Atlantic Hockey Tournament Roundup
Friday, March 19, 2010 (Atlantic Hockey Semifinal)
Sacred Heart 2, Air Force 1
RIT 4, Canisius 0
Saturday, March 13, 2010 (AHA Quarterfinal Game 2)
RIT 4, Connecticut 1
RIT flirted with disaster Friday, going up 3-0 then being forced to OT. But the Tigers were having none of that in this one, and kept UConn down and out.
Canisius 5, Mercyhurst 4 (2 ot)
For the second straight night, Canisius stuns Mercyhurst in Erie, this time in overtime. Freshman Ben Parker scored seven minutes into the second overtime and the Griffs advance for the first time since 2004. On the game-winning score, junior Cory Conacher chipped the puck to Parker on the blue line. Two Mercyhurst defenders then hit the ice attempting to block the shot but Parker went high and beat the Laker goalie glove-side for the game-winning score. “Cory did a good job of chipping the puck out to me,” Parker said. “Two guys went down and I knew I had to go high. I went high and found the corner and the rest is history.” The goal for Parker was his third of the season and his first career game-winning goal. His score ended the longest game in the program’s Division I history. “It’s an unreal feeling right now,” Parker said. “I’m just in my first year but Canisius has been waiting a long time for this. All the credit goes to the guys in the locker room and it was a great team effort. We worked really hard for this all year and we deserve it.”
Sacred Heart 4, Holy Cross 3 (1 ot)
Sacred Heart and coach C.J. Marottolo continue to write the second-half success story, winning in OT to advance to the Atlantic Hockey final four next week in Rochester.
Air Force 4, Army 2
Jacques Lamoureux scored a power-play goal with 1:25 left in the third period to lift Air Force into the semifinals. “I am so emotionally spent,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “This was a huge series. When two service academies play it is everything and we felt that. This was very special for us. This isn’t the mighty Falcons of last year that beat Michigan (in the NCAA tournament). This is the scrappin’, fightin’ Falcons and these kids have so much heart and character. I was in awe of last year’s team but this year’s team, I respect every guy in that locker room. Army is a physical team and there is nothing easy about playing that team. I’m really happy this team gets the chance to go to Rochester. We are not a deep or old team, but we have guys who are making contributions who haven’t played. The fighting and scraping Falcons is what we are.” ... On the other side, Army was disappointed, but proud. “I am very proud of our guys,” said Army hockey head coach Brian Riley. “We challenged the guys and every player who wore a sweater tonight gave all that they had. Tonight, we played Army hockey and the guys played as hard as they could. I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Friday, March 12, 2010 (AHA Quarterfinal Game 1)
Canisius 5, Mercyhurst 1
Dan Morrison stopped 41 shots as Canisius stunned Mercyhurst in Erie to take Game 1. “I had a lot of confidence before the game because I had a good warm up and a good pre-game skate,” Morrison said. “The defense kept the shots to the outside for the most part and we did a good job of keeping them to one shot. We were coming off a tough weekend against RIT but came back with two good weeks of practice. It’s nice to win game one and now we have a chance to advance tomorrow.” ... “I don’t think the score was indicative of the play tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We got some fortunate bounces and Mercyhurst played really hard. We did enough to get the victory.”
Air Force 3, Army 0
Andrew Volkening recorded his third straight Atlantic tournament shutout as he made 29 saves. Volkening recorded shutouts in the semifinals and championship games of last year’s AHA Final Four. Volkening has an AHA Tournament shutout streak of 218 consecutive minutes that dates back to last season’s AHA quarterfinals. The shutout was his fourth of the season and the 15th of his career. “A question with our team this season was our depth and our depth was pretty darn good tonight,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “There is not pretty way to win these games. You have to grind them out and we did. And when we faltered, Volkening was there. There are a lot of ice bags in our locker room and that tells me there were a lot of guys paying the price tonight. Tomorrow will be tougher game than tonight. They will be facing elimination and I know that they don’t want their season to end on our ice.”
Sacred Heart 4, Holy Cross 0
The Pioneers had four different goal scorers in taking the first game and continuing their hot play. The first period went scoreless as the Crusaders outshot the Pioneers, 12-6, while Sacred Heart went 0-1 on the power play. Holy Cross freshman goalie Thomas Tysowsky made a big save with 2:28 left to go in the period when he stopped a shot on a breakaway by Matt Gingera. But that didn't hold up, as Nick Johnson scored his 26th goal of the season in the second period, and Sacred Heart scored three more times in the third.
RIT 4, Connecticut 3 (1 ot)
The regular-season champs needed overtime to defeat seven-win UConn in Game 1. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the second period, and then took a nap, and it nearly cost them. Figuring they could coast through, UConn stunned the hosts with three straight goals late in the second period to tie the game. RIT did wake up, outshooting UConn 18-1 in the third period, but Garrett Bartus stood on his head in the Huskies' net and suddenly, RIT found itself in OT. The Tigers were saved by Chris Haltigin's goal at 9:54.
Saturday, March 6, 2010 (AHA First Round)
Connecticut 2, Bentley 1
UConn advances to play No. 1 seed RIT in the quarterfinals next weekend, best-of-3.
Friday, March 5, 2010 (AHA First Round)
Holy Cross 4, American Int'l 2
Junior Jordan Cyr and freshman Rob Linsmayer each recorded a goal and assist as Holy Cross won its first-round Atlantic Hockey single-elimination game. As the No. 7 seed, the Crusaders will now head to Sacred Heart for a Best-of-3 quarterfinal series next weekend. The 10th-seeded Yellow Jackets end the season 5-24-4.
Saturday, March 20, 2010 (Atlantic Hockey Final)
RIT 6, Sacred Heart 1