SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College ice hockey team used strong goaltending, a smothering defense, and an early offensive outburst to earn a 5-0 win in an Atlantic Hockey Conference matchup against the Air Force Academy on Friday, November 16.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE: AIC 5, Air Force 0
RECORDS: AIC reaches a mark of 4-7-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the AHC; Air Force descends to 6-5-0 and 6-3-0 in league play.
LOCATION: MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts

STATS:
AIC:
Tobias Fladeby: Two goals, +2
Luka Maver: Two goals, +2
Martin Mellberg: One goal
Patrik Demel: Two assists, +2
Hugo Reinhardt: One assist, +3, 12-for-19 on faceoffs
Zackarias Skog: Win (1-4-0), shutout, 20 saves

Air Force:
Zach LaRocque: Loss (2-1-0), 20 saves on 25 shots

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• AIC jumped out to a quick lead on a great forechecking play; junior defenseman Nicolas Luka and junior center Hugo Reinhardt crashed behind the net to force a turnover, and Reinhardt fired a pass into the slot, where sophomore right wing Tobias Fladeby was waiting to one-time home his fourth of the year at 2:52.
• The Yellow Jackets then turned up the heat with two goals in 43 seconds in the middle of the frame. Fladeby netted his second of the game and fifth of the season on a pass from junior left wing Blake Christensen at 11:45, and redshirt freshman left wing Luka Maver redirected the shot of junior defenseman Patrik Demel for his third of the year at 12:28.
• With a healthy lead established, AIC proceeded to clamp down on the Falcons, holding the visitors to just five shots in the second period; the home side added to the lead with a goal by junior right wing Martin Mellberg on a net-mouth pass from sophomore left wing Chris Dodero at 17:47 of the frame. The goal was Mellberg's second of the season.
• Air Force could not get out from underneath AIC's pressure in the third period, despite two late power plays; the penalty to sophomore defenseman Brennan Kapcheck late in the stanza turned out to most benefit the Yellow Jackets, as Kapcheck took the puck out of the box and turned it into a two-on-one with Maver, beating the back-checking defenseman for Air Force with a pass across to the winger for his second of the day and fourth of the year at 16:10 for the 5-0 final.

BLANK YOU VERY MUCH:

• Skog's shutout was his second career clean sheet, and the first since his freshman campaign when he made 27 stops in AIC's 3-0 win at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
• The Yellow Jackets had never shut out Air Force in 41 prior meetings.
• "It's amazing," Skog said about his team's performance after the game. "The guys are playing so well in front of me, and it's good to see us bounce back from last weekendwe managed to battle throughthe guys made it easy for me. It was a great win."

COACH'S CORNER:

• "In order for us to have a chance against a good team like Air Force, we have to compete, so it started therewe came out with a lot of fifty-fifties, and in terms of winning one-on-one battles, I thought we had an edge in that department," head coach Eric Lang said after the game. "I said this earlier in the week: we played a heck of a game Friday night versus RIT and pucks didn't go in; I really thought we weren't as good tonight as we were Friday, and three or four go in, so we had a little puck luck, but you get what you deserve. We had a lot of guys around the net and some pucks went in," he added about the offense.
• "Flush today. That's the most important thing for us right now. Tonight's game has no bearing on tomorrowwe have a chance to be on display for our alumni, and that's really important for us and our program," Lang said of keeping it going in the series finale.

NEXT UP:

• AIC finishes the two-game series with another matinee matchup against Air Force on Saturday, November 17 at 1:05 p.m.
• Alumni Hockey Weekend continues as well, with an Alumni Skate at 8 a.m. on the MassMutual Center ice.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_Hockey onTwitterand Instagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.