January 12, 2009 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through January 4

Atlantic Hockey Co-Players of the Week

Owen Meyer - Army Junior, Forward, Dundee, Ill. Meyer scored three goals - including two game-winning goals -- and had an assist to help Army to a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst. Meyer's second-period goal on Friday was the game-winner n a 2-1 victory. The next night, he scored twice, both in the third period, and assisted on Army's first goal. Meyer's game-winning tally came on the power play with less than three minutes remaining in a 4-3 win. For the weekend, he was +2.

Dustin Cloutier - Bentley Sophomore, Forward, Berkley, Mich. Cloutier sparked Bentley to an 8-3 win over Canisius Friday night with the first hat trick by a Bentley player in nearly a year. All of his goals came on the power play and he combined those goals with two assists for a career high five points. With the Falcons trailing 1-0, he tied the game 7:38 into the first period, then scored again to give Bentley a 4-1 lead at 18:11 of the first. He completed the hat trick at 5:18 of the second period to give Bentley a 5-1 lead.

Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week

Jay Clark - Army Sophomore, Goaltender, Baudette, Minn. Clark won his third straight game in goal to help Army to a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst. Clark made 35 saves in a 2-1 victory on Friday and then turned away 25 shots in a 4-3 win on Saturday to complete the sweep. He made 60 saves during the weekend while allowing four goals.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Dave Kostuch - Canisius Freshman, Forward, Richmond Hill, ONT Kostuch tallied three goals during the weekend, all coming on the power play. He scored two goals in the opener against Bentley and in the finale, Kostuch helped the Griffs rally from down three goals when he knotted the game in the second period. He currently ranks eighth nationally with 0.63 goals per game and 10th with six power play goals. Both numbers are also the top marks in the country by any freshmen.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Nielsson Arcibal - American International (Fr., F, Vista, Calif.) - Tallied a goal and an assist in the Yellow Jackets home and home with Holy Cross. Netted a goal in the second period of AIC first game with the Crusaders, and then dished out an assist in the back end of the home and home. Chad Richardson - Armerican International (Sr., F, Regina, SASK) - Recorded a goal and dished out an assist in AIC’s weekend series with Holy Cross. Handed out an assist in the first game, and then tallied the team’s only goal in the finale on Saturday. Scott Warner - Army (Fr., D, Anchorage, Alaska) - Warner had a goal and an assist and helped lead a defensive effort that limited Mercyhurst’s power play in a weekend sweep of the Lakers. Warner scored a power play goal to tie Saturday’s game at 1 and was credited with an assist when Army took a 2-1 lead in an eventual 4-3 victory. Warner, who played on the power play and penalty kill, helped hold Mercyhurst to one goal in 11 power play opportunities for the weekend. Erik Peterson - Bentley (So., F, Minnetonka, Minn.) - Peterson scored two goals in the first period of Saturday’s 4-3 over Canisius. He gave Bentley a 1-0 lead with a breakaway goal after creating a turnover, then gave Bentley a 2-0 lead on a 2-on-1 break at 16:26 of the first period. Dain Prewitt - Bentley (Sr., F, Westminster, Colo.) - Prewitt had a goal and two assists in Saturday’s win over Canisius to complete the series sweep. He assisted on Erik Peterson’s second goal of the game, then on Jeff Gumaer’s goal to give Bentley a 3-0 lead in the second period. He recorded his 100th career point with the game-winning goal in third period. Ian Dams - Holy Cross (Jr., G, Manotick, ONT) - Dams made 26 saves for a save percentage of .963 in the 5-1 win over American International on Jan. 10 at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield, Mass. He is now 3-1-0 on the season and has earned wins in his last three starts. Rob Forshner - Holy Cross (Jr., F, Sundre, ALB) - Forshner recorded two goals and two assists for four points in the two wins in the two-game home-and-home series with American International. In the 5-1 win on Jan. 9 in Worcester, he scored the eventual game-winner in the first period and netted Holy Cross’ third goal of the contest in the second period. In the 5-1 win on Jan. 10 in West Springfield, Forshner had two assists including one on the eventual game-winner. He is tied for first on the team in assists with nine, while his 15 points are tied for second and his six goals are tied for third. Luke Miller - Holy Cross (Fr., F, Andover, Mass.) - Miller scored his first collegiate goal and also had two assists in the two-game home-and-home series with American International. In the 5-1 win on Jan. 9, he had two assists including one on the eventual game-winner, while in the first period of the 5-1 win on Jan. 10, he scored the eventual game-winning goal. For the year, Miller has one goal and five assists for six points as he has played in all 21 games. Tyler Brenner - RIT (Fr., F, Linwood, ONT) - Brenner dished out four assists as RIT swept a pair of games against Connecticut to extend its winning streak to seven games. On Friday, Brenner dished out a career-high three assists in a 5-3 win. The following night, Brenner added an assist in a 7-4 win. The first-year forward has a six-game point streak, with a goal and seven assists. Overall, Brenner leads all RIT rookies with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 22 games. Jared DeMichiel - RIT (Jr., G, Avon, Conn.) - DeMichiel picked up his fifth straight win, stopping 23 of 26 shots in Friday’s 5-3 win over Connecticut. DeMichiel made a handful of excellent saves throughout to earn his fifth win in a row, eighth of the season and seventh in AHA play. Brennan Sarazin - RIT (Sr., F, Nepean, ONT) - Sarazin scored two goals and added three assists for five points in two RIT wins over Connecticut this weekend. On Friday, Sarazin was named the game’s first star, scoring a goal and adding two assists, while playing at a plus-3 in a 5-3 win over Connecticut. On Saturday, Sarazin scored his team-leading 10th goal which proved to be the game-winner and added an assist in a 7-4 win. Sarazin, a captain, leads RIT with 10 goals and a plus-10 rating. He also has eight assists and 18 points. Erik Boisvert - Sacred Heart (Fr., F, Vista, Calif.) - Boisvert netted two goals in SHU’s win over UConn Tuesday night. He scored the Pioneers third and fourth goals in a three minute window midway through the second period. Boisvert now has a team leading seven goals for the season. Stefan Drew - Sacred Heart (Sr., G, Oakbank, MAN) - Drew made 28 saves to earn the victory Tuesday night over UConn. The performance included 13 saves in the first period. Bear Trapp - Sacred Heart (Sr., F, Regina, SASK) - Trapp had his biggest game of the season against UConn Tuesday night, registering two goals and an assist. He scored SHU’s second goal, the eventual game winner, and then capped the scoring by netting the sixth goal midway through the third. He also assisted on SHU’s fifth goal. The three points gave him 135 for his career, moving him into third place on the Sacred Heart all-time list.

Atlantic Hockey Team Notes

Air Force: After winning its first 13 games, Air Force is now 2-4-1 in the last seven games...Falcons reached 15 wins in the 19th game of the season, the fastest in school history...AFA was 1-2-1 in playing four games in seven days in Connecticut...Air Force will next play on Jan. 16-17 when it hosts Canisius. AFA plays four straight home conference games as Army comes to Cadet Ice Arena following Canisius...Greg Flynn in the top scoring defenseman in the nation with 1.20 points per game...Lamoureux is second in the nation in goals (17) and third in points (30)...Lamoureux leads the nation with 10 PPