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Atlantic Hockey Showdown: Air Force Wins Battle of Goalies, Captures Atlantic Hockey Title


The Air Force Falcons captured the Atlantic Hockey Championship on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory in front of a nearly empty Blue Cross Arena in Rochester New York. This is most likely due to the fact that RIT did not make it to the finals for the first time in two years, RIT had won the past two Atlantic Hockey Championships. Senior Forward Ben Robillard was the only player able to crack Air Force's stingy defense while Junior Forwards Erik Baskin and Jordan Himley. Sophomore Goaltender Shane Starrett had 24 saves on 25 shots for Air Force while Freshman Francis Marotte had 12 saves on 13 shots in the loss for RMU. With the victory, Air Force receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament which will be starting next week. The Air Force Falcons will enter the NCAA tournament with a record of 26-9-5 and will play the Western Michigan Broncos in the first round.

Western Michigan will enter this game with a record of 22-15-5 and played Air Force at home in mid-November of this season, tying the Falcons 5-5 before beating them 4-1 on the very next night. The Broncos are led in scoring by forward Matheson Iacopelli who has 20 goals and 16 assists in 39 games played this season.

The Game will be played on Friday March 24th and can be seen on ESPN 3.

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