mentioned this week, two of the CCHA’s top teams were without two of their best players this past weekend, with Reilly Smith and Jon Merrill both suspended by their coaches for violating team rules.

While it’s certainly bad news for those teams, those players and the college game at large, a silver lining of the situation was the play of lesser-known veterans and rookies rising up to the challenge of eating up the minutes and offsetting the lost production – no small task – that Merrill and Smith and typically responsible for.

Michigan opened the year with three wins, beating Niagara last Tuesday and Bentley on Friday and Saturday nights and saw rookie blue-liners Brennan Serville and Mike Chiasson make their debuts and play three productive games.

Serville, expected to be a key player and a contender to be Merrill’s partner this year, finished with an assist, three shots on goal and three blocks in three contests, and Chiasson made his mark with an assist, six blocks and an impressive plus-4 rating.

Down the road in Oxford, Miami opened the year with a split against Bemidji State that saw the Smith-less Redhawks’ freshman class step in to the rescue with goals by Jimmy Mullin and Alex Wideman and some help from a short-handed, game-winning goal from senior forward Matt Tomassoni to give him his first career two-goal game.

“I think that Curtis McKenzie, Matt Tomassoni and many of our younger guys got more ice time,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “Everything happens for a reason, and this gave guys the opportunity to get their feet wet.”

Miami gets Smith back for this weekend’s trip to Colgate, and Blasi is confident that Smith got the message that the suspension was put in place to teach. The Wolverines on the other hand, have several weeks to wait before Merrill will be back in the lineup, as his 12-game suspension will keep him out of the lineup until a Nov. 11-12 series at Miami, making Chiasson and Serville’s continued positive contributions key for Michigan.

VETERAN EAGLES GET SEASON OFF TO FLYING START

Boston College took the first steps of putting last year’s disappointing finish behind them by getting the 2011-12 season off to a quick start last weekend. The Eagles claimed the Ice Breaker title in Grand Forks, N.D., including a decisive 6-2 victory over North Dakota in the title game. The schedule doesn’t get any easier, though, as Boston College opens its home slate on Friday night against third-ranked Denver, then travels to Durham for its Hockey East opener against New Hampshire on Saturday night.

In spite of the quick start, head coach Jerry York and his team have been quick to realize that national championships aren’t won in October.

“We came in on Monday morning and had a changed mindset, looking forward to this weekend’s games,” York said. “We’ve got a mature team, and they know that there’s a lot of the season in front of us. Yes, we played well, but we’ve only finished the first hole of the course – there’s a lot of potential pars and bogeys ahead of us.”

York was particularly impressed with the play of junior netminder Parker Milner, who had 39 saves on 43 shots in the two games in Grand Forks.

“Parker hasn’t had a chance to be the man here, playing behind John Muse the past two years, but his play was probably the biggest highlight we had last weekend,” York said.

GOALTENDING CONCERNS AT DENVER

Denver was the preseason favorite of both the coaches and the media to win the WCHA title. But as their season begins, a combination of injuries and suspensions has recently rendered the goaltending corps for the Pioneers as thin as the air at high altitudes.

We already knew that last year’s top netminder, Sam Brittain, would miss roughly half the season after having knee surgery over the summer. That left things in the hands of junior Adam Murray, who last season put up numbers (6-3-0 record, .879 saves percentage, 3.46 goals-against average) that can generously be called passable.

In last weekend’s Pioneers exhibition win over the USA Hockey Under-18 Team, Murray was pulled early with a lower body injury, giving way to rookie backup Juho Olkinuora (a name that fits perfectly at the school that gave us Sinuhe Wallinheimo).

Murray is healthy enough that he is expected to start both games this weekend as the Pioneers visit top-ranked Boston College and Boston University, but Olkinuora will not be available in the backup role.

According to the Denver Post, Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky revealed this week that Olkinuora will sit out the first three games of the season due to an eligibility issue.

What if Murray goes down in Boston? Well, there’s always Hope. That would be junior walk-on Zack Hope, who has seen plenty of pucks in practice for the Pioneers but has not yet gotten in a real game.

ALMA MATER RETURN FOR APPERT

RPI heads out on the road this weekend to face Ferris State for two games. It’s a homecoming weekend of sorts for Engineers coach Seth Appert, who was a four-year varsity goaltender at Ferris State from 1992-96.

Coincindentally, some former teammates might be around to say hello this weekend. Players from teams ranging between the years 1990 and 2000 will be welcomed back Saturday night in celebration of the second decade of Ferris State’s hockey program.

Appert was a goaltender, and it’s a special fraternity. He’s demonstrated that as much this season in answering any questions regarding RPI’s goaltending situation. Allen York left to sign a pro contract following his junior season that included 18 wins and a 2.17 goals-against average. Any doubts that outsiders had about the Engineer goaltenders have been emphatically discredited by Appert, and his netminders have proven his confidence to be well-founded through the opening weekend.

Freshman Scott Diebold stopped 19 of 20 shots in his first collegiate start but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against Minnesota State. The following night, junior Bryce Merriam, the forecasted starter for the Engineers headed into the year, made 31 saves on 32 shots in a 4-1 RPI win against the Mavericks.

ATLANTIC HOCKEY OPENING ACTS

The opening weekend of Atlantic Hockey is going to be remembered for what could have been. Defending champion Air Force held third-period leads on North Dakota and Michigan State and came out on the losing end. American International held a 3-0 first-period lead at Michigan Tech and couldn’t close the deal. Connecticut held a 2-0 first-period lead at Bowling Green and came out on the short end.

The optimist says it’s great to see Atlantic Hockey teams in contention in tough road contests. The pessimist laments the fact those teams did not get it done. The reality is Atlantic Hockey is going to have to put more of these opportunities into the win column if it wants to generate more interest with fans and recruits.

On Friday night, Air Force carried a 3-2 lead into the final seven minutes only to have Brock Nelson score twice in a span of 1 minute, 17 seconds for a 4-3 North Dakota win. On Saturday, the Falcons carried a 2-1 lead into the third period but Michigan State’s Lee Reimer tied the contest at 5:21 and scored the game-winner at 54 seconds of overtime.

Air Force coach Frank Serratore was none too pleased with the outcomes at North Dakota’s Ice Breaker tournament.

“We are way past moral victories,’’ Serratore said after the North Dakota setback. “We had them down, right where we wanted them, and we didn’t get it done. There is nothing to feel good about. We are plenty good enough to lose close to anyone in the country. The bottom line is that we were in a heavyweight fight and we were ahead and lost a decision. We just didn’t finish. Teams either find a way to get it done or they find a way to let it get away. Plain and simple, we didn’t get it done.”

Following the Michigan State loss, Serratore put out a challenge to his team, a message that should resonate throughout the league.

“If you want to aspire to be a champion, you have to find a way to win,” Serratore said.

For the record, Atlantic Hockey members were 0-13-1 against the rest of college hockey.