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Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey |

Ice hockey aims to hoist Jack Riley Memorial Trophy

The top-seeded American International College ice hockey team will battle sixth-seeded Niagara University for the Jack Riley Memorial Trophy and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament when the Yellow Jackets and Purple Eagles face off in the Atlantic Hockey Championship Game on Saturday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.

THE BUZZ:
No. 19 American International College Yellow Jackets (21-16-1, 18-9-1 AHC) vs. Niagara University Purple Eagles (17-18-5, 11-12-5 AHC)
When:Friday, March 23, 7:30 p.m
Where:Harborcenter, Buffalo, New York
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STATS HIVE:
AIC:
Goal Differential: +11 (124 GF, 113 GA)
PP: 18.6% (32/172)
PK: 80.4% (115/143)

Goals: Tobias Fladeby (18), Blake Christensen (16), Kyle Stephan & Luka Maver (11)
Assists: Blake Christensen (29), Brennan Kapcheck (20), Shawn McBride (18)
Plus-Minus:Patrik Demel (+14), Brennan Kapcheck (+13), Kyle Stephan (+19)
Blocked Shots: Ryan Polin (49), Brennan Kapcheck (41), Nicolas Luka (39)

Projected Goalkeeper:Zackarias Skog(32 GP, 30 GS, 18-13-0, .895 SV% [743/830], 2.78 GAA, 5 ShO)

Niagara:
Goal Differential: -12 (125 GF, 137 GA)
PP: 22.1% (33/149)
PK: 78.8% (119/151)

Goals:Ludwig Stenlund (23), Noah Delmas (15), Justin Kendall (11)
Assists:Noah Delmas (25), Ludwig Stenlund (19), Eric Cooley (18)
Plus-Minus:Luke Edgerton (+7), Jack Zielinski (+6), Tyler Hayes (+5)
Blocked Shots:Chris Harpur (55), Noah Delmas (48), Jared Brandt (41)

Projected Goalkeeper:Brian Wilson (33 GP, 33 GS, 15-13-5, .910 SV% [940/1033], 2.76 GAA, 2 ShO)

LAST TIME OUT:
  • Both teams needed overtime to advance in the semifinal, as AIC won over Robert Morris 3-2 and Niagara defeated RIT 1-0 on Friday, March 22 to advance.
  • AIC never trailed in the game; the Yellow Jackets struck first on a power play goal by freshman forward Jan Stefka in the first period and junior forward Joel Kocur staked AIC to a 2-1 lead early in the second. Though the Colonials tied the game with the extra attacker late, junior forward Blake Christensen ended the affair early in overtime, scoring at 1:44 of the extra session.
  • Niagara scored the only goal of the game at 7:03 of the extra session, as Ludwig Stenlund snapped home a shot for the only tally of the game, beating Logan Drackett on Niagara's 27th shot of the game. At the other end, Brian Wilson saved all 32 chances he faced.

LAST TIME THEY MET:
  • This will be the fifth meeting this season between the teams.
  • AIC holds a 3-1 series lead as the Yellow Jackets split a series at Niagara to open AHC play, losing 4-3 in overtime on October 12, 2018 before bouncing back to win 3-1 the next day. AIC then swept a series in Springfield, winning 6-4 on February 1, 2019 and then adding a 6-3 win the following afternoon.
  • In the only AIC loss, Stenlund scored the deciding tally, one of his two of the game, in overtime at 2:59. Christensen had two assists in the setback.
  • The second game saw AIC take control in a defensive battle, as junior defensemen Nicolas Luka and Patrik Demel each had two helpers and sophomore forward Darius Davidson provided the margin of victory with a goal at 19:42 of the second.
  • In the first of the pair in Springfield, AIC won thanks to six different goal scorers; junior forward Kyle Stephan led AIC with two goals and an assist, and AIC scored a 3-on-5 shorthanded goal as Kocur was sprung on a breakaway by junior goalkeeper Zackarias Skog. Stenlund had a pair of tallies and an assist of his own in a game where both teams struck shorthanded and three combined power play goals were also scored.
  • The finale of the regular-season quartet saw an impressive playmaking performance from junior forward Martin Mellberg, who notched three assists, and freshman forward Elijiah Barriga scored the deciding tally in the third after AIC overcame a 2-0 deficit with two goals in 28 seconds.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES:
  • If AIC's run to the top of the league and its first AHC Championship Game is a Cinderella story, so too is the way Niagara has made the final game after the Purple Eagles were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches' poll.
  • Stenlund was named Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year, a torch passed to him from AIC's sophomore defenseman Brennan Kapcheck, last season's winner. In six postseason games, he has four goals and four assists.
  • The Purple Eagles have converted seven of 18 power plays in the postseason, good for a 38.9 percent success rate.
  • Niagara will essentially be playing on home ice; the Harborcenter is just 23 miles from the Purple Eagles home rink on their campus.
  • Niagara defeated Canisius by a 2-1 margin in the first round before sweeping Air Force in the quarterfinal round in Colorado.

