AIC YELLOW JACKETS (3-5-6, 3-4-5 AHC)
vs.
ARMY WEST POINT BLACK KNIGHTS (6-5-1, 6-4-0 AHC)
Friday, December 2, 2016, 7:05 p.m.
Tate Rink, 1 Fenton Place, West Point, N.Y.
Live Stats | Video| AIC Roster | Army Roster
LEADERS:
AIC:
Goals:Dominik Florian 7,
Martin Mellberg 5,
Austin Orszulak 5
Assists: Blake Christensen 8,
Shawn McBride 8,
Hugo Reinhardt 7
Points: Blake Christensen 12,
Dominik Florian 11,
Shawn McBride 10
Blocked Shots: Dominic Racobaldo 25,
Ryan Polin 20,
Nicolas Luka 15
Goalkeepers:
Justin Ketola: 2 GP, 0 GS, 0-0-0, 3.93 GAA, .889 SV% (8/9), 0 ShO
Alex Murray: 6 GP, 5 GS, 2-1-2, 2.67 GAA, .893 SV% (117/131), 1 ShO
Zackarias Skog: 9 GP, 9 GS, 1-4-4, 3.15 GAA, .904 SV% (265/293), 0 ShO
PP: 25.0% (16/64) PK: 81.1% (60/74)
ARMY WEST POINT:
Goals: Conor Andrle 6, Zach Evancho 4, Dominic Franco 3
Assists: Dominic Franco 7, Michael Wilson 5, Trevor Fidler 4
Points: Dominic Franco 10, Conor Andrle 7, Zach Evancho 7
Blocked Shots: Dalton MacAfee 26, Mike Preston 23, Nick DeCenzo 19
Goalkeepers:
Parker Gahagen: 12 GP, 12 GS, 6-5-1, 1.83 GAA, .934 SV% (310/332), 2 ShO
PP: 11.1% (7/63) PK: 90.6% (58/64)
The American International College ice hockey team will make a day trip to New York to face conference rival Army West Point in a single matchup that opens a four-game season series.
LAST TIME OUT: The Yellow Jackets took three points from Niagara with a 0-0 tie and a 3-1 win at the MassMutual Center. In Friday's draw, Alex Murray turned aside all 28 shots, including several key saves in the overtime, matching the performance of Niagara's Jackson Teichroeb, who also kept a clean sheet in the first scoreless tie for AIC in a decade and a half. On Saturday, the red light finally turned on, with a goal in each period for the Yellow Jackets. Rookie defenseman Nicolas Luka scored his first collegiate goal to open the offense up late in the first frame, senior winger Austin Orszulak added a five-on-three goal in the second, and freshman winger Martin Mellberg closed out the scoring for AIC in the final frame. The Purple Eagles ruined the perfect weekend for Murray with a power play goal late in regulation, but AIC held on for the victory.
Army is coming off of a long layoff; they last played a weekend set in Rochester against RIT on November 18 and 19, where they fell by 6-2 and 2-1 scores, the latter in overtime.
LAST TIME THEY MET: AIC won three of the five games during the 2015-16 campaign, all in extra time, but were beaten 2-1 in the First Round of the 2016 Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament by the Black Knights. The two regular season matchups, held in West Springfield on December 11 and 12, 2015, both saw the Yellow Jackets overcome third-period deficits to force overtime, and then win the games in the extra session. Orszulak finished the first game off in the final minute of overtime, and then set up sophomore Marc Dubeau's winner in the last minute of the second game's fourth period. The playoffs, held at Tate Rink, saw Army win the opening game 5-0 and take a 2-0 lead in the second game. A sweep seemed imminent when Orszulak hit the target late in the second, and junior Johno May drew the game level in the third on a breakout started by Murray. That set up the extra frame, where Bryant Christian needed just thirty seconds to tip a puck into the net and force a decisive third game. However, the Black Knights erupted for four goals and won 4-0, knocking AIC out of the playoffs.
FIGHT FOR FIRST: The Yellow Jackets currently sit one point back of both Army West Point and RIT for first place in Atlantic Hockey. A win, coupled with a Niagara win against the Tigers, would put AIC in sole possession of first place in the AHC in the month of December for the first time in program history.
WEST POINT'S WORST KNIGHT-MARE: Since the start of his career, Austin Orszulak has tormented Army's defense and goaltending. He scored his first collegiate goal at Tate Rink on February 8, 2014, and in twelve games against the Black Knights, he has six goals and six assists for 12 points. Five of those points - two goals and three assists - were game-winning points for AIC, with four of the five, including both goals, coming in overtime. AIC's 7-5-0 record against Army during his career includes a perfect 5-0-0 overtime mark.
RETURN OF THE LANG: The game marks Eric Lang's first at West Point since leaving the Academy to take over at AIC. Lang spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach under Army's Brian Riley, the last three as the lead assistant and lead recruiter for the Black Knights, where he had a hand in bringing in nearly every member of their sophomore, junior, and senior classes.
"It's always a neat place to be. As [Riley] would say, it's a special place for special people. I'll be happy to see some familiar facesbut at the end of the day, we're looking to get two pointsthey're just next on the schedule, to be honest," Lang said of coaching against his former team.
NEXT UP: AIC heads north and faces off against Hockey East foe Maine at the storied Alfond Arena in Orono on December 9 and 10. The Friday night game is set for 7:00 p.m., while Saturday's matchup will drop the puck at 5:30 p.m.
