Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Here’s a look at what happened this past weekend, when all 11 teams in Atlantic Hockey were active.

AIC Yellow Jackets Stay Hot: The Yellow Jackets continue to prove themselves as the real deal, extending their hold on first place with a pair of wins over Niagara. The Yellow Jackets beat the Purple Eagles 6-4 on Friday and 6-3 the following night. Four of their 12 goals came on special teams – but they also gave up three shorthanded goals over the course of the two games. Joel Kocur had a goal in each of the games. Netminder Zackarias Skog recorded an assist on Friday and made 12 saves; he also made 28 saves the following night. The Yellow Jackets have now won three straight.

Mercyhurst vs. Canisius: The Lakers jumped up one spot in the conference standings, beating Canisius and tying them the following night. Mercyhurst topped the Griffs 5-3 on Friday, powered by a strong first period with goals from Michael Bevilacqua, James Anderson and Dalton Hunter.  Stefano Cantali made 37 saves. Casey Jerry and Taylor Best had the goals in Saturday’s tie, which proved to be quite a different game. Colin DeAugustine made 35 saves for the Lakers, while Blake Weyrick had 21 saves.

Bentley Continues Unbeaten Streak: The Falcons are on a five-game winning streak and have a lengthy unbeaten streak going too (for more on that, check out my recent piece.) They topped Air Force 4-3 and 4-0 this past weekend. Brendan Hamblet had the OT game-winner on Friday; Jonathan Desbiens scored in each of the two games. Aidan Pelino made 37 saves, including 20 in Saturday’s shutout victory. Luke Santerno is fourth in Atlantic Hockey scoring, with 29 points in 27 games.

Sacred Heart Sweeps Robert Morris: The Pioneers have now won three straight and jumped up two spots in the conference standings with a sweep of Robert Morris, winning by scores of 6-2 and 3-1. Sacred Heart scored four unanswered goals, including a pair by Austin McIlmurray in the third period, to break a 2-2 tie and capture the win on Friday. Austin Magera had a pair of goals on Saturday, including the game-winning goal. With the losses, Robert Morris extended their losing streak to five games.

RIT Drops Two to Arizona State: The RIT Tigers fell twice to non-conference opponent Arizona State, losing by scores of 6-1 and 4-2. Ryan Kruper, Darren Brady and Jake Hamacher had the goals for the Tigers. Ian Andriano made 18 saves in Friday’s loss, while Logan Drackett had 23 saves Saturday. Arizona State will face AIC later this month in the final non-conference games of the season.

Holy Cross, Army Face Off: The Crusaders have finally climbed their way out of the basement in the Atlantic Hockey standings after tying the Black Knights 2-2 Friday and defeating them 5-4 Saturday. Logan Milliken and Johnny Coughlin scored for the Crusaders on Friday, while Dominic Franco and Zach Evancho both scored on the power play for Army in the tie. The teams traded goals on Saturday, with Anthony Vincent scoring the game-winner with 7:02 to play in regulation. Holy Cross had three power-play goals on Saturday, while Army scored once shorthanded and once with the man advantage.

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

1. AIC (+2)
2. Air Force (-1)
3. Niagara (+3)
4. Mercyhurst (-2)
5. RIT (-1)
6. Army (-1)
7. Robert Morris (0)
8. Bentley (0)
9. Sacred Heart (0)
10. Canisius (0)
11. Holy Cross (0)

Who’s Hot: The AIC Yellow Jackets won all three games they played over the past week and a half. They beat Sacred Heart 2-1 on January 15, then shut out Holy Cross 2-0 two nights later. The Yellow Jackets then beat the Crusaders on Saturday in the second half of the series, capturing a 3-2 win. Zackarias Skog backstopped AIC to all three wins, stopping 72 of 75 shots faced. Elsewhere, Niagara beat Mercyhurst twice this past weekend, outscoring the Lakers 12-7. Those were some much-needed wins for the Purple Eagles, who hadn’t won in…. well, a while. Those wins also helped bump them up three spots in Atlantic Hockey standings, putting them in a top-three position; junior forward Ben Sokay led the team with four points over the pair of games – the first time he’s had points in back-to-back games since December 2017.

Finally, you’ve got to give credit to Bentley, who has a five-game unbeaten streak going. They tied RIT in the opening game of last weekend’s series before beating them the next night.

Who’s Not: Holy Cross lost twice to the aforementioned AIC Yellow Jackets; those losses snapped a three-game unbeaten streak for the Crusaders. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst’s pair of losses to the Purple Eagles bumped them down a couple spots in the conference standings.

Who’s… Hanging Out: Canisius and Robert Morris split their weekend series. In non-conference action, Army beat the Royal Military College 5-2, while Quinnipiac topped Holy Cross 4-1 in a midweek matchup. Finally, Air Force fell to Sacred Heart before tying them the next afternoon.

This Weekend’s Action: We’ve got weekend series between Robert Morris and Air Force in Colorado; Army West Point visits RIT, and Holy Cross and Sacred Heart face off. AIC travels to Mercyhurst for a pair of games, and Canisius hosts Bentley for a series. There are about six weeks left in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, and every game is going to be critical for playoff standings going forward.

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Who’s Hot: The RIT Tigers climbed three spots in Atlantic Hockey standings, thanks to a pair of wins over AIC this past weekend. Overall, RIT has won three in a row and hasn’t lost a game since December 8. They’re on their way up, but will face a hot Bentley team this coming weekend. Speaking of….

Bentley beat Robert Morris twice this weekend, outscoring them 10-3 in the pair of games. Those two big wins were Bentley’s first conference action of 2019 and first since December 1. Thanks to those wins, the Falcons moved up two spots in Atlantic Hockey standings.

The Crusaders of Holy Cross, meanwhile, haven’t lost since January 4. Since then, they’ve beaten Mercyhurst once (a 5-4 victory) and tied and beaten Niagara. The Crusaders may still be at the bottom of Atlantic Hockey, but they’re only two points from bumping both Sacred Heart and Canisius down in the standings. What they do going forward could help move them out of the basement.

Mercyhurst’s Lakers beat Canisius twice this past weekend, which helped move them up to second place in Atlantic Hockey standings. Those two wins are helping turn things around for ‘Hurst, who had previously split a series against Holy Cross after dropping a pair of games to Ohio State to finish out the 2018 calendar year.

Who’s Not: AIC dropped both of its games to RIT this past weekend, by scores of 6-3 and 3-2. Overall, the Yellow Jackets have lost five of their last six games dating back to December 30. These losses have brought them down in the standings, from the top of Atlantic Hockey last week to third this week. While there’s still time to make up those losses and grab some points in the final few weeks of the season, they need a strong finish if they hope to be in the top of the conference at season’s end.

Canisius followed up their stellar wins over North Dakota by losing twice to Mercyhurst this past weekend, by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. The Griffs were outplayed in both games, and their goaltending struggled. These losses dropped them all the way to 10th in Atlantic Hockey, certainly not where Trevor Large and co. would like to be at this point in the season.

Niagara hasn’t won a game since December 7 – which is obviously not good for the Purple Eagles. They tied and lost to Holy Cross this past weekend, and they’ve dropped a few games lately in the final minutes. These strings of non-wins have dropped them all the way to sixth in Atlantic Hockey, a place they’ll try to dig out of starting this weekend against Mercyhurst.

Robert Morris, meanwhile, have dropped four straight games, including the pair to Bentley this past weekend. They let the Falcons put up five goals in each of those games and have overall allowed 22 goals against in the last four games. Ouch!

Finally, Sacred Heart only played one game this past weekend, dropping a 3-1 decision to Yale. The Pioneers haven’t won since December 8, falling to Vermont, AIC and Yale in the stretch since then. They’ll hit a busy stretch here with eight games in the next 19 days, starting with a battle against the Yellow Jackets Tuesday night.

Army, Air Force Tie: In the ever-heated battle of Army West Point vs. Air Force, the winner is…. no one. The two teams tied twice this past weekend (say that five times fast). The score each game: 2-2. The weekend series marked the return to conference action for both teams; Army hadn’t played an Atlantic Hockey team since their bout with Canisius way back on December 1. Since then, they lost to Dartmouth, Brown and RPI.

It’s been a busy week and a half in Atlantic Hockey, between non-conference action against teams like the University of North Dakota and Vermont, and in-conference action between foes like RIT and Niagara and Holy Cross and Mercyhurst.

Here are the current Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Here’s a look at what each team did this past week:

AIC: The Yellow Jackets fell to UMass 6-1 on Saturday, January 5, but rallied back with a 6-5 win over conference opponent Sacred Heart on Tuesday, January 8. Captain Shawn McBride had the lone goal in the loss to UMass. The Yellow Jackets held on for a win against the Pioneers despite giving up three straight goals in the final 25 minutes of play. Martin Mellberg had a hat trick, while Jeff Baum, Tobias Fladeby and Kyle Stephan also scored. They’ll now prepare to host RIT for a pair of games this upcoming weekend.

Air Force: The Falcons dominated St. Lawrence on Friday, beating them by a decisive 7-1 score. Air Force scored six straight goals before giving up one. Evan Giesler and Kyle Haak each scored twice. Kieran Durgan, Evan Feno and Walker Sommer also scored. They followed it up with a 4-1 loss to Western Michigan University as part of the Ice Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada; Matt Koch had the lone goal. It’s an exciting weekend ahead as Air Force hosts Army for a pair of sold-out games.

Niagara: It was a rough weekend for the Purple Eagles. They managed to tie RIT 4-4 on Friday but fell to the Tigers the following night, 2-1. Luke Edgerton had a pair of goals Friday, while Niko Kovachis and Ludwig Stenlund also scored. Kovachis also scored Saturday on the power play, the lone goal in the loss. Niagara gave up the game-winning goal on the man advantage with just two seconds remaining in regulation – a heartbreaker of a loss. They’ll hit the road this weekend for a series against Holy Cross.

Mercyhurst: The Lakers split their series with Holy Cross this past weekend, beating them 4-3 before falling 5-4 the next night. Joseph Duszak had a hat trick in Friday’s win, while James Anderson also added a goal – which Duszak assisted on. Duszak also scored in Saturday’s loss. Taylor Best, Derek Barach and Joshua Lammon  had the other goals for the Lakers. Mercyhurst will now take on a home-and-home with Canisius.

Army: The Black Knights had just one game this past weekend, a 2-1 overtime loss to non-conference foe RPI in Troy, NY. Brendan Soucie had the only goal for Army, while Jared Dempsey made 28 saves. They’ll hit the road this weekend for a pair of games against Air Force in what should be a thrilling matchup as usual.

Robert Morris: Robert Morris lost both of their non-conference games this past weekend, dropping decisions to Brown (7-4) and St. Cloud State (5-2). Grant Hebert had a hat trick on Friday; Eric Israel also scored. On Saturday, goals came from Nick Prkusic and Nick Lalonde. They’ll host Bentley this weekend for a series.

RIT: The Tigers tied with Niagara on Friday 4-4 before beating them the next night, 2-1. Alden Dupuis scored twice Friday, with Abbott Girduckis and Will Calverley also adding goals. RIT scored twice on the man advantage. On Saturday, Girduckis had the opening goal for the Tigers. Niagara tied it in the third period, but RIT stole the game with just two seconds remaining in regulation, as Adam Brubacher scored the game-winner on the power play. They’re back in action this weekend with a pair of games against AIC.

Canisius: The Griffs were named the CHN Team of the Week after beating North Dakota twice over the past weekend. Canisius pulled off upsets by scores of 3-1 and 2-1 despite being outshot badly in both games. Grant Meyer had a goal in each game, while David Parrottino, Cameron Heath and Felix Chamberland also scored. Goaltenders Blake Weyrick and Matt Ladd combined for 78 saves. The Griffs will now look to feed off those big wins in the home-and-home against Mercyhurst this weekend.

Sacred Heart: The Pioneers fell 3-2 to non-conference Vermont. Ryan Steele and Jordan Kaplan had the goals for Sacred Heart, including one on the man advantage. Kaplan also had an assist. They also fell to AIC, 6-5, on Tuesday. The Peioneers got goals from five different players: Ryan Steele, Nick Boyagian, Austin Magera, Vito Bavaro and Marcel Godbout. They’ll face another tough opponent this weekend, playing Yale on Saturday.

Bentley: The Falcons tied non-conference Dartmouth this past Saturday, 3-3. Jonathan Desbiens scored a pair of goals in the tie. Drew Callin also notched a goal as the Falcons overcame a 2-0 deficit. Aidan Pelino made 24 saves. They’ll return to Atlantic Hockey action this weekend in the series against Robert Morris.

Holy Cross: Though they’re last in Atlantic Hockey, Holy Cross held their own this past weekend against Mercyhurst. They fell 4-3 on Friday but received goals from Michael Laffin, Matt Slick and Conner Jean. They then beat Mercyhurst 5-4 the following evening thanks to a late goal from Kevin Darrar. The Crusaders scored four straight en route to the win. Spencer Trapp, Johnny Coughlin, Peter Crinella and Neil Robinson scored. Three of Holy Cross’ five goals came on the power play. They’ll host Niagara for a pair this weekend.

Despite minimal conference games, the last few weeks have told us a ton about a lot of teams in the ECAC. Mainly there have been some positives, but many more setbacks as teams have tried to get back in a rhythm of playing regular games. The highlights of non-conference play, thus far, have been Union’s win over St. Cloud, who is second in the pairwise, and Clarkson’s recent win over Minnesota Duluth. The Golden Knights seem to be trending in the right direction and are certainly a team to watch going forward.

In terms of the Pairwise, Quinnipiac is fifth, while Union (15), Clarkson (16), Cornell (17), Yale (20) and Harvard (22) are bubble bound. If any of those bubble teams can pick up wins in the second half, it could mean good things for their chances of getting to the tournament come March. That said, the .477 winning percentage of league teams against the other conferences will make it tough for teams to break into the top-15.

As teams head into a more consistent conference schedule, it seems like teams like Clarkson, Brown and Harvard are trending in the right direction, while Quinnipiac, Yale and Dartmouth are trending down a tad. On Brown, we have to give them credit for the job they are doing in recent weeks…
The Bears are 4-1-2 in their last seven games and over the weekend won the Three Rivers Classic. They could have beat Providence, as well, just last week but fell just short., mainly because a questionable PC goal was allowed to stand.

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.

There was only one game in Atlantic Hockey this past weekend, but boy, was it a good way – particularly if you’re a fan of the RIT Tigers. The Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak and captured their first win in over a month with an 8-4 victory over the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday.

It was a back-and-forth game this past weekend between the Tigers and the Purple Eagles. Jake Hamacher put the Tigers up 1-0 just 1:29 into the game for his first of two goals on the night. RIT would hold that lead until 15:21 into the first period, when Nick Farmer tied it up.

Hamacher regained the lead for RIT just 15 seconds later, but Niagara wouldn’t give up that easily, tying it on a shorthanded tally by Alex Truscott with under two minutes to play in the opening frame.

Andrew Petrucci and Abbott Girduckis scored 1:13 apart early in the second period to put the Tigers up 4-2, but even that lead was only safe for so long. Ludwig Stenlund made it a one-goal game with a power-play goal near the midway point of the game.

From there, it really was RIT’s game to lose. The Tigers scored four goals in the third period, including three empty-netters, en route to the big win. Gabe Valenzuela, Erik Brown, Alden Dupuis and Will Calverley all scored in the final period. Both Dupuis and Calverley scored shorthanded.

Niko Kovachis added a goal for Niagara late in the third, but it wasn’t enough to power the Purple Eagles to a comeback.

Both teams are now done for the calendar year, with Niagara rounding out 2018 on a two-game losing streak. But there’s still plenty of Atlantic Hockey action to come in the final weekend of the year, including a series between Robert Morris and AIC.

