The top seeds advanced in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey America tournament, but not without some drama.
Two of the three games needed overtime, and the other was a one-goal game until midway through the final period.
The weekend’s highlight was a classic battle between Air Force and Robert Morris at Cadet Ice Arena that needed double-overtime to settle. Anthony Yu’s goal at 13:30 of the second OT advanced the Falcons to this weekend’s quarterfinals.
“We needed to win this game at home and we needed to advance,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore after the game. “I’m really proud of the guys. We had to come from behind twice tonight, but the guys stuck with it. We managed the game well in overtime. To measure our success for the season, we needed to win this game. Being able to win for our seniors on our home ice is something special.”
Looking ahead to the quarterfinals
Eight teams will enter this weekend’s quarterfinals, with four emerging to play on. The three survivors from the first round join the top five seeds, which had byes last weekend.
These are best-of-three series.
#8 American International at #1 Holy Cross
The Yellow Jackets kept their season (and program) alive for another weekend with a 2-1 overtime win against defending champions RIT in a rematch of last year’s title game.
AIC is also looking to repeat last year’s semifinals upset of Holy Cross, while the Crusaders are looking to avenge that loss and advance. As the top seed, Holy Cross will be home throughout the tournament as long as they stay alive.
The teams met four times in the regular season, including two weeks ago. Holy Cross won the season series 3-1.
#7 Air Force at #2 Sacred Heart
These with be the 60th and 61st (and possible 62nd) meetings between the schools, but their first postseason pairing since 2011.
Assuming senior goaltender Guy Blessing is in the net for Air Force, these will be his 99th and 100th career games. His counterpart, rookie Ajeet Gundarah, has played in 21 contests and leads the conference in both goals against (1.93) and saves percentage (.933). Blessing is ranked sixth in GAA (2.54) and tenth in SV% (.906).
The teams split their only series this season, each winning by a 3-0 score.
#6 Canisius at #3 Bentley
The Golden Griffins advanced out of the first round thanks to a 2-0 win against Mercyhurst at LECOM Harborcenter. Rookie goaltender Ben Bonisteel posted his first career shutout in just his sixth career start for Canisius.
Bentley earned its bye by finishing in third place, its highest finish since 2018-19. The Falcons are 5-2 in their last seven games; Canisius are 3-4 in their last seven.
The teams only meeting this season was a two-game series at Bentley Area three weeks ago that saw the teams split, with Canisius taking four of six points thanks to a win and overtime loss.
#5 Army West Point at #4 Niagara
The teams have had an extra week to prepare for each other, as both enjoyed byes last weekend.
The Black Knights are looking for a storybook ending as head coach Brian Riley is retiring after 21 seasons at the helm. They would like nothing more than to see him host the Riley Trophy, named for his father who also coached at West Point (along with brother Rob).
The Black Knights will try to hold off the high-flying Niagara offense, which is averaging 3.38 goals per game, best in the conference.
The teams met only twice this season, back in early November at Tate Rink. They split a pair of close games.
Awards season
It’s almost that time of the year when the league hands out awards and announces its all-league and all-rookie teams. We’ll be handing out our kudos as well over our final three columns of the season.
Let’s start with the rookies. Here are our picks:
F: Michael Felsing, Robert Morris
F: Trevor Hoskin, Niagara
F: Jack Ivey, Army West Point
D: Tristan Allen, RIT
D: Dominic Elliot, Robert Morris
G: Ajeet Gundarah, Sacred Heart
Check back next time for our picks for all-conference teams.
