Here’s a look back at the weekend that was in Atlantic Hockey:
Defeating the undefeated
Thanks to Robert Morris, there is one fewer unbeaten team remaining in Division I. Ohio State came into this past weekend’s home-and-home series with Robert Morris as the sole unbeaten team (excluding ECAC/Ivy League schools, which have only been playing for two weekends) at 5-0-1.
The Colonials put an end to that with a decisive 6-2 win in Columbus on Friday, and showed that was no fluke with a hard-fought 4-4 time on home ice on Saturday.
Francis Marotte made 35 saves on Friday, and RMU turned a 1-0 deficit to a 4-1 lead by the end of the second period.
On Saturday the Colonials overcame a 2-0 early Buckeye lead, as well as six Ohio State power plays (Robert Morris had zero chances).
Freshman Luke Lynch had a pair of goals including converting a penalty shot in the second period.
Andrew Pikul made 37 saves for the win. He entered the game just 1:27 into the first period after starter Dalton Izyk left with an apparent injury.
Going to extremes
Through five weeks of Atlantic Hockey play, there have been a total of just two sweeps recorded, and Rochester Institute of Technology has been involved in both.
Last weekend, the Tigers swept Bentley; this weekend, they were swept by Canisius.
Golden Griffins goaltender Charles Williams, a graduate student transfer from Ferris State, stole the show, stopping 84 of 85 shots in 1-0 and 2-1 wins for Canisius, now 3-0-1 in conference play and the only AHC team without a league loss.
No surprise
Was American International’s win and tie against Holy Cross really all that shocking?
I suppose so, if you take into consideration the great start to the season by the Crusaders, who have knocked off the No. 11 (Providence) and No. 20 (Union) teams, programs that have won two of the last three national championships.
Factor in AIC’s predicted last-place finish by the league’s coaches and next to last by your intrepid Atlantic Hockey correspondents, and yes, this was an upset.
But not a huge one. Not anymore.
Five of the Yellow Jackets eight goals in a 4-2 win and 4-4 tie against the Crusaders were scored by freshmen, which bodes well for AIC’s chances to become a contender. It may be a season or two away, but it won’t be a shock when it happens.
Will the season end with every team 14-14?
No, but don’t be surprised if there’s not all that much of a gap between first and last.
