Visors and Risers

Credit Larry Clouse Photography  After winning the Atlantic Conference Championship with a tight 2-1 victory over the Robert Morris University Colonials and earning their bid to the NCAA tournament, not many people were expecting them to do anything but roll over and be quickly knocked out. These low expectations for teams coming out of the Atlantic Conference are not all together unwarranted as it is full of small school teams with fewer scholarships to offer and thus less appeal for players, but this year the Atlantic began to turn some heads. Credit Colorado Springs Gazette  This resurgence of the Conference was highlighted by Air Force's breakout season, which started off with a bang when they defeated Boston College, who was ranked 5th in the nation at the time, 2-1 in just their first game of the season. Throughout the season Air Force was ranked in the top 20 nationwide on two separate occasions and would eventually lead to NCAA tournament berth. This tour...

Courtesy Hurst Hockey Insider  Mercyhurst graduating Senior Forward Kyle Dutra has signed a pro contract with the Norfolk Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League*. Dutra, a 6'3" 200 pound forward has spent his passed four years playing at Mercyhurst University. In his 147 games playing with the Lakers Dutra has amassed 71 points (32 goals, 39 assists) with a -15 plus/minus over that span. This past season Dutra played in 39 contests for the Lakers, scoring 10 goals and dishing out 17 assists. Dutra left Mercyhurst to join the Admirals following the Lakers being eliminated by the Army Golden Knights in the second round of the Atlantic Conference tournament. This season the Admirals are currently in last place in the southern division and 24th overall in the league posting a record of 24-34-4. In his first game with the Admirals on Saturday March 18th Dutra managed to score his first pro goal in his first pro game, heres to many more! *The ECHL  is a profesional h...

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 ...

Past Atlantic Conference Champions (Credit Wikipedia) Semifinal Results:  #1 Canisius Vs. #4 RMU The RMU Colonials used a three goal third period and a hat-trick from Junior Forward Brady Ferguson to beat the #1 overall seed Canisius 6-2 on Friday night. Look for Ferguson to play a deciding roll in the Championship game. #2 Air Force Vs. #3 Army Air Force rode a shutout performance from Sophomore Goaltender Shane Starett  (29 saves) to beat Army 1-0 and punch their ticket to the championship game. Junior Forward Ben Kucera  scored the game winner at the midpoint of the second period. Starett will need to have a great game in order for Air Force to be able to keep with RMU's high powered offense. Championship Game: #2 Air Force Vs. #4 RMU  Season Series: These two teams split their two game regular season series when Air Force visited RMU, with Air Force winning the first game 6-2 but losing 2-1 on the very next night. Championship History...

"Canisius Wins 2013 Championship" Courtesy Canisius Athletics Round #2 Recap:  #7 Mercyhurst (1) Vs. #3 Army (2)  The Army Black Knights barely avoided one of the largest upsets of the tournament thus far by beating the Mercyhurst Lakers in a very close 3 game series 2 games to 1. On Friday night Army exploded with 6 goals to take game #1 6-4, the Golden Knights were lead by freshman forward Brendan Soucie with 2 goals. In game #2 it took overtime but Mercyhurst was able to pull out the victory and extend their visit to West Point for another day with a 3-2 overtime victory, Sophomore Forward Matthew Whittaker  led Mercyhurst with two goals including the overtime winner. On Sunday night Army managed to sneak away with a 4-3 victory after being down 3-1 in the 2nd period.  #8 Bentley (0) Vs. #2 Air Force (2) Air Force won the battle of the Falcons this weekend by sweeping Bentley 2 games to nothing to advance to Rochester. In game #1 Air For...

Atlantic Hockey Showdown: Playoff Round #2  "RIT wins 2015 Title" (Credit Bryan Bennet)   Round #1 Results:   #10 AIC (0) Vs. #7 Mercyhurst (2) The Lakers swept the weekend behind an impressive all around team effort helping themselves get out of that three game losing streak to end the season. In Friday night's game the Lakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before giving up three straight, Sophomore Forward Derek Barach would then score his second of the night late in the second period that eventually ended up as the game winning goal as the Lakers won 4-3. Saturday's game was a different story however, as the Lakers used a 4 goal second and 24 saves from Junior Goaltender Brandon Wildung to roll over AIC 5-0 and earn a sweep to move on to the next round. #11 Niagara (2) Vs. #6 RIT (1)  In easily the biggest upset of the playoffs thus far, the Niagara Purple Eagles managed to take down RIT, winning two out of the three games on the weekend. Niagara would...

Atlantic Hockey Rankings  1- Canisius  2- Air Force  3- Army  4- RMU  5- Holy Cross  6- RIT  7- Mercyhurst  8- Bentley  9- Sacred Heart  10- AIC  11- Niagara  Playoff Round #1 (March 3rd-5th) This round is a best of 3 game series hosted by the higher. The top 5 teams in the conference receive a bye and will host the winners from round #1  #11 Niagara Vs. #6 RIT  - RIT will be hosting this series at the Gene Polisseni Center  in Rochester, NY  - RIT swept the regular season series against Niagara, beating Niagara 7-1 and 6-2  - Niagara is currently on a 12 game losing streak  #10 AIC Vs. #7 Mercyhurst  - Mercyhurst will be hosting this series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, PA  - Mercyhurst split the season series with AIC, losing the first game 3-5 but coming back the next night and winning 6-3 - Mercyhurst is currently ...

Saturday February 25, 2017  Mercyhurst Ice Center, Erie PA    Mercyhurst Lakers (12-17-4, 5th in Atlantic Conference)    Vs.  RIT Tigers (12-15-0, 8th in Atlantic Conference)                                                              Photo Credit- Omar Phillips Mercyhurst Lakers:  After finishing 4th in the Atlantic last season (15-9-4) the Lakers have had a tough time getting on any sort of prolonged run throughout the season. Mercyhurst is currently in 5th place following a 4-0 loss to Canisius on Thursday night. - Sophomore Defenseman Les Lancaster  (Ypsilanti, Mich) has been a rock on defense for the Lakers this season, posting 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists) in 32 games this season - Freshman goaltender Colin DeAugustine has posted a record of 5-6-2 with a 2.95 goals...

Thursday February 23, 2017  HarborCenter, Buffalo NY   Canisius Golden Griffins (18-10-7, 1st in Atlantic Conference)   Vs.  Mercyhurst Lakers (12-16-4, 5th in Atlantic Conference)                                                         Courtesy: www.tomwolf.smugmug.com On a Thursday evening contest the Atlantic leading Canisius Griffins take on the Mercyhurst Lakers in a pivotal conference matchup. Although every team in the Atlantic is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, positioning is still up in the air. Atlantic Hockey Playoffs Explained:  - There are 11 total teams in the Atlantic Conference - The top 5 teams are given a first round bye while the bottom 6 teams are paired up and play a best of 3 game series hosted by the higher seeded team (Round 1 will take place March 3rd-5th) - ...