Here’s a look back at the weekend that was in Atlantic Hockey:
Cooling off
Dan Rubin and I spent the last two weeks crowing about the league’s relatively strong start in non-conference play, so of course it was time for a letdown.
After opening the season a respectable 6-7-5, AHC teams were just 0-6-2 this past weekend. Niagara managed to tie Rensselaer 3-3 and American International fought former conference foe Connecticut to a 2-2 draw. Jackson Teichroeb made 38 saves for the Purple Eagles while AIC rookie Zackarias Skog stopped 38 in his collegiate debut.
Those were the high points because the losses weren’t pretty, as five of the six defeats suffered were by three goals or more.
Next week features a half-dozen non-conference matchups including Niagara hosting No. 19 Ohio State for a pair of games.
Not much settled
There were some conference games as well, including a series between Air Force and Bentley and one between Canisius and Robert Morris.
The results of these series might be an indication that we’re picking up where we left off last season, when four point weekends were hard to come by.
On Friday, the homes teams had their way. Canisius cruised to a 6-3 victory over RMU behind Félix Chamberland’s hat trick, while Air Force got goals from five different players in a 5-2 win over Bentley.
Saturday was an entirely different story with Bentley turning the tables in a 6-1 win powered by a pair of goals from Max French. Robert Morris was also able to turn things around with a road point in a 2-2 ties with Canisius that saw a player from each side score a pair of goals: Ryan Schmelzer for the Golden Griffins and Alex Tonge for the Colonials.
Conference action picks up this week with a trio of East vs. West series: RIT at Bentley, Army West Point at Robert Morris and AIC at Mercyhurst
Bragging rights
Rensselaer defeated RIT 6-3 on Saturday thanks in part to two goals and an assist by senior captain Riley Bourbonnais. Riley is the son of former RIT player John Bourbonnais, who helped the Tigers win a Division III title in 1985.
Bourbonnais can also claim bragging rights over RIT goalie Mike Rotolo. They were teammates in 2009 on the Greece, N.Y. high school team that won a state title.