There’s also non-conference action to watch for Canisius (Union), Mercyhurst (Ohio State), Air Force (Bemidji State), Army (Dartmouth & Brown) and Bentley (New Hampshire). Holy Cross also takes on the USNTDP on January 1.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

Now that many teams have entered the annual holiday break, we can take a look back at the first half and everything that we have learned about the league. It is clear that power has shifted back to the Greater New Haven area, as Quinnipiac is the undisputed top dog in the and Yale will probably end up right on its heels. The Bobcats picked up a split against upstart Massachusetts over the weekend, while the Bulldogs dropped a lone game to the Minutemen.

QU has had most of the success in non-conference action in recent weeks, as the league’s record against the other conferences has plummeted. With many games still to go in the busy holiday stretch, that can improve and it will be integral for the few teams that have tournament aspirations. In terms of the conference standings, they are starting to take shape with Yale at the top with 13 points and Quinnipiac hot on its trails with 12. The Bobcats have a game in-hand, however, and in a cruel set of circumstances we will have to wait until mid-February before the two teams play in Hamden. Dartmouth, as I have nicknamed Jeckyll and Hyde this year, is in third, while Cornell is in fourth.

The Sacred Heart Pioneers captured a pair of wins over the RIT Tigers this weekend. Elsewhere, Robert Morris and Holy Cross, and Air Force and Mercyhurst, split their respective series. Niagara then split their weekend with Colgate in non-conference action.

AIC, Army, Canisius and Bentley were all inactive this week.

Mike Lee scored the game-winner for Sacred Heart on Friday, as the Pioneers beat the Tigers 4-3 in overtime. Lee also scored in regulation, while Marcel Godbout and Jason Cotton also scored. Ryan Kruper, Adam Brubacher and Alden Dupuis scored for RIT. Josh Benson made 27 saves in the win.

The Pioneers then took a 6-4 win over the Tigers in the rematch Saturday, powered by a trio of third-period goals. The Tigers took an early lead and went up 2-0 on goals by Brubacher and Shawn Cameron, with both goals coming on the man advantage. Sacred Heart got on the board with a shorthanded goal from Matt Tugnutt later in the first period.

Brubacher scored his second of the night, again on the power play. But the Pioneers scored twice in a span of 2:31, with goals coming from Nick Boyagian and Marc Johnstone, to tie the game before the second period was over. Bryston Traptow regained the lead for the Tigers in the back-and-forth game early in the third, but Ruslan Rakhmatov and Austin McIlmurray scored later in the third, with Matt Tugnutt also adding a goal, for the 6-4 win.

Robert Morris shut out Holy Cross 2-0 on Friday, but the teams flipped positions on Saturday with the Crusaders taking the win. Luke Lynch and Michael Coyne had the goals for the Colonials Friday, with Francis Marotte notching a 36-save shutout.

The next night, Michael Laffin notched both goals for the Crusaders in their 2-0 win. Erik Gordon made 26 saves in the shutout victory.

Elsewhere, Air Force shut out Mercyhurst 2-0 Friday before falling to the Lakers 4-1 Saturday. Kyle Haak and Trevor Stone were credited with goals in Friday’s win, while goaltender Billy Christopoulos made 18 saves in the shutout.

The following night, Joseph Duszak registered a pair of goals in Mercyhurst’s victory. Jeremy Wu and Joshua Lammon also scored, with half of the Lakers goals coming shorthanded. Haak had his second goal of the weekend for the lone goal for the Falcons. Garrett Metcalf made 33 saves.

Finally, the Purple Eagles beat Colgate 4-2 on Friday before falling 2-0 Saturday.

Justin Kendall put Niagara up with 34 seconds remaining in the first period. Colgate tied the game, then took the lead, early in the second period. Johnny Curran tied the game for Niagara late in the second with a power-play goal before Reed Robinson gave the Purple Eagles the edge early in the third. Eric Cooley also added a goal in the win.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings:

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

There is only one Atlantic Hockey game next weekend, with RIT hosting Niagara.