November 5, 2008
Team of the Week: Air Force
Flying High: Air Force Falcons Soaring Past Early Competition
by Theresa Spisak/CHN Reporter
After Saturday night's 8-2 victory over the visiting Bentley, the Air Force Falcons added another first to the school record books.
In the past two years, they've added a Hobey Baker candidate and trips to the NCAA tournament.
This year, it's an 8-0 start; a start which has tied the 1971-72 squad for best start in school history but has made the school record books as the best start against solely Division-I opponents.
When you talk to coach Frank Serratore about the early season run, he compares it to a trip to Sin City.
"We're looking at this like we're in Las Vegas and we're rolling sevens right now," he said. "We're having fun with it rather than letting the pressure build like, "Oh god, we can't lose;" our attitude is more, "Let's go see if we can get another one."
Of course, since his team is up at the proverbial table, he's having fun with it, knowing the ride won't last forever.
"We have to take that approach to it," he said. "There's plenty of times when you're struggling and you're not having fun so when you're doing well, you better have some fun with it because experience and history tells me and tells us that we're going to hit some road blocks so yeah, right now, let's have fun with it and let's keep it in perspective and just try to keep it going as long as we can."
For right now, CHN's Team of the Week is enjoying a bye week off to catch up on schoolwork at the Academy. However, they're staying ever-focused about their team and their season.
"I think it's nice to know that we kinda control our own destiny. I mean, last year it was up in the air," said senior assistant captain Mike Phillipich, referencing last year's inconsistent season up until tournament time. "Granted, none of us are looking that far forward now obviously; [we're] just enjoying our week off right now and knowing that we have a tough weekend going into Holy Cross."
Serratore also knows that while the Falcons' victories have looked impressive, nothing is ever perfect.
"We've been winning and winning big, but there's still parts of our game that haven't been satisfactory so we don't quit coaching," he said.
That being said, he's got a lot to work with in this year's team -- one of the best he's seen in his tenure.
"I would say yes [to that], but I would give an assist to the last few years because the last two years -- the last few years have been building blocks and we've had seasons where our players have been able to gain a lot of confidence," he said.
Players like Phillipich and fellow seniors Josh Frider, Brent Olson, Michael Mayra and Greg Flynn, who remember their freshman year -- a year that, until recently, had more typically described Falcon hockey.
"I think we're a little more used to winning now," said Phillipich. "My freshman year, we went 11-20; wasn't used to winning then."
"Our seniors have ridden the elevator from the ground floor so they know where we've come from and how at one time we struggled and that's experience," said Serratore. "You can buy everything up here at Wal-Mart but experience and the seniors have experienced a lot."
The seniors are sharing that experience with the rest of the team with the perhaps most noticeable example being sophomore transfer Jacques Lamoureux.
Lamoureux, a transfer from Northern Michigan, went from a two point season in 2006-07 to currently leading the nation in scoring with 19 points. He credits some of his success to his senior teammates -- two of whom are his linemates Olson (second in the nation) and Frider (tied for fourth).
"I think they all have the approach that this is their last season and they want to go out on top, no regrets and I think it's apparent in every game when you see those guys play," said Lamoureux. "They lay it out on the line every night and I think it filters down to the team to bring your best effort every day in practice and every game and being around that itself is enough.
"You can't help but feed off it."
"We're all really upbeat and confident and proud of what we've done so far, but we definitely want to keep chipping away at it and see how far we can go," said junior goaltender Andrew Volkening -- the Falcons' number one guy since late 2006. "But, we're not too worried about winning games."
Still, despite the jovial atmosphere, Lamoureux says it best when it gets down to the nitty gritty of the team that promotional posters describe as "Red, White and Blue Collar":
"It looks like we're having a lot of fun, but underneath, we're pretty damn serious about what we're doing."
