Air Force and RIT both captured a pair of wins this past weekend in Atlantic Hockey action, while Sacred Heart split its first conference action against Army West Point. Elsewhere, Holy Cross and Niagara split one game of their series and tied the other, and  Canisius beat ECAC opponent Clarkson.

Finally, Robert Morris dropped a pair of games to Penn State. AIC also went winless this weekend against RIT, while Bentley fell twice to Air Force. Mercyhurst won their lone game of the weekend, a non-conference matchup with St. Lawrence.

The Purple Eagles’ 6-3 win Friday was powered by five straight goals. Though they found themselves down 2-0 12:22 into the game, Niagara went on to score five times in a span of 17:48 (from 19:02 of the first to 16:46 of the second) to put themselves in a good position to secure a win. Kris Spriggs registered a pair of goals, while Noah Delmas, Jared Brandt, Jon Hill and Johnny Curran also scored.

In the rematch, Niagara got on the board first with a shorthanded tally, but this time, it was Holy Cross who would score three straight goals. Spencer Trapp tied the game on the power play, with Kevin Darrar and Logan Ferguson adding goals later in the second frame. Niagara received goals from Nick Farmer, Reed Robinson and Luke Edgerton to push the Crusaders to a tie.

Air Force put up eight goals in two nights to capture a pair of wins over the Bentley Falcons. Evan Feno scored twice, and Evan Giesler and Walker Sommer added goals, en route to a 4-2 win Friday. Bentley got on the board first Saturday on a goal by Brendan Hamblet, but Air Force scored four unanswered goals to capture another win.

Giesler added another goal, with Kyle Haak, Matt Pulver and Kieran Durgan also scoring. Zach Larocque had to make only 12 saves in the win.

On Friday night, the Sacred Heart Pioneers scored every way: even-strength, power-play and shorthanded – to steal a 4-2 win over Army West Point. Ryan Steele, Marc Johnstone, Austin Mcllmurray and Jason Cotton all scored for the Pioneers, while Brendan Soucie and Trevor Fidler tallied for Army.

Army rallied back the following night for a 4-1 win. Dominic Franco had a pair of goals, with Zach Evancho and Tipper Higgins also scoring. Marcel Godbout had the lone goal for Sacred Heart. Dalton MacAfee also had a pair of assists.

Elsewhere, RIT overpowered AIC in consecutive nights. Alden Dupuis scored shorthanded to put the Tigers up in the first period Friday night. The Yellow Jackets tied the game early in the third on a goal by Hugo Reinhardt, but Darren Brady scored less than three minutes later to regain the RIT lead, and the Tigers held on.

The following night, the Tigers found themselves up 4-0 early in the second period before AIC finally got on the board. The Tigers would add one more later in the second period before allowing the Yellow Jackets to get one more with just four seconds left in regulation. Erik Brown and Jake Hamacher each had a pair of goals, while Abbott Girduckis added a goal in the win.

In non-conference action, Robert Morris dropped 7-2 and 11-6 decisions to the number-eight ranked Penn State. Alex Tonge and Grant Hebert both scored in the first loss. Saturday night, the Colonials were keeping pace with the Nittany Lions, trading goals in the first period and early into the second. Halfway through the middle frame, Penn State took charge and scored seven straight goals to take a commanding lead.

Tonge registered a hat trick in Saturday’s loss. Luke Lynch, Nick Prkusic and Aidan Spellacy also scored.

Finally, Canisius beat Clarkson by a score of 6-3, thanks to four power-play goals. Though the Golden Knights got out to a quick 2-0 lead, the Griffs scored five straight to take an important lead halfway through the game. Dylan McLaughlin had a pair of goals, while Cameron Heath, Lee Lapid, Austin Alger and Nick Hutchison also scored.

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Monday, November 12th, 2018 - 7:14 pm | Atlantic Hockey, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings