AIC YELLOW JACKETS (3-8-6, 3-5-5 AHC)
vs.
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY(4-13-0)
Tuesday, December 13, 2016, 7:05 p.m.
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Live Stats | Video| AIC Roster | ASURoster
LEADERS:
AIC:
Goals:Dominik Florian(7), Martin Mellberg, Austin Orszulak andBlake Christensen (5)
Assists: Blake Christensen (10), Shawn McBride and Hugo Reinhardt(8)
Points: Blake Christensen (15), Shawn McBride (12), Dominik Florian (11)
Blocked Shots: Ryan Polin(29), Nicolas Luka (26), Dominic Racobaldo(25)
Goaltenders:
Justin Ketola: 2 GP, 0 GS, 0-0-0, 3.93 GAA, .889 SV% (8/9), 0 ShO
Alex Murray: 9GP, 7GS, 2-3-2, 3.05 GAA, .895SV% (197/220), 1 ShO
Zackarias Skog: 10GP, 10GS, 1-5-4, 3.35 GAA, .895 SV% (272/304), 0 ShO
PP: 25.35% (18/71) PK: 77.7% (73/94)
Arizona State:
Goals: Robbie Baillargeon(8), Tyler Busch (5),Brinson Pasichnuk (5)
Assists: Robbie Baillargeonand David Norris (7), four tied with 6
Points: Robbie Baillargeon(15), Tyler Busch (11), Wade Murphy and Brinson Pasichnuk (9)
Blocked Shots: Brinson Pasichnuk(34), JakobStridsberg(24), Edward McGovern (18)
Goaltenders:
Joey Daccord: 8GP, 7GS, 1-6-0, 5.40 GAA, .859 SV% (189/220), 0ShO
Robert Levin: 6GP, 6GS, 1-4-0, 4.55 GAA, .882 SV% (157/178), 0ShO
Ryland Pashovitz: 8GP, 4GS, 2-3-0, 4.11 GAA, .882SV% (201/228), 0ShO
PP: 10.23% (9/88) PK: 74.0% (71/96)
The American International College ice hockey team returns home for its final game of 2016 with a matchup against Arizona State University, slated for 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, December 13, at the MassMutual Center.
LAST TIME OUT: AIC returns to the MassMutual Center after three consecutive games on the road, capped by a weekend series in Orono, Maine, against Hockey East's University of Maine. Playing with just 10 forwards, AIC dropped the first game of the series by a score of 5-3 on Friday, allowing five power-play goals on the evening. The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring with sophomore defenseman Johnny Mueller's first goal of the season at 5:55 of the first period, but Maine answered quickly with a goal less than two minutes later. Freshman Blake Christensen added another goal in the first to give AIC a 2-1 lead, but the Black Bears scored four straight to go ahead for good. Sophomore Shawn McBride added a tally in the final minutes of the third period to round out the scoring.
On Saturday, AIC received another goal from McBride and a power-play goal from freshman Hugo Reinhardt to lead 2-1 in the first period, but Maine scored six unanswered goals to close out the weekend sweep.
Arizona State comes back to the Commonwealth for the third time this season and hits the road after a four-game homestand to face AIC on Tuesday and the University of Massachusetts on Friday and Saturday. Most recently, the Sun Devils hosted Colgate University on December 2 and 3 in Tempe, winning the first game 5-4 and dropping the second by a score of 3-2. Grad student Robbie Baillargeon had four points on the weekend, while Louie Rowe added three points.
LAST TIME THEY MET: This is the first-ever meeting between AIC and the Sun Devils, who became a Division I program in 2015-16.
FAMILIAR FOES: Current Sun Devil David Norris played 50 games for AIC, and was the Yellow Jackets' second-leading scorer in 2013-14 with 33 points, including a team-high 26 assists, before transferring to ASU during the 2014-15 season.
ASU assistant coach Mike Field played four seasons with the Yellow Jackets between 2004 and 2008, and was an assistant coach for AIC between 2008 and 2012. Current AIC head coach Eric Lang coached Field when Lang was an assistant for the Yellow Jackets between 2006 and 2008.
POWER PLAY: AIC's power play ranks third in the nation, with 18 goals in 71 opportunities (25.35 percent) - an average of 1.06 power-play goals per game. Meanwhile, Arizona State is the second-most penalized team in the nation, with an average of 19.6 penalty minutes per game, giving AIC a prime opportunity to pad its season total.
Freshman Dominik Florian has four power-play goals to lead the Yellow Jackets on the man advantage, while freshman Martin Mellberg and senior captain Austin Orszulak each have three.
SNAPPING THE STREAK: AIC will look to snap its longest losing streak of the season, three games, on Tuesday. AIC's most recent win came in its last home game, a 3-1 victory against Niagara on November 26.
PRE-HOLIDAY BLUES: The Yellow Jackets have a 4-14-0 record in their final game before the holiday break, but snapped an eight-year pre-holiday losing streak last season with back-to-back overtime wins against Army on December 11 and 12, 2015.
FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Christensen leads all scorers for AIC this year with 15 points, including seven points in his last five games played. Three other freshmen have double-digit points this season: Florian (11 points), Mellberg (10 points) and Reinhardt (10 points).
As a class, the freshmen overwhelmingly make up AIC's offense, with 61 total points out of the Yellow Jackets' 111 points.
ALL TIED UP: Through 17 games this season, the Yellow Jackets have had all six of their overtime contests end in a tie. AIC's record for ties in a single season is seven, which it had during the 2014-15 season.
NEXT UP: AIC will continue its four-game stretch of non-conference contests when it resumes its season in 2017, making the short trek up Interstate 91 to face the University of Massachusetts on January 3. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
