The rule of three principle suggests things that come in threes are inherently more humorous, satisfying and effective than any other number of things.

We’re not sure about the first of those, but 24 games into the 2019-20 Air Force season we can say for certain the second two apply to the Falcons’ defense corps.

One of the team’s biggest strengths, the defense is spearheaded by juniors Jake Levin, Alex Mehnert and Zach Mirageas. “3D” has been supplemented by the development of sophomore Carter Ekberg and a quartet of freshmen, three of whom have played 10 or more games.

“Our projection was Mirageas, Levin and Mehnert would be the backbone of our D corps, gobble up a lot of minutes and be ready for those minutes, both 5 on 5 and special teams,” said Falcons associate head coach Joe Doyle. “Each of those three plays in every situation. They’re our late game up a goal or down a goal guys. They’ve more than delivered on what our hope and expectation was.”

The Falcons have had to bank on the trio of juniors because a total six defensemen who played regularly graduated after the past two seasons.

The dynamic duo

Levin and Mehnert rarely aren’t on the ice together, and that’s unlikely to change. Why mess with a good thing?

“They control the game. They’re out there close to 25-30 minutes a game some nights,” freshman defenseman Brandon Koch said. “They’re our all-around guys, they control the pace. If we’re at a turning point, they’re usually out there.”

The trajectories of the three juniors were cemented last season, when Levin and Mehnert played every game and Mirageas only missed one due to a suspension.

Mehnert only played in 15 games as a freshman and Levin 21. Both were thrust into the lineup because of injuries during the 2017-18 season, and they stayed there. It’s no stretch to say they’ve made the most of the opportunity.

“Mehnert and Levin have grown a ton over the past two years … especially as a pair,” Ekberg said. “They’ve been our rocks this year.

“The way they work together, they have a lot of clean exits out of our zone. You don’t see a lot of times when they get hemmed in our zone. They work so well together, just supporting each other.”

Mehnert is on pace for a career season. His 10 assists are just two behind his point total of last season.

Levin has a career-high three goals among his eight points, just four off his career best.

The rock

Mirageas, on the other hand, hit the ground running and has been a lineup regular since his first day at the Academy. He made the all-Atlantic Hockey Conference final four all-tournament team as a freshman.

His game was well rounded enough as a freshman that he saw power-play time and could take a regular shift. Last season, he drew many more of the difficult defensive assignments, usually with Koch’s older brother Matt.

This season he’s done pretty much everything, and he’s spent most of his time paired first with Brandon Koch and later Ekberg.

“He’s really smart with the puck, a smooth skater,” Koch said. “He’s getting back to every puck first, and that’s a huge thing in the D zone. He knows where guys are going to be. If not, he’ll make that extra play that a lot of D won’t be able to make. Getting pucks out of the D zone is his strong suit, and then obviously shooting pucks at the blue line is huge for him, too.”

The powerfully built Mirageas is second on the team with 17 points, the same total he’s had in each of his first two seasons. The difference is he got there in 24 games this time around.

“We know what he brings every game,” Ekberg added. “They’re all good skaters. That’s one of the strengths of our D corps overall is we can all move our feet pretty well. Zach’s got the strength, that low center of gravity. He doesn’t lose many one-on-one puck battles, ever.”

Serving as mentors

The Air Force template is to add responsibility as players grow in the program, but “3D” is closing in on career-best production despite absorbing an inordinately heavy workload at times.

“Early on I probably wore them out too much with their ice time,” Doyle said. “To their credit they absorbed a lot of minutes early, but going up against the Notre Dames and Arizona States of the world, it’s hard to go every other shift or even two of every five. As the freshmen came along, we were able to back off their mintues a little bit and they’ve been more productive.”

They’ve also served a vital role mentoring Air Force’s six underclassmen on the blue line.

“They’ve helped a ton,” Koch said. “Lev and Mehns, when you’re coming off a shift and you do something stupid, or there is something you could do better they’re there to help you. They’re not ripping on you or anything like that, but they’ll say, ‘you could have done this, that play was open, look for it next time.’ That sort of thing.”

The juniors’ leadership has grown organically, Ekberg said, adding they exude a calm confidence that is contagious – and needed – for a young roster.

“None of them are super outspoken guys. They’re more lead by example kind of guys,” Ekberg said. “Watching how they carry themselves every day in practice, where the habits come from, that’s helped me the most the past two years.”

It isn’t only defensemen who have taken their cues from the trio, however. Sophomore center Kieran Durgan said 3D’s example comes through loud and clear to the entire team.

“We see their leadership skills on and off the ice,” Durgan said. “(They’re) doing the right thing every game, keeping stuff simple. They’ve taken steps forward, but the big thing is they don’t try to do too much. Everyone can learn from that.”

“It’s really encouraging for us as a staff and a program to know those three are where they’re at at this point in their junior year, and we still have those guys for another year and a half,” Doyle said. “All three of them have big-time college skill sets.”

©First Line Editorial 2020