Freshman defenseman Brennan Kapcheck and freshman goaltender Stefano Durante of the American International College ice hockey team have been named to the 2017-18 Atlantic Hockey Conference All-Rookie Team, the league announced on Monday, March 5.

The duo's selection marks the first time since 2000-01 that AIC has had two All-Rookie nods in a single season. Additionally, the Yellow Jackets are the only Atlantic Hockey team with multiple All-Rookie selections.

Kapcheck led AIC in scoring this regular season with 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) after appearing in all 34 contests. He ranked fifth in points among the conference's defensemen and third in points among conference rookies; he additionally ranked first among the conference's rookies in assists.

Defensively, he chipped in 33 blocked shots and helped AIC drop its opponents' shots-on-goal average from 31.6 shots on goal per game in 2016-17 to 26.8 this season.

He was named Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month in October after embarking on a five-game point streak between October 10 and 20; that span included a goal in a 3-2 overtime upset of No. 11 Penn State University on October 20. Kapcheckwas additionally a Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee and a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award.

Following a two-game postseason sweep of Niagara on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3, Kapcheck added three more points to break AIC's single-season scoring record for defensemen.

During the regular season, Durante started in 20 of his 23 appearances, posting a goals-against average of 2.21 and a save percentage of .913. His goals-against average led all goaltenders in Atlantic Hockey

With two shutouts this year - at Canisius on January 12 and vs. Holy Cross on February 17 - Durante became first AIC goaltender since Ben Meisner in 2012-13 to record multiple shutouts in a season.

Durante added two postseason wins to his record against Niagara on Friday and Saturday, giving him an 11-10-2 record on the season, tied with Meisner for the program record in single-season goaltender wins. He was previously named league Rookie of the Week on November 7 and Goalie of the Week twice, on January 8 and February 20; additionally, he was named Rookie of the Month for February.

Eighth-seeded AIC continues its postseason play against second-seeded Canisius College in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday, March 9, in Buffalo, New York.

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team
F - Marc Johnstone - Sacred Heart
F - Luke Santerno - Bentley
F - Grant Meyer - Canisius
D - Brennan Kapcheck - AIC
D - John Zimmerman - Army
G - Stefano Durante - AIC

STAY CONNECTED:
For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow @AIC_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram, and like American International College Ice Hockey on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.