Last week:
Last Week:
Dan: 6-4-1
Chris: 6-4-1
On The Season:
Dan: 31-12-3 (.706)
Chris: 26-17-3 (.597)
This Week’s Picks
Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2
American International vs. Army West Point
Chris: The Black Knights will host on Friday and then the action shifts to Springfield on Saturday. This is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal series, won by the the Yellow Jackets in three games. I’m picking a split here.
Dan: Army has had over a week to reflect upon a pretty bad game up at Bentley. I don’t think that loss is indicative of the way this team played in its earlier showings, and a motivated Black Knight team makes up for it against AIC. I’m picking a split.
Mercyhurst at Bentley
Chris: This is a tough one to pick. Both teams have already had their ups and downs in this young season. When in doubt, I tend to lean for home team. Bentley sweeps.
Dan: Bentley went very up-and-down last week, dominating Army before being dominated by St. Lawrence in a non-conference game. Mercyhurst always gives the Falcons all they can handle, but the series is happening across Bentley’s Homecoming weekend. I think the atmosphere cancels it out, and I’m going with a split.
Holy Cross at Rochester Institute of Technology
Chris: Another toughie – both teams are off to good starts and Holy Cross has played well at the Polisseni Center in recent visits. I’m going with a split.
Dan: This is a series where, if Holy Cross succeeds, we can officially start saying that they’re for real. But I think, even given the team’s success lately, RIT is going to straighten itself out after exclusively relying on its goaltender. Feels weird saying that considering the Tigers swept Air Force. RIT sweeps.
Air Force at Sacred Heart
Chris: I think the Falcons, who put up 88 shots on RIT last weekend but scored a single goal and lost both games, will find their scoring touch here. But I also think SHU will come away with a win. Another split for me.
Dan: Sacred Heart’s performance at Niagara gets filed into the proof drawer for why I bought hard on the Pioneers in the preseason. But I think Air Force is going to be hopping mad after it did everything except win last week against RIT. Split it.
Union at Canisius
Chris: This series features teams are a combined 1-10 so far this season. Canisius begins a stretch that will see the Golden Griffins home for nine of their next 10 games, but I think the Dutchmen will break through here. Union sweeps.
Dan: I never thought Union would open up this poorly. The schedule hasn’t helped with games against BU, Northeastern and UMass, but given my high opinion of ECAC, I would’ve assumed one or two of those would’ve broke for the Dutchmen. That didn’t happen, but the win over RPI helps stabilize the ship heading into the series against the Griffs. Union sweeps.
Niagara at Denver
Chris: Man, Niagara has a tough non-conference slate: a pair of games each with Minnesota, Denver and Penn State. Hopefully these games will help prepare the Purple Eagles for the league portion of their schedule. Denver sweeps.
Dan: Trial by fire, right? All of Atlantic Hockey will be rooting extra hard for the Purple Eagles against a Frozen Four team from a year ago. Denver sweeps.