PLAYOFF HISTORY:
  • The first postseason meeting between the two teams came at Dwyer Arena in the first round of the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament on March 7-8, 2014. Niagara swept the series with a 1-0 double overtime win and a 4-2 victory.
  • It was not for lack of chances that the teams even reached the second overtime scoreless; AIC's Hunter Leisner '18 stopped 43 shots in the first 80 minutes and Jackson Teichroeb made 36 saves in that span for Niagara. However, on the 49th shot of the night for the home time, Dan Kolenda struck at 4:43 of the second OT to win the game.
  • The following night, Niagara made sure the game did not need extra time, scoring four goals in the first 24:02 of play. Though AIC netted two in the third to make things interesting, the Purple Eagles flew away with the win and the series.
  • Just one year ago, AIC met Niagara in the first round of the 2018 Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament at the MassMutual Center, and the Yellow Jackets were on the winning side of a sweep on March 2-3, 2018, taking the first game 4-1 and the second 4-3 in double overtime.
  • Davidson opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets at 7:16 of the first, and Reinhardt added power play tallies in the second and third to stake AIC to a 3-0 lead midway through the final period of the first game. Noah Delmas broke the shutout, but Kapcheck snapped home a goal at 17:57 to create the 4-1 final.
  • Through most of the second game, AIC seemed destined to win again; Davidson opened the scoring at 19:19 of the first and McBride netted a goal at 18:20 of the second. However, Niagara scored twice in a 1:16 span in the third to tie things, and then scored to respond to a Pike goal to even the score at 3-3. The first overtime went without a goal, but a too-many-men penalty doomed Niagara in the second overtime, as Christensen scored the deciding tally 88:02 after the start of play to give AIC the sweep.

CHAMPIONSHIP FEVER:
  • The five other Division I conferences will crown their champions on the same day that the AHC hands out the Jack Riley Memorial Trophy.
  • Hockey East will have an all-Boston battle as Boston College faces Northeastern.
  • The ECAC title will be fought for by Clarkson and Cornell.
  • Penn State and Notre Dame will battle for Big Ten supremacy.
  • Bowling Green will see Minnesota State in the WCHA Championship.
  • Finally, Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State will match up for the NCHC crown
  • Additionally, the men's Division III national title will be decided upon; Norwich and Wisconsin-Stevens Point will square off to try to win the big one.

RECORD BOOK REWRITE:
  • Christensen has already set a new standard for points in the Division I-era with 45 this season. He broke the record in AIC's second game against Army West Point that he had tied the night before with three players who had 35-point seasons: Jon Puskar '14, who scored 17 goals and added 18 assists as a senior in 2013-14, and Alexander MacMillan '15 and Austin Orszulak '17, who each notched 35 points a year later on 15 goals and 20 assists and 22 goals and 13 assists, respectively.
  • During that 2013-14 season, then-freshman David Norris notched 26 assists for AIC, at the time the program's single-season record; Christensen tied and then broke that mark with two third-period assists in the second game at Arizona State.
  • Fladeby has a shot at the single-season goals record, set by Orszulak in that 2014-15 campaign; he currently is four back of the former captain's mark, which was set with a goal against Sacred Heart.
  • Kapcheck is chasing his own record for points in a season by a defender with 26, set during his AHC Rookie-of-the-Year campaign a season ago; he has four goals and 20 helpers for 24 points, and so needs two to tie and three to break his own record. Additionally, his next assist will break his own single-season defenseman assists mark from the prior season.
  • Skog also broke the program's wins record at West Point, previously held by teammate and then-freshman Stefano Durante, who won a dozen games last season, breaking Ben Meisner '13's mark of 11 in the 2012-13 season. Skog's Friday shutout also broke the single-season shutout record he co-held with Meisner, who had three in 2010-11 as a freshman. The second playoff win against the Black Knights also broke Mark Buckley's all-eras record of 16 wins in a season set in 1987-88.
  • As a team, AIC broke the Division-I era wins record set last year with 15 victories, and the team record of 100 goals scored, set by the 1998-99 team. The Yellow Jackets have 21 wins and 124 goals for.

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

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