Three things from the past weekend in Atlantic Hockey:
Not so fast
The weekend before last, Mercyhurst was able to extend its lead over second-place Bentley by taking three of four points against the Falcons. The Lakers were threatening to run away with the regular season title headed into a pair of games at Air Force, a team they had drubbed 8-2 earlier in the season. Mercyhurst was 7-2-1 all-time at Cadet Ice Arena, one of the few teams in the league that’s had success there.
But after opening a 2-0 lead five minutes into Friday’s game, Mercyhurst was able to muster just a single goal over the next 115, losing 5-3 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday.
Chris Truehl, who has been filling in for the injured Jason Torf in net for the Falcons for the past 11 games, continued his solid play with 58 saves, including 24 in Saturday’s shutout.
The Falcons top line of Chad Demers, Cole Gunner and Scott Holm were spectacular, combining for six of the seven Air Force goals.
With the sweep, Air Force moved into a tie with Connecticut for third place, three points behind Mercyhurst. As usual, it seems that the Falcons are going to have a say on who ultimately claims the title.
Hobey Hopeful?
In its ten-year history, Atlantic Hockey has seen one of its players named as a Hobey Baker Finalist seven times:
- 2013 Carsen Chubak (Niagara)
- 2012 Tim Kirby (Air Force)
- 2011 Paul Zanette (Niagara)
- 2009 Jacques Lamoureux (Air Force)
- 2008 Simon Lambert (Rochester Institute of Technology)
- 2007 Eric Ehn (Air Force)
- 2005 Reid Cashman (Quinnipiac)
2013-14 has been shaping up to be the fourth time in league history without a Hobey finalist, but a few AHA players remain dark horses in the race, including Robert Morris’ Cody Wydo. The senior had another excellent weekend, helping the Colonials to take three points at RIT to extend their unbeaten streak to a school-record nine games.
Wydo scored the game-tying goal late in the third period on on Friday, and got the game winner on Saturday. He now has 21 goals on the season, tops in Atlantic Hockey and third nationally.
A couple of more weekends like that will have Wydo in the mix for a Hobey finalist spot.
Three hundred and one
On Friday, American International coach Gary Wright became the 80th coach in men’s NCAA hockey history to record 300 career wins. The Yellow Jackets defeated Army 2-1 for their eighth victory of the season.
What did Wright’s team do for an encore? Play the most exciting game of the weekend, defeating the Black Knights 5-4 in overtime. Each team had two-goal leads during the game, but it came down to a goal by the Yellow Jackets’ ‘s Jon Puskar just 14 seconds into the extra frame. The goal was Puskar’s 88th career point, moving him into fourth place all-time at AIC.
