WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-The American International College hockey team continues their season-high six-game homestand with a series against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University.
LAST TIME OUT: AIC's offense sputtered as they were swept by the Air Force Falcons, 2-1 in OT and 6-2, at the Olympia Ice Center. In the Friday contest, the teams traded chances for the first 34 minutes before Air Force finally broke a scoreless deadlock with a deflection goal at 14:22; AIC had a strong third period and finally was able to get the equalizer as freshman right wing Johno May (Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored on a one-timer with 1:52 left in regulation from sophomore left wing Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) and senior center Alexander MacMillan (Calgary, Alb.). However, Air Force netted a goal with :57 left in OT to take the two points; sophomore Hunter Leisner (Garland, Texas) had 36 saves in the loss. On Saturday, Air Force scored an early first period goal to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission. AIC scored to tie it on the power play in the second, as MacMillan ripped a shot home from junior left wing Chris Porter (Stouffville, Ont.), with freshman goalkeeper Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) earning his first career point on the goal. However, the Falcons netted three in the period to take a 4-1 lead, and though Porter scored a goal in the third to make it 4-2, Air Force used their special teams to ultimately end up with a 6-2 win; Murray had 30 saves before being pulled for freshman Jacob Caffrey (Bethesda, Md.).
SHU is coming off of a three point weekend against Mercyhurst, with a 2-2 tie Friday and a 5-1 win Saturday at the Milford Ice Pavilion. On Friday, the teams traded first period power play tallies, and the Lakers took a 2-1 lead into the third, but the Pioneers tied the game with just 2:16 left in regulation. In Saturday's win, they ran the score to 4-0 before Mercyhurst snapped the shutout with 3:19 left, but it was too late for the Laker comeback. Sophomore center Justin Danforth (Oshawa, Ont.), the reigning AHC rookie of the year, netted a pair of goals, including what turned out to be the game-winner, in the second.
LAST TIME THEY MET: AIC and SHU split a high scoring home-and-home series, with the Pioneers taking a 5-4 OT win at the Olympia on Valentine's Day 2014 and the Jackets responding with a 7-6 win at the Milford Ice Pavilion the next evening. AIC overcame four straight SHU goals by scoring three of their own, including the tying tally with 2:55 left in regulation, but Danforth potted the winner for the Pioneers at 3:31 of OT to give SHU two points on Friday. AIC and SHU then went back-and-forth all night Saturday, with both teams scoring shorthanded, and Jon Puskar '14 scoring the game-winner with :25 seconds left in regulation on the PP, as SHU netted a sixth goal with :16 left to make things close at the end; Leisner had 37 saves in the win. AIC won the first game in the season series, back in October 2013, by a 4-1 count at the Olympia Ice Center.
SHUTTLE SERVICE FRIDAY: For AIC students interested in attending the games but unable to find transportation, the college is providing shuttle service to and from the Olympia; the shuttle will leave Homer Street every 30 minutes beginning at 6:00 p.m. Friday night and runs until 10:00 p.m.
GOING HIGH TO LOW: Both AIC and Sacred Heart have playmaking defensemen who move the puck to create scoring opportunities. SHU sophomore Mitch Nylen (Lawrenceville, Ga.) is tied for third on the team with ten assists, while AIC freshman Andrew DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) also has ten assists, as well as a goal to his credit.
NAUGHTY AND NICE: The Yellow Jackets have long been one of the most disciplined teams in college hockey, and once again they are the least penalized team in the AHC, with just 186 PIM in 26 games, or 7.2 PIM per game, second-fewest in the country, with only Yale taking fewer penalties. AIC is also still the only team in Atlantic Hockey to not take a major or misconduct penalty. By contrast, SHU is the most penalized team in Atlantic Hockey, with a nation-high 407 PIM this season; their 15.7 PIM per game is second most behind only Alaska-Anchorage. That is good news for the AIC power play, which is operating at 20.0% on the year, especially with Sacred Heart's 79.5% penalty kill.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: AIC has a habit of turning it on late in games and getting big goals, meaning that fans would do well to wait to leave until after the final whistle. Ten times this season, the Jackets have posted a goal in the final five of a game or in OT, including the tying goals with under :30 left in regulation against Bentley and RIT, and the winning goal at :18 of OT at Army, all by Orszulak.
CATAMOUNT AND CONNECTICUT CONNECTIONS: Likely SHU starting goalkeeper Alex Vazzano transferred to SHU from the University of Vermont after his freshman year. The other former Catamount involved in this weekend's series is Head Coach Gary Wright, who graduated from UVM in 1976. Vazzano is also the only Connecticut native on the Pioneers roster, hailing from Trumbull; the lone Nutmeg State native for AIC is sophomore defenseman Wade Schools, from nearby Enfield.
NEXT UP: The Jackets finish off their six-game homestand with a series against AHC rival Mercyhurst next weekend.
