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SETTING THE SCENE: This is the first weekend home-and-home series of the season for the American International College Yellow Jackets as they take on conference foe Holy Cross.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets enter this weekends contests with an overall record of 0-3-0 and are 0-1-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association after losing to Sacred Heart 5-3 on Tuesday night. After a scoreless first period, senior #Mike McMillan# put AIC out to a 1-0 lead, tallying his first goal of the season at the 14:19 mark. Junior #Steve McLeod# and sophomore #Luciano Primiani# dished out the assists on McMillan's goal. Just over four-minutes later, junior Evan Mladenoff found the back of the net for the Pioneers, sending the game into the third period knotted at 1-1. Senior Eric Boisvert netted a goal just 16-seconds into the final period of regulation, giving Sacred Heart at 2-1 advantage. Seven-minutes later, freshman #Adam Pleskach#, the AHA Rookie of the Week, buried his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. McLeod and freshman #Jeff Ceccacci# handed out the assists. The assist was Ceccacci's first collegiate point. The lead would not last long, as the Pioneers found the back of the net just one-minute later. Sacred Heart stretched their lead to 4-2 when, AHA Player of the Week, senior Nick Johnson scored at the 13-minute mark. Sophomore #Nielsson Arcibal# would attempt to spark the comeback for the Yellow Jackets when tallied his first goal of the season with an assist from Pleskach. But the Pioneers were to much as they added an empty net goal with under a minute remaining to claim the 5-3 victory. Junior netminder #Dan Ramirez# made a 41 save effort in the loss for AIC.

WEEKLY HONORS: Pleskach was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the week after netting three goals and dishing out an assist over the weekend. He netted his first collegiate goal against the Dutchmen and then assisted on the Yellow Jackets second goal of the game. Against the Engineers, he found the back of the net twice for AIC.

ABOUT HOLY CROSS: The Crusaders enter this weekends home-and-home with a record of 2-2-0 overall and are 2-0-0 in the AHA after sweeping Canisius last weekend. In Saturday's 3-2 win, junior Everett Sheen gave Holy Cross a 1-0 lead, scoring at 6:29 of the first period with assists from freshman Erik Vos and junior Jordan Cyr. Two-minutes later the Golden Griffin's tied the game at 1-1 when senior Jason Weeks found the back of the net. The tie would not hold for long as Vos buried a shot at the 13-minute mark to give the Crusaders a 2-1 advantage, with assists from Sheen and junior Mark Znutas. Just under a minute later, sophomore Jay Silvia stretched the Crusader lead to 3-1 when he netted a goal with assists from freshman Brendan Baker and sophomore Matt Gordon. After a scoreless second period, Canisius started the comeback when they scored 13-minutes into the final period, but their efforts were to little to late as Holy Cross held on for a 3-2 win. Freshman Thomas Tysowsky stopped 26 shots in the win. In Sunday's finale, the Crusaders skated to another 3-2 win. The Golden Griffin's took a 1-0 lead, scoring at 9:47 of the first period. Just 26-seconds later, senior Brodie Sheahan tied the score at 1-1 with assists from freshman Kyle Fletcher and junior J.P. Martignetti. The Crusaders took a 2-1 lead into the second period, after Sheen tallied his second goal of the series, this time unassisted. Silvia expanded the Holy Cross lead to 3-1 when he netted a goal seven-minutes into the second period with assists from Gordon and freshman Rob Linsmayer. In the third period, Canisius again attempted to pull of the comeback, scoring in the 12th-minute, but again their efforts fell short. Tysowsky made 29 saves to claim his second victory.

LAST TIME THEY MET: Holy Cross recorded a 1-0 overtime win over AIC in the first round of the AHA playoffs on March 7, 2009. Sheen tallied the game-winning goal 8:24 into the overtime period with assists from Sheahan and Martignetti. Tom Fenton stopped 22 shots for the Yellow Jackets, while senior Ian Dams made 30 saves in the victory.

2008-09 RECAP: AIC went 5-28-2 during the regular season and 5-22-1 in conference play with a team that consisted of eight first year players. The Yellow Jackets played well in the Atlantic Hockey
Championship Tournament but came up short, losing in overtime to Holy Cross 1-0 in the first round. Sophomores #Michael Penny# and #Nielsson Arcibal# showed promise in their first season with AIC as both finished in the top five in points on the team. The Yellow Jackets placed 18 member on the AHA All-Academic Team, with senior #Dean Yakura# and junior #Steve McLeod# sharing the Top Scholar Athlete award.

NEXTUP: AIC travels to Storrs, Connecticut for two games with conference opponent Connecticut beginning on Friday at 7:05 p.m.