While the Robert Morris Colonials got a week off from game action, the other Atlantic Hockey teams were all in action at least once over the past week. Some, like AIC, fared better than others, like Canisius. Here’s a look at the week behind us.

First up: let’s talk about the AIC Yellow Jackets, who swept their weekend series over Air Force with a pair of shutouts. The Yellow Jackets put up five goals Friday and added four on Saturday, both afternoon contests, while holding the Falcons off the scoresheet.

Tobias Fladeby and Luka Maver each had a pair of goals in Friday’s win; Martin Mellberg also added a goal. Zackarias Skog stopped all 20 shots faced in the win – his second career collegiate shutout – while Zach LaRocque took the loss for Air Force.

Both teams went with the same goaltenders for the rematch on Saturday, and once again, Skog made 20 saves in the shutout victory. Fladeby scored his third goal of the weekend, while Patrik Demel, Darius Davidson and captain Shawn McBridge also scored for the Yellow Jackets.

With the losses, Air Force’s five-game winning streak finally came to an end.

Mercyhurst also grabbed a pair of wins this weekend, besting Sacred Heart twice. The teams exchanged goals Friday en route to a 3-2 overtime win for the Lakers. Joseph Duszak had the game-winning goal, while Steven Ipri, James Anderson and Derek Barach also scored for Mercyhurst. Vito Bavaro had a pair of goals, while Austin McIlmurray also scored for the Pioneers.

James Anderson then scored twice to power the Lakers to a 3-0 win the following night. Tommaso Bucci also scored for Mercyhurst, who tallied twice in the final 1:16 of play. Garrett Metcalf stopped 30 shots for the shutout win.

Elsewhere, Army West Point and Bentley split their weekend series. The Black Knights narrowly edged the Falcons 3-2 in the first game, on power-play goals by Brendan Soucie and Zach Evancho and a shorthanded tally by Souci. Michael Zuffante and Drew Callin scored for the Falcons.

The next night, Bentley put up four goals on the Falcons en route to a 4-2 win. Zuffante scored once again for his team, while Jonathan Desbiens, Alexey Solovjev and Luke Santerno also tallied for the Falcons. Colin Bilek and Dominic Franco scored for the Black Knights.

Finally, the Niagara Purple Eagles swept their series over the Canisius Golden Griffins, who lost all three games they played this week.

Niagara scored twice on the power play in Thursday’s game. Dylan Mills registered a pair of goals, while Noah Delmas, Ludwig Stenlund and Johnny Curran also scored for Niagara. Brian Wilson made 27 saves for the Purple Eagles. In his return to the net, Blake Weyrick had 24 saves in the 5-2 loss.

The Purple Eagles continued their dominance on home ice Saturday, topping Canisius by a score of 9-6. Reed Robinson had a hat trick for Niagara, who also received goals from Stenlund (2), Delmas, Chris Harpur, Eric Cooley and Kris Spriggs. Twelve different Niagara players registered at least a point in the big win.

Logan Gestro, J.D. Pogue, Keith Obssuth, Mitch Martan, Austin Alger and Nick Hutchison all scored for the Griffs, who are now on a three-game losing streak after falling to RIT earlier in the week.

The Tigers, meanwhile, only had one game this week, but used it to extend their winning streak to three games. Gabe Valenzuela and Will Calverley scored for the Tigers, who got two goals in exactly three minutes in the second period. Logan Drackett made 25 saves in his first collegiate shutout.

Holy Cross fell to No. 4 UMass 3-1 in their lone game of the week. Jack Surowiec had the only goal for the Crusaders, while Erik Gordon had 36 saves in net.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings:

1. Air Force
2. Niagara
3. Army
4. AIC
5. RIT
6. Mercyhurst
7. Bentley
8. Canisius
9. Robert Morris
10. Sacred Heart
11. Holy Cross

Sunday, November 18th, 2018 - 9:07 pm | Atlantic Hockey, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings