Back in April The Flight Path speculated on Air Force’s incoming freshman class, and on Monday coach Frank Serratore announced the nine freshmen who are expected to join the program upon completion of Basic Cadet Training.
The class includes nine players – one goaltender, four defensemen and four fourwards – which will help offset the loss of eight graduated seniors, all of whom contributed to what turned out to be winningest class in program history.
The newcomers include goaltender Alex Schilling, defensemen Carter Ekberg, Tyler Jutting, Shane Kelly and Keegan Mantaro and forwards Bill Duma, Kieran Durgan, Brendan Miller and Jensen Zerban.
Schilling was named the NAHL Central Division’s goalie of the year after putting up a 22-13-3 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, then going 3-2-2, 2.17 and .914 in the playoffs. He joins a very crowded Falcons crease, becoming the fifth goalie on the roster. Senior Billy Christopoulos, the unquestioned team MVP of a season ago, and sophomores Erik Anderson, Zack LaRocque and Will Ulrich are the others.
Ekberg, Jutting, Kelly and Mantaro give the Falcons 10 defensemen on the roster, and help address a position group that lost four seniors who played a lot of minutes for the Falcons, including stalwarts Dylan Abood and Phil Boje. The group features a bit of everything. Ekberg scored 25 points in the NAHL, while Jutting (6-foot-4) and Kelly (6-5) bring an element the Falcons haven’t had on the back end in a while – size. Mantaro, the team’s only recruit from the USHL grew up just a few minutes from the Academy and is the son of former Falcons player Jason Mantaro, who led the team with 44 points during his junior season.
Duma, Durgan, Miller and Zerban bring size and skill up front, helping replace four graduated seniors, including three of the Falcons’ top scoring forwards in Erik Baskin, Jordan Himley and Tyler Ledford. All but Zerban are 6-1, and Miller and Zerban each scored more than 40 points in the NAHL, and Durgan was a point-per-game NAHL player who also played some games in the USHL.
They also help replenish a deep group (18 forwards) that was hit by season-ending injuries to then junior Evan Feno, sophomore Matt Pulver and freshmen Shawn Knowlton and Max Harper, as well as several others for multiple games.
In total, the newcomers represent three junior leagues, with the NAHL supplying six of them, the BCHL two and the USHL one.
This gives the Falcons, who were decimated by injuries all last season, 33 players on their roster.
Air Force is working on a string of a school-record three 20-win seasons in a row and has reached the final eight of the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.
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