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SETTING THE SCENE: The American International College men's ice hockey team takes on the Sacred Heart Pioneers in a home-and-home this weekend.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets enter this weekend with an overall record of 5-19-2 and are 5-15-2 in Atlantic Hockey play after completing the sweep, their first in two seasons, over Bentley. AIC tallied a 6-5 win in the first game and then won 3-2 in overtime in the series finale. Sophomore forward #Michael Penny# found the back of the net three times to lead the Yellow Jackets to their 6-5 win on Friday. His hat-trick was the first for AIC since Jereme Tendler did it against Bentley on January 12, 2007. It was also the Yellow Jackets first time putting six goals on the board since February 9, 2008 at Bentley. Penny put AIC on the board 1:53 into the game was he put home a pass from freshman forward #Charles LaChance#. Senior forward #Chris Campanale# was credited with the second assist on the goal. The Yellow Jacket took a 2-0 lead just two-minutes later as Penny buried his second goal of the night, this time on the power-play, with a hand from freshman defenseman #Jeff Ceccacci# and junior forward #Tom Mele#. Mele then gave AIC a 3-0 lead when he tallied a goal at 13:16 with assists from classmate, forward #Mike McMillan# and Campanale. The Falcons finally got on the board with less than two-minutes remaining in the period, when sophomore forward Herbie Kent netted a goal. McMillan put the Yellow Jackets back on top by three-goals when he lit the lamp with seconds remaining. Freshman forward #Richard Leitner# and junior forward #Greg Vatrano# dished out the assists on the goal, as AIC went into the first intermission on top 4-1. Just 13-seconds in to the second period, freshman forward #Adam Pleskach# gave the Yellow Jackets a 5-1 lead as he tallied his team leading 12th goal of the season, with assists from sophomore forward #Nielsson Arcibal# and junior forward #Steve McLeod#. Penny completed the natural hat-trick and gave AIC a five goal lead, when he lit the lamp for the third time on the night. Campanale and LaChance handed out the assists on the goal. Sophomore forward Jamie Nudy cut the AIC lead to 6-2 when scored an unassisted goal at the 9:00 mark of the period. The Yellow Jackets would head into the second intermission up 6-2. In the third period, Bentley attempted to pull off the come from behind win as they netted three goals in the period. Freshman forward Jordy Trottier, Kent, and senior forward Marc Menzione each found the back of the net in the period. But the Yellow Jackets would hold on for the 6-5 vicotry. Junior netminder #Dan Ramirez# turned aside 23 shots in the victory, while junior Joe Calvi and sophomore Kyle Rank combined for 18 saves in the loss for the Falcons. AIC was outshot 28-24 on the night but held advantages of 13-6 in the first period and 10-9 in the second. In Saturday's finale, junior defenseman #Mike Little# buried a slap-shot with 1:09 remaining in overtime to propel the Yellow Jackets to a 3-2 win. The win was the first come-from-behind victory of the season, and was their first overtime win since November 11, 2008. AIC also claimed their first sweep since their home-and-home with Bentley in February 2008. The Falcons were first on the scoreboard when freshman forward Joe Campanelli found the back of the net 1:16 into the opening period with assists from junior forward Erik Peterson and freshman forward Dan Koudys. The Yellow Jackets went into the first intermission down 1-0. Leitner tied the score for AIC when he netted a power-play goal on the backhand six-minutes into the second period, with assists from McLeod and Pleskach. The Yellow Jackets took the lead when McLeod lit the lamp at the 12-minute mark with assists from Arcibal and freshman defenseman #Jason Cohen#. The Falcons tied the score at 2-2 with 35-seconds remaining in the period when Koudys tallied a shorthanded goal. The game was pushed into overtime after a scoreless third period. Little netted the game winner, with a slap-shot, 3:51 into overtime with assists from #Tom Mele# and Pleskach. Freshman goaltender #Ben Meisner# play very well stopping 35 shots, including three in overtime, to claim his fourth victory of the season. Calvi turned aside 30 shots in the loss for the Falcons. AIC was outshot 37-33 on the night but held a 10-9 advantage in the first period. The Yellow Jackets also went 1-2 on the power-play. Pleskach leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and six assists for 18 points, while #Tom Mele# is second with 14 points including eight goals and six assists. McLeod is third with five goals and eight assists, while McMillan (5g, 6a) and Little (2g, 11a) round out the top group, tied at 13 points.

ABOUT SACRED HEART: The Pioneers come into this weekend 14-10-4 overall and are 12-7-3 in the conference after going 1-1-0 with RIT last weekend. In the series opener Sacred Heart fell 5-2. Sophomore defenseman Chris Haltigin and junior forward Andrew Favot put the Tigers out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period. The Pioneers got on the board 11-minutes into the first when sophomore forward Matt Gingera found the back of the net. Favot put RIT up 3-1 when he tallied his second goal of the night five-minutes into the second period. Senior forward Erik Boisvert cut the Tiger lead to 3-2 when he netted a goal to the 12-minute mark. The Tigers regained their two goal lead just five-minutes later when sophomore forward Tyler Brenner lit the lamp. Benner sealed the victory when he scored his second goal of the net with just over a minute remaining in the game. Freshman goalie Steven Leggato turned aside 29 shots in the loss, while senior Jared DeMichiel made a 28 save effort for the win. In the weekend fianle, the Pioneers skated to a 5-4 victory. Sophomore forward Scott Knowles got RIT out to a 1-0 lead with his goal 13-minutes into the first. Junior forward Patrick Knowlton tied the score at 1-1 when he lit the lamp just one-minute later. Sacred Heart went up 2-1 when graduate student Paul Ferraro scored with 15-seconds remaining in the opening period. Senior defenseman Corey Laurysen buried a goal just over a minute into the second period. Benner cut the Pionners lead to 3-2 when he tallied his third goal of the weekend at the four-minute mark. Favot then sent the game into the third period when he lit the lamp with less than three-minutes to go in the second. Ferraro and senior forward Nick Johnson scored back to back goals to put Sacred Heart on top 5-3 with 10-minutes to go in the game. RIT would find the net to cut the score to 5-4 but their effort was not enough as the Pioneers skated to a 5-4 win. Leggato stopped 27 shots in the win, while DeMichiel turned away 29 in the loss. Johnson and senior forward Dave Jarman are tied for the team lead in points with 29 including 22 goals and 17 assists, and nine goals and 30 assists, respectively. Knowlton and Boisvert round out the top group with nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points, and 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points, respectively.

LAST TIME THEY MET: The Pioneers tallied a 6-1 victory over AIC on January 26. Pleskach netted the Yellow Jackets lone goal, while Meisner stopped 34 shots. Junior forward David Berube recorded a hat-trick, while Laggato turned aside 32 shots.

WEEKLY HONORS: Pleskach was named the AHA Rookie of the Week for his three points (1g, 2a) against Bentley, while Penny and Meisner made the Honor Roll. Meisner stopped 35 shots in the 3-2 (OT) win, including 24 in the final two periods and three in overtime, while Penny tallied AIC's first hat-trick in three seasons.

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.

NEXT UP: The Yellow Jackets head to Buffalo, N.Y. for two games with Canisius beginning on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.