Army West Point (3-3, 3-3 AHC) at No. 19 Air Force (5-2-1, 1-1 AHC)
Friday at 7:05 p.m. MT and Saturday at 7:35 p.m. MT at Cadet Arena
TV / Radio: atlantichockey.tv (subscription) and AM 1300 and goairforcefalcons.com
Series: Air Force leads all-time 41-21-6, and it is 30-12-5 under coach Frank Serratore, including 11-1-3 in the teams’ past 15 meetings and 5-0-1 in the past six at Cadet Arena.
Last season: The service academies met five times, with the Falcons winning four, including the most important one – a 1-0 victory in the Atlantic Hockey Conference semfinals in March. AFA also won both meetings at Cadet Arena a month earlier.
Overview
This meeting between two of the projected top teams in AHC always carries extra significance because of they are the only service academies with Division I hockey. It’s a matchup that’s measured nearly as much with ice packs after the games as it is with goals during them. For as hotly contested as the games always are, there is a measure of respect that sets the combatants apart from their peers. … Both teams had excellent starts – AFA went 3-0-1 and AWP went 2-0, but the past two weeks have been less kind. The Falcons split at Bemidji State and at Canisius, in their AHC opening series, while the Black Knights split with Robert Morris before being swept at home by RIT in two close games. Even though it’s early, this is a series both teams would dearly love to sweep, and neither can afford less than a split. … As you’d expect, both teams are disciplined, taking fewer than five penalties per game. And both boast outstanding penalty kills. The Black Knights stop 88.9 percent of power plays against them (eighth in D-I), while the Falcons’ kill is successful 87.2 percent of the time (14th).
Air Force update
The Falcons are nothing if not balanced,. The return of forward Matt Serratore to the lineup has provided a bit of a boost to the offense, particularly to linemate Jordan Himley. They’ve teamed up with center Kyle Haak to put up 10 points in the past two series. Himley and defenseman Matt Koch lead the Falcons with six points, while Serratore, Evan Giesler and Tyler Ledford have five apiece. Erik Baskin, Brady Tomlak and freshman defenseman Zack Mirageas all have four points. … Tomlak played between Baskin and Giesler last weekend after Ledford sustained a lower-body injury that is expected to keep him out an undetermined time. … Baskin, Ledford and defenseman Dan Bailey each had two goals vs. Army last season, while senior Ben Kucera, who played his 100th NCAA game last weekend at Canisius, scored the only goal in the AHC semifinal matchup. … Goaltender Billy Christopoulos was selected AHC’s Goalie of the Month after his 5-2-1 start with a 2.12 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.
Plenty of CLASS
Falcons senior captain Dylan Abood on Wednesday was one of 20 Division I hockey players nominated for the Senior CLASS Award for their excellence on and off the ice. Abood carries a 3.85 overall grade point average while majoring in electrical engineering. The Centennial, Colo., native has been on the Dean’s List every semester, has twice been a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and has been named academic all-conference three times. This past summer, he was selected for the Cadet Summer Research Program with MIT Lincoln under Group 73 (Energy Systems), building, developing and testing a portable solar power system to assist with disaster relief operations. A flight commander in his squadron, he has volunteered numerous hours in the community, including Break Time, assisting families that have special needs children, the Marion House Soup Kitchen, assisting with the Colorado Springs homeless population and local fire mitigation units, assisting with the clean-up of wild fires in Colorado. Abood is plus-26 for his career and scored a game-winning goal against Arizona State earlier this season. Army West Point captain Tyler Pham, a one-time youth hockey teammate of Abood’s with the Colorado Thunderbirds, also was nominated for the honor.
Army West Point update
The Black Knights, like the Falcons, also had to replace a stalwart in net, Parker Gahagen. Senior Cole Bruns is next man up and there hasn’t been much of a drop-off. Bruns has a .926 save percentage and a 2.37 goals-against average. … One reason Army improved so much last season was a solid contribution from its freshman class, and that has continued this season. Second-year player Dominic Franco leads the Black Knights with nine points (six assists) and classmate Michael Wilson has eight (four goals). Those two team up with senior captain Tyler Pham, who is from Fort Collins, to form a potent top line. Pham has six points, and the trio’s 23 points are responsible for 48 percent of Army’s offensive production. Defensemen Dalton MacAfee (junior, five points) and John Zimmerman (freshman, four) provide offense from the blue line.
How it could go down
The Falcons average 2.75 goals per game, and the Black Knights net 2.83. Neither allows more than 2.5. So it’s fair to say the first team to three has an excellent chance of winning. Air Force is 5-0 when scoring three or more goals this season, continuing a trend from a season ago, when they were 23-1-3 in such situations. However, Army is 3-1 on the road. One key for the Falcons will be establishing an early lead. They struggled at Canisius when they chased the game.
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