It came down to the final day but we finally know who will be playing where in the playoffs. Air Force, Niagara, RIT, and Mercyhurst all earned first round byes.

Air Force – Thanks to a 3-0 win over Robert Morris on Saturday, the Falcons were able to claim to AHA regular season title. Adam McKenzie was the only Falcon to record multiple points this weekend, picking up three assists. Jason Torf picked up his fourth shutout of the season, doubling last year’s total in less games.

AIC – The Yelloe Jackets finished the regular season in tenth place. They took one point against UConn to assured themselves that they wouldn’t finish in last place. Blake Peake scored twice and picked up an assist to give him career highs in goals (5), assists (8), and points (13).  Adam Pleskach also had a three point weekend, scoring once and adding two assists.

Army – The Black Knights have the distinction of finishing the regular season in last place. Being swept by Sacred Heart assured them of that fate. Zak Zaremba scored twice for the Black Knights. Danny Colvin picked up four assists on the weekend while Mike Hull added a pair.

Bentley – The Falcons came within one point of a first round bye but a winless weekend against Holy Cross has them playing in the first round of the playoffs. Brett Gensler scored twice for his team leading 18th goal and 41st point. He now has points in four straight games.

Canisius – The Golden Griffins took on Mercyhurst with a chance to get a home first round playoff series. Instead they took just two points and will travel in the first round. Carl Larsson and Ryan Bohrer scored the only two goals for the Golden Griffins. It was Bohrer’s first goal of the season.

UConn – The Huskies won once over AIC to give themselves a first round playoff series at home. Brad Cooper recorded his first career hat trick, and his first goals of the season on Saturday. The three goals tie a career high. Cole Schneider added a goal and two assists to give him a team leading 34 points.

Holy Cross – Thanks to tiebreakers, the Crusaders are playing in the first round of the playoffs. The Crusaders finished the regular season tied with Mercyhurst and RIT for the last two first round bye spots. The Crusaders needed just one more point from a weekend that saw them get three points. Adam Schmidt scored his first career hat trick and finished the weekend with four goals and an assist.

Mercyhurst – The Lakers have a first round bye in the playoffs thanks to a two point weekend against Canisius. The Lakers had five players score their six goals, led by Chris Bodo. Bodo scored twice and picked up two assists for the Lakers. Nardo Nagtzaam and Nick Jones each had a goal and an assist.

Niagara – The Purple Eagle took three points against RIT and finished one point away from being AHA Regular Season Champions. Ryan Murphy scored his first career hat trick and picked up an assist. He has a career high 16 points on the season. Patrick Divjak added a goal and two assists.

Robert Morris – The Colonials enter the playoffs as the seventh seed, but they finished the regular season just three points our of fourth. Adam Brace and Ron Cramer scored the only goals for the Colonials this weekend.

RIT – The Tigers have a first round bye in the playoffs but they needed help getting it as they took just one point against Niagara. The Tigers used three different scorers on their three goals. The only consistent was Cameron Burt, who assisted on all three goals.

Sacred Heart – The Pioneers are heading into the playoffs with a little momentum thanks to a weekend sweep of Army. Matt Gingera and Eric DeLong each scored three times for the Pioneers. DeLong also added two assists while Gingera had one assist.

Monday, February 27th, 2012 - 11:52 am | Atlantic Hockey