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SETTING THE SCENE: This weekend's series is set at the Olympia Ice Center between the Canisius College Golden Griffins and your American International College Yellow Jackets.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets enter this weekend with an overall record of 2-6-2 and are 2-4-1 after going 1-1-0 in a home-and-home series with the Army Black Knights. AIC lost the first game 2-1 in West Point, N.Y. After a scoreless first period, senior forward #Josh Froese# put AIC on top 1-0 when he netted a short-handed goal, 2:19 into the second period. Junior forward #Greg Vatrano# and sophomore defenseman #Rob Blanchette# dished out the assists on the goal. The lead lasted until the 14th-minute, when junior Cody Omilusik found the back of the net on the power-play, tying the score at 1-1 for Army. Sophomores Mike Hull and Marcel Alvarez handed out the assists. In the third period, Hull buried what would prove to be the game-winning goal, for the Black Knights with just over four-minutes remaining in the game. Omilusik and senior Owen Meyer handed out the assists on the goal. Junior netminder #Dan Ramirez# stopped 30 shots in a solid outing for AIC. In the series finale, the Yellow Jackets remained perfect at home this season recording there second shut out in as many games, with a 2-0 victory over the Black Knights. AIC got on the board first when freshman #Adam Pleskach# netted the teams third short-handed goal of the season, his seventh overall, 3:05 into the opening period of play with assists from sophomore forward #Nielsson Arcibal# and freshman goalie #Ben Meisner#. Junior forward #Tom Mele# extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 2-0 when he buried a power-play goal at 2:51 of the second period. Pleskach and freshman forward #Richard Leitner# dished out the assists on the goal. Meisner stopped 35 shots to record his second shutout in four starts this season. He also tallied his first career point, assisting on Pleskach's goal. His shutout set a school Division I record for shutouts in a single season . Pleskach leads the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 10 points thus far, while Froese and Leitner are tied in second with five points each, including two goals and three assists, and one goal and four assists, respectively.

WEEKLY HONORS: Meisner was named the AHA Rookie of the Week, while Pleskach was awarded the Honor Roll. Meisner made 35 saves to propel AIC over Army Saturday night. In the same game he also claimed the first point of his collegiate career assisting on Pleskach's game-winning, shorthanded goal. The shutout was his second in his four starts this season. He has started both of the Yellow Jackets home games this year, recording shutouts in both. Pleskach tallied a goal and an assist in the Yellow Jackets win over Army on Saturday night. He buried, what would prove to be the game-winning goal, shorthanded in the first period. The goal was the team's third shorty of the season and his team leading seventh overall. Pleskach then assisted on AIC's power-play goal in the second period.

MONTHLY HONORS: Pleskach was named the AHA Rookie of the Month for October. He scored a least one goal in three of his first four starts, with a career-high two goals in a 3-2 loss to Rensselaer. In a weekend series against Union and Rensselaer, Pleskach had a hand in all four goals the Yellow Jackets score as he notched three goals and an assist. Overall he has five goals and two assists for seven points.

ABOUT CANISIUS: The Golden Griffins come into this weekends double-header with a record of 5-6-1 for the season and are 4-3-1 in the conference after going 1-0-1 last weekend against Connecticut. Canisius tied the Huskies in the series opener 4-4 (OT). In a battle that went back and forth for much of the night, UConn was scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the second period. The Golden Griffins tied the score at 1-1 tallying the second periods only goal. The third period was a shoot out with each team burying three goals. Canisuis held a 4-3 lead with less than three-minutes remaining, but could not pull out the victory as the Huskies scored with 2:45 remaining on the scoreboard. Senior Ryan Klusendorf, junior Cory Conacher and sophomores Dave Kostuch and Scott Moser each tallied a goal for the Golden Griffins. Sophomore Dan Morrison recorded 20 saves in net to earn the draw. In the series finale, Canisius skated to a 1-0 win. After two periods of scoreless play, Kostuch tallied what would prove to be the game winning goal four-minutes into the third period. Morrison stopped 19 shots to record the victory. Junior Corey Conacher and classmate Vincent Scarsella are tied for the team lead in points with 11 including six goals and five assists, and four goals and seven assists, respectively. Senior Carl
Hudson is third on the team with two goals and six assists for eight points. Kostuch (5g, 1a), senior Josh Heidinger (3g, 3a), and freshman Preston Shupe (0g, 6a) round out the top five in points tied with six each.

LAST TIME THEY MET: The Golden Griffins swept the Yellow Jackets in a weekend series in Buffalo, N.Y. of February 13-14, 2009. Canisius recorded wins of 3-0 in the opener and 5-1 in the finale. Senior #Dean Yakura# tallied AIC's lone goal on the weekend. Senior Jason Weeks and Hudson each netted two goals over the weekend, while senior goaltender Andrew Loewen made 60 saves over the two games.

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.

NEXT UP: AIC plays host to Mercyhurst for two games during Thanksgiving weekend beginning on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Olympia Ice Center.