Air Force (7-5-2, 4-2 AHC) at Holy Cross (5-5-2, 2-2-2)
When: Friday and Saturday, 5:05 p.m. MT
Listen/watch: 1300 AM/AtlanticHockey.tv (subscription service)
Last week: The Falcons lost at home to No.2 Denver, 4-3, then defeated Colorado College, 6-3. The Crusaders lost to No. 12 Notre Dame, 5-3, and Yale, 3-1.
Last season: The teams split four games, each winning once and losing once on home ice.
All-time series: Air Force leads 22-10-11.
Overview: The Falcons went 1-2-1 vs. NCHC foes in the past two weeks, while the Crusaders are on a three-game slide. Both teams have played just six conference games and find themselves looking up at six teams, all of whom have played more league games.
Offense
Air Force averages 3.2 goals per game (21st among 60 D-I schools), which is almost exactly what Holy Cross both scores and allows (3.25, 19th on offense, 43rd on defense). …
The Falcons continue to get a solid output from their defensemen. Junior Phil Boje, AHC’s defenseman of the week, leads the team with 13 points (five goals). He’s also a team-high plus-8 and has 23 blocked shots. Sophomore Dan Bailey has seven points, including three goals. Junior Kyle Mackey has all five of his points in the past five games. Junior forward Jordan Himley has a team-high seven goals among his 11 points. Sophomore forwards Evan Giesler (11 points, five goals) and Evan Feno (10 assists) have point streaks of four and three games, respectively. …
Junior forward T.J. Moore leads the team with 15 points and 10 goals (sixth most in Division I). Fellow junior Danny Lopez also has 15 points (seven goals), and senior Mike Barrett has 14 points. Two sophomore defensemen, Spencer Trapp (10 assists) and Johnny Coughlin (seven points), also chip in offense. Lopez has goals in three consecutive games.
Defense
The Falcons give up 3.4 goals per game, a total that was inflated by the 15 they allowed in four games vs. NCHC foes. Sophomore Shane Starrett played well in his first start in three games vs. Colorado College has a 7-2-1 record with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Fellow sophomore Billy Christopoulos was very good in his two recent starts (at No. 18 Western Michigan and vs. No. 2 Denver). Overall he has 3.48 and .897 numbers. …
Junior Paul Berrafato has played every minute for Holy Cross and has a 3.14 goals-against average and .896 save percentage.
Special teams
It’s strength vs. strength when Air Force will have to kill off a penalty vs. Holy Cross. The Falcons have the 10th best penalty kill in the nation (88.4 percent) and have allowed only eight power-play goals all season. AFA’s power play has picked up the pace recently and is effective 16.9 percent of the time, which is 31st in D-I. …
The Crusaders’ power play is excellent, hitting at 20.9 efficiency (14th). More than one third of their goals (14 of 39) have come with a man advantage, and Lopez has five of them. The penalty kill is another matter as they kill off just 77.8 percent (52nd).
