The end of the 2018 calendar year is upon us, and though there are still a few months left in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, it’s interesting to see where teams are at in the standings at this point in season.

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

The only conference action this past weekend saw the AIC Yellow Jackets best the Robert Morris Colonials by a score of 4-3.

Luke Lynch put RMU ahead just 1:51 into the second period, but the lead lasted only minutes as Justin Cole tied the game for AIC. Joel Kocur potted a goal later in the second period, and the Yellow Jackets maintained the lead for the remainder of the period and the initial 7:40 of the third period.

Grant Hebert tied the game for Robert Morris, and the teams continued to exchange goals from there. In the end, Hugo Reinhardt had the game-winner for AIC on a power-play goal with just 3:57 to play. Tobias Fladeby also scored for AIC, while Jacob Coleman had the other goal for Robert Morris, shorthanded.

Zackarias Skog needed to make only 14 saves in the win. Francis Marotte made 24 saves but took the loss.

Elsewhere, Mercyhurst dropped a pair of games to non-conference opponent Ohio State by scores of 3-1 and 5-4.

Ohio State scored twice Friday before the Lakers got on the board with just 58 seconds remaining in regulation, on a goal by Steven Ipri. Ohio State added a power-play goal with two seconds remaining to seal the win. Garrett Metcalf stopped 37 of 40 shots faced in the loss.

It was a closer game on Saturday, with Ohio State narrowly edging Mercyhurst in the final ten minutes of play. The Lakers got on the board first thanks to Geoff Kitt, but Ohio State scored twice in a span of 2:31 to tie, then take the lead.

The Lakers got a pair of goals then, with James Anderson and Steven Ipri scoring early in the second period. But the goals kept coming, with Ohio State re-upping their lead just 21 seconds later.

Taylor Best scored the fourth goal for the Lakers, giving them the lead with under six minutes to play in the second period. That lead lasted for nearly four minutes before Ohio State tied the game. Sasha Larocque had the game-winning goal with 9:26 to play in regulation. Stefano Cantali had 40 saves.

Canisius was in action this past weekend, visiting #14 Union for a pair of games. The Griffs tied Union on Friday in a 2-2 match. Austin Alger opened the scoring for Canisius, who exchanged goals with Union. Jimmy Mazza had the other tally for the Griffs, while Blake Weyrick stopped 40 shots.

The teams re-matched on Saturday, with Canisius dropping a 5-3 decision. Alger had a pair of goals for the Griffs; Mitchell Martan also scored for Canisius. But Union had four straight goals in the first and second periods, including two on special teams, and ultimately, the Griffs were unable to complete the comeback. Matt Ladd made his season debut after being added to the team on December 18; he stopped 28 shots.

Air Force and Bemidji State skated to a 3-3 tie on Saturday. Joe Tyran, Walker Sommer and Kieran Durgan all scored for the Falcons, who went 1-for-4 on the power play. Durgan also registered seven shots on goal, while netminder Billy Christopoulos made 26 saves in 64:39.

Finally, Dartmouth beat Army 5-2. The Golden Knights struck first on a goal by Kevin Dineen, but Dartmouth scored five straight goals throughout the rest of the game in the commanding win. Brendan Soucie had the other goal for Army with 13:29 to play in the third period, but at that point, it was too little, too late.

Jared Dempsey had 11 saves on 15 shots faced, while Matt Penta allowed one goal on seven shots. For Dartmouth, Adrian Clark had 21 saves.

There’s a busy slate of games coming for Atlantic Hockey. First up: Holy Cross visit the USNTDP for a 2 p.m. New Year’s Day matchup.

This coming weekend in conference action, it’s RIT vs. Niagara and Holy Cross vs. Mercyhurst.

Canisius hosts North Dakota for a pair of games; Sacred Heart facing Vermont; Robert Morris facing Brown and St. Cloud State/Union; Air Force facing St. Lawrence University and Vegas, and Army taking on RPI. In addition, Bentley faces Dartmouth and AIC hosts UMass.

Monday, December 31st, 2018 - 3:57 pm | Atlantic Hockey, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings