When: Friday at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday at 3:05 p.m. at Cadet Arena
Listen: 1300 AM will broadcast both games, which also can be heard on GoAirForceFalcons.com.
Watch: atlantichockey.tv (subscription service)
All-time series: Air Force leads 23-20-4
Last season: Air Force went 1-0-1 in the regular season, but RIT won an AHC semfinal, 2-1, in OT. The Tigers went on to win the AHC playoff title and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Common opponent: Bentley University – Air Force split a home series on Oct. 21-22, while RIT swept a road series the next weekend.
How wide open is AHC? Consider RIT was the preseason pick by league coaches to win the conference and it is 3-5-1 and 3-3 in AHC. Air Force was the No. 2 choice and is 4-3-1 and 2-2 in AHC. These teams have won eight of the past 10 conference tournament titles.
Offense
Generating chances wasn’t a problem for the Tigers last weekend, as they fired 85 shots at Canisius. The problem was only one went in the net all weekend. That came on the heels of pumping in 10 goals the previous weekend against Bentley and 27 in their first seven games (an average of nearly four per). RIT consistently puts a lot of shots on net, and their average of almost 38 SOG per game is second in Division I. However, their average of 3.11 goals per game is 27th in D-I. Sophomore forward Erik Brown leads the Tigers with six
Junior Phil Boje
goals (tied for 14th nationally) and 10 points, and senior forward Caleb Cameron has nine points (four goals). Junior co-captains (and twins) Brady (eight points) and Chase Norrish (six points, three goals) do most of the damage from the blue line. …
The Falcons are sharing the wealth around the net as 14 players have scored their 22 goals, led by Phil Boje, Ben Kucera and Matt Serratore with three apiece. Boje, a junior defenseman, and Serratore, a sophomore forward, top the Falcons with seven points. Air Force scores slightly less per game than RIT, averaging 2.75 goals (34th in D-I).
Defense
The teams are carbon copies in terms of goals per game allowed – RIT gives up 3.11 (T33rd) while Air Force allows 3.12 (35th). RIT, however, is one of the stingiest teams in D-I in terms of shots on goal allowed at 25.5. Tigers senior goalie Mike Rotolo has a 2.54 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. …
Air Force sophomore Shane Starrett is 4-2-1 with a .923 save percentage (17th in Division I) and a 2.43 goals-against average. The Falcons help themselves a great deal in the circle – they’re fourth in the nation in faceoff wins (56.7 percent), led by sophomore Evan Feno’s 61.6 percent proficiency and junior Tyler Ledford’s 78 wins.
Special teams
Neither team has been overwhelmingly good with a man advantage. RIT’s power play connects 13.6 percent of the time (40th in D-I), while AFA hits at just 12.2 percent (46th) and went oh-for-the-weekend vs. Army West point.
The penalty kill is another matter, and this might be an area that Air Force can exploit. The Tigers kill off just 78.3 percent of their penalties successfully (50th in D-I) and have been assessed 15.6 penalty minutes per game.
The Falcons have the nation’s fifth-most proficient PK at 91.4 percent and they are one of the nation’s most disciplined teams, having taken only 35 penalties in eight games. Air Force’s penalty kill held a tough Army team scoreless on the power play (0 for 6) last weekend.
We will be live blogging from both games at @AFAFlightPath
