Atlantic Hockey Notebook: January 27
Posted by: Melissa BurgessHere are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:
- AIC
- Air Force
- RIT
- Niagara
- Mercyhurst
- Bentley
- Army
- Robert Morris
- Sacred Heart
- Canisius
- Holy Cross
Here’s a look at what happened this past weekend, when 10 of the 11 teams in Atlantic Hockey were active.
Air Force Beats Robert Morris Twice: The Falcons topped the Colonials both night by a score of 3-1. Kieran Durgan, Evan Feno and Kyle Haak scored for Air Force on Friday, while Alex Tonge had the lone Robert Morris goal. Haak scored again on Saturday, while Walker Sommer and Brady Tomlak also registered goals. Jacob Coleman had Saturday’s goal the Colonials. Billy Christopoulos stopped 35 of 37 shots faced in the wins. At the other end, Francis Marotte made 45 saves but lost both games.
RIT Tops Army Twice: The Tigers beat the Black Knights 4-2 on both Friday and Saturday. Erik Brown, Gabe Valenzuela, Jake Hamacher and Regan Seiferling all scored in Friday’s win. Hamacher added a pair of goals the next night; Brown also scored in Saturday’s win, as did Shawn Cameron. Zach Evancho, Michael Wilson, Brendan Soucie and Taylor Maruya all scored for Army over the weekend. Ian Andriano stopped 61 shots over the course of the two games for RIT; Jared Dempsey had 23 saves on Friday for Army, while Trevin Kozlowski stopped 21 of 24 shots faced Saturday.
Bentley Continues Streak vs. Canisius: More about Bentley’s impressive streak to come, but the Falcons topped the Griffs twice this weekend by scores of 4-2 and 3-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games. In both games, the teams remained scoreless until the second period. Tanner Jago opened the scoring Friday, with Jakov Novak, Jonathan Desbiens and Drew Callin also adding goals. Matt Hoover had both Canisius goals. On Saturday, the Griffs struck first (Nick Hutchison) but Bentley got three straight (Luke Santerno, Jake Kauppila, Desbiens) to secure the win. Aidan Pelino had 50 saves in the two games.
Sacred Heart, Holy Cross Split: The Pioneers, powered by five different goalscorers, beat the Crusaders 5-2 on Friday. Ryan Steele opened the scoring, while Mike Lee, Austin Magera and Nick Boyagian all scored within five minutes of each other in the third period. Vito Bavaro also added a goal, while Josh Benson had 20 saves. Kevin Darrar and Spencer Trapp had the goals for Holy Cross in Friday’s loss; Tommy Nixon had 27 saves. The next night, the Crusaders came out on top 4-1 thanks to goals from Ryan Leibold, Michael Laffin, Darrar and Anthony Vincent. Sacred Heart’s lone goal was scored by Marc Johnstone. Benson had 12 saves in the loss, while Holy Cross’ Erik Gordon made 32 saves.
Mercyhurst, AIC Split Weekend: The Lakers beat AIC 4-2 on Friday before dropping a thrilling 8-5 decision the following night. On Friday, Mercyhurst got goals from Joseph Duszak (2), Dalton Hunter and Jonny Lazarus. Brennan Kapcheck and Chris Theodore scored for AIC. Stefano Cantali recorded 24 saves in the win, while Zackarias Skog made 17 saves at the other end.
Saturday’s game was a bit more intense. AIC took a 2-0 lead on goals by Blake Christensen and Martin Mellberg before Mercyhurst got on the board with a goal from Duszak, his third of the weekend. The Yellow Jackets scored two more (Kyle Stephan, Justin Cole) before the Lakers struck again (Joshua Lammon). AIC then got three straight goals (Christensen, Luka Maver, Shawn McBride) – with just over 13 minutes left in regulation. The Lakers scored three times in a span of just over six minutes (Tommaso Bucci, Jonny Lazarus, Dalton Hunter), but the Yellow Jackets also added one more (Joel Kocur) to secure the win.
