WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-Back home and back in Atlantic Hockey Conference play, the American International College hockey team will face arguably their toughest test yet when they host defending conference champion and nationally-ranked Robert Morris University for a pair of weekend AHC tilts at the Olympia Ice Center.
AIC comes into the matchup at 2-7-1 and 2-3-1 in AHC play, while the Colonials are 7-1-2 overall and 5-1-2 in AHC contests.
LAST TIME OUT: AIC had the challenge of playing in historic Yost Arena against the University of Michigan and the ten NHL draft picks of the Wolverines, and though they lost 5-2 and 6-3 in those contests, the team played exceptional hockey and proved that they could compete with anyone. Sophomores
David Norris (Calgary, Alb.) and
Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) each had two goal games while freshman
Johno May (Mahtomedi, Minn.) posted a three assist performance in the second match.
Robert Morris suffered their first losing weekend in some time, tying 3-3 and then falling 2-1 in overtime against the Air Force Falcons at 84 Lumber Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Colonials tied both games with third period goals; junior forward David Freedman (Toronto, Ont.) potted a pair of markers in the Friday night draw, once each in the second and third periods, while senior Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich.) tallied the only score of the night for the Colonials on the power play late in the third to force overtime Saturday.
LAST TIME THEY MET: The Yellow Jackets picked up one point out of a possible four as they went 0-1-1 in a weekend set on January 17-18, 2014 in Pittsburgh. They drew 4-4 in the first contest before falling 5-2 in the second, despite heroic efforts in goal from sophomore
Hunter Leisner (Garland, Texas) and
Ryan Kerpan '14, who made 38 and 40 saves respectively in the two matchups. Norris had two assists in the first game, and all six goals for AIC were scored by different players.
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS: Despite the loss, few teams are hotter right now than the one coming to the Olympia. RMU is well in command of first place in the AHC, thanks to dominating all 200 feet of the ice. The team averages 3.5 goals per game, second in the conference, while allowing 1.7, best in the league, and their +18 goal differential through ten games is eight better than the second best team, Bentley.
Wydo leads the team in goals and assists with seven and seven for 14 points, but nine players have posted at least two goals so far and five players have tallied the team's seven game-winning goals, none of which have been scored by Wydo.
In net, junior Terry Shafer (Penfield, N.Y.) and sophomore Dalton Izyk (Oswego, N.Y.) have each started five of the ten games and both have vacuumed up a tremendous percentage of pucks; Shafer boasts a 3-0-2 record with a .921 SV% and 2.33 GAA, while Izyk, at 4-0-1, leads the AHC with a blistering .968 SV% and 1.00 GAA.
SIXTY NOT ENOUGH IN THE AHC: Last weekend, there were a total of eight in-league games, and only one, RIT's 3-0 win over Canisius, ended after sixty minutes. Each of the eight teams-RIT, Canisius, Army, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Bentley, Air Force, and Robert Morris-earned at least one point on the weekend as a result of four ties, and Army, Bentley, and Air Force also earned extra session wins to go along with ties.
IMPRESSIVE STREAK ENDS FOR RMU: That overtime loss was a strange feeling for almost every Colonial; apart from breaking a season-opening nine game winning streak, the Colonials had been undefeated in 27 straight overtime games, dating back to a loss at Canisius on November 20 of the 2010-11 season, and including a 4-3 OT win in Game 3 of the 2012 Atlantic Hockey first round series against AIC.
WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN?: The top statistical players for AIC are almost all freshmen and sophomores; Norris is the team's points and assist leader, Orszulak paces the team in goals, May is tied for the team's lead in assists, the top scoring defenseman is freshman
Andrew DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) with one goal and four assists for five points, and rookie
Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) has played the majority of the minutes and posted a .924 SV%.
NEXT UP: The Yellow Jackets leave the Olympia and AHC play once more as they visit New Hampshire for a single game against ECACHL foe Dartmouth on Saturday, November 29.
