Bookends
The first and last place teams recorded sweeps this past weekend in Atlantic Hockey play. Robert Morris swept Sacred Heart by identical scores of 2-1, while Niagara took all four points from American International, 2-0 and 4-3.
The rest (with the exception of Canisius, which was idle) had to settle for anywhere from one to three points.
As a result, there was not a lot of movement in the standings with just three weekends to go in the regular season.
The Colonials extended their lead from a single point over Rochester Institute of Technology to three points over Air Force, which jumped over the Tigers into second thanks to a three-point weekend against RIT in Colorado Springs.
The only other changes in position were Bentley cruising past Canisius into sole possession of sixth place, Army moving from ninth into a tie for eighth, and Niagara drawing even with AIC for tenth place.
For real
Air Force extended its unbeaten streak to ten games with a win and a tie against RIT.
After deadlocking 2-2 on Friday, the Falcons put on a dominating performance on Saturday, highlighted by freshman goalie Shane Starrett’s third shutout of the season in a 4-0 win.
Now in second place, this very young Falcons team has exceeded expectations after losing a large veteran class and all three goaltenders in the offseason.
Picked to finish seventh in the preseason coach’s poll, Air Force has taken at least three points in its last five weekends of conference play. They’re clearly for real.
“This is the best Saturday night we have had all season,” said Falcons coach Frank Serratore. “Good teams are hard to put away and RIT is a good team and they are a contender. It was not easy. I was pleased with a lot of things tonight.”
For Jack
The hockey world was saddened on Wednesday to hear of the passing of legendary coach Jack Riley.
Army West Point will wear helmet stickers for the rest of the season to honor the former Army and U.S. Olympic Team coach.
And because you knew they would, the Black Knights played some inspired hockey this past weekend, taking three points from Holy Cross.
Coach Brian Riley’s team settled for a 2-2 tie on Friday but got off to a quick start on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at Tate rink.
Army West Point’s 3-1 win extended its unbeaten streak to five games, the longest for the Black Knights since 2009.
Next up for Army West Point: a trip to Robert Morris.
