2018 NCAA Tournament

West Regional: Air Force (22-14-5) vs. No. 1 St. Cloud State (25-8-6)

Friday, 2 p.m. MDT at Sioux Falls, S.D.

TV / radio: ESPNU / AM 1300 and GoAirForceFalcons.com

Series: Tied 10-10, but the teams have not played since the 1992-93 season

Air Force in the NCAAs: The Falcons are in the tournament for the seventh time in 12 seasons and second season in a row. They have a 2-6 record, with first-round wins last season (vs. Western Michigan) and in 2009 (vs. Michigan).

Overview

The Falcons’ reward for playing their way into the NCAA Tournament? No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State, which features one of the nation’s highest-powered offenses. The Huskies can score any way you like, and often do. As Air Force coach Frank Serratore said, however, the Falcons are playing with house money here, and expect them to be the looser team. Air Force features excellent defense from the goal out, and its two-man forecheck can present problems for most teams. But most teams don’t have the mobile, skilled defense the Huskies do.

Air Force update

Fresh off their second consecutive Atlantic Hockey playoff championship, the Falcons have cracked the 20-win plateau for the third season in a row, a first in program history. … They have gone 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and 14-4-2 in their past 20 to overcome an 8-10-3 start. Air Force’s senior class has 85 wins, tied for most of any class in program history, and that is despite losing a remarkable 202 man games to injury this season and has six players out for the season – forwards Marshal Bowery, Evan Feno, Max Harper, Shawn Knowlton and Matt Pulver and defenseman Kyle Mackey. … The Falcons have 11 players in double figures in points, led by senior Erik Baskin‘s career-high 27 to go along with a career-best 16 goals. Linemates Evan Giesler and Tyler Ledford have 22 points apiece, and another pair of linemates Jordan Himley (21 points) and Matt Serratore (20 with 14 goals) are next. … The Falcons also get offense from the defense, with Phil Boje (17 points), Matt Koch (15) and Zach Mirageas (15) leading the way. Boje is second in the nation with 91 blocked shots. Goaltender Billy Christopoulos has started every game and posted an impressive .920 save percentage and a 2.09 goals against average, while keeping the Falcons’ run of great goaltenders going.

MORE: Haak, Himley regain their offensive touches

St. Cloud State update

The Huskies are the fourth-highest scoring team in Division I at 3.67 goals per game. They have a deep and talented lineup, led by juniors Robby Jackson (42 points), Jimmy Schuldt and Mikey Eyssimont (38 points apiece) and sophomore Ryan Poehling (30 points). Schuldt, a defenseman, is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and Poehling is a first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens. Eyssimont grew up in the Denver area, where he was a youth hockey standout. … 17 players have hit double figures in points for the Huskies. … Freshman David Hrenak has started more games recently in net, but he and sophomore Jeff Smith have played nearly the same amount. Hrenak’s numbers are 13-6-2, 2.03 and .922 while Smith is 11-2-4, 2.58 and .908. … St. Cloud State lost to Denver in the NCHC Frozen Face-off championship game after winning the league’s regular season title, the Penrose Cup.

Coaching connections

Frank Serratore called the West Regional, which also includes Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth part of his family tree, and for good reason. “(At St. Cloud) I’ve got Bobby Motzko and Mike Gibbons, who were my assistants up at Denver. I owe Bobby for the rest of my life. I got him to come to Denver and gave him a four-year promise and I got fired after the first year. I got him a ticket on the Titanic. He went back to Miami and worked his way up … and he’s done great things at St. Cloud. I brought Gibby aboard with him. What a recruiter Mike Gibbons is. We know we’re going to play a team with a lot of skill. Mike told me 30 years ago, ‘Frank, you can’t have enough skill.’ He’s the guy who first went over to Europe when he was working for me at Denver … and brought those skilled players over. Bobby’s record speaks for itself, not only on the college level but the international stage, winning a gold and a bronze at the World Juniors. … Then I have one of my former players Mike Hastings (at Minnesota State). Mike played for me with the Austin Mavericks and the Rochester Mustangs in the USHL. We won an Anderson Cup in the USHL. Could he trigger a power a play and is he ever a good coach. … Then over at Duluth I’ve got Jason Herter, whom Cary Eades and I recruited to North Dakota. A good kid, what a good player and what a good coach Jason’s turned out to be. Heck, all you need to do is get Steve Miller over to the bracket and I would have had them all. … Somebody from my family tree is going to be going to the Frozen Four and hopefully it’s me. My last game was against Derek Schooley, I had to play another of my coaches in the Atlantic final.”

By the numbers

If the Falcons lead after two periods they have been money in the bank, owning a 20-0-2 record. If they don’t, however, it’s trouble. In that scenario they are 1-13-2. They’re 1-1-1 when tied after two. … The Huskies are also strong in that regard, with a 16-1-1 mark when leading after two and 6-2-2 when tied after two. They’re also 3-5-3 when trailing after two periods. … When scoring first, the Falcons are 17-2-2, while the Huskies are 12-2-4. … St. Cloud has one of the better power plays in Division I, hitting at 22.8 percent. Their 171 chances are among the most in D-I. Air Force has struggled when a man up, hitting only 13.6 percent – seventh worst in D-I. But when the Falcons get a power-play goal, they’re 15-1. … Conversely, the Huskies’ penalty kill is only average at 80.9 percent (31st), while the kill is a strength of the Falcons (83.5, 11th).

How it could go down

The Falcons are never an easy out in the tournament, and I don’t expect this time to be any different. They’re a team that has overcome an unreal amount of injuries and some odd circumstances (government shutdown, for example) to get to this point. Both coaches know the others’ play books inside and out, so there shouldn’t be many surprises. The Huskies have one of the most skilled teams in college hockey and are viewed by many as a strong contender to win it all. If Air Force wins this game it would go down as the biggest win in the program’s 50-year history.

©First Line Editorial 2017-18