Five members of the American International College ice hockey team earned recognition from the Atlantic Hockey Association on Wednesday, March 16, as the league named its All-Conference teams.
Awards are based off of a coaches vote and utilize the results only from in-league play.
Luis Lindner was named to the All-Rookie team, Jake Kucharski earned Third-Team honors, Jake Stella took Second-Team accolades, and Chris Theodore and Zak Galambos were both selected to the First-Team unit.
Lindner, one of AIC's most effective defenders, earned an All-Rookie nod after appearing in 19 league games in the 2021-22 season. He tied for the AHA lead with a +21 rating, and scored three goals with 11 assists, including the game-winning overtime goal against Niagara in the season finale.
Kucharski was a wall in net in his 16 AHA starts, posting an 11-3-2 record that included a stretch run of 8-1-2 to secure AIC's fourth straight AHA regular season title. He led the league with a 2.17 goals against average and posted a stellar .915 save percentage, allowing less than 1.50 goals per game at even strength.
Stella was a dominating force at both ends of the ice and posted 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists in 25 league games. He scored two game-winning tallies on the season, and notched his first hat trick of the season on November 18 against Bentley, one of six multipoint games. He also was in the top five in the AHA in plus-minus, with a +15 rating.
Galambos was a unit at both ends of the ice for AIC. With 20 points in 25 league games, he tied Theodore for the team lead in assists in conference play, and quarterbacked AIC's top-rated power play unit. Five of his 17 assists were on game-winning tallies.
Theodore was the team's scoring leader, with seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points in 24 games with a +12 rating. He was often quick to strike, scoring the first goal in four league games, and scored two winning tallies while assisting five others. Each of the seven game-winning plays was against a different opponent, helping ensure AIC's league supremacy for the fourth straight season. In addition, he netted the winning tally against Connecticut during AIC's 11-game win streak.
The Yellow Jackets will face Mercyhurst University on Friday, March 18 at 4:05 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York in the AHA semifinal; the winning team will face the winner of the contest between RIT and the Air Force Academy in the AHA Championship the following day at 7:35 p.m.
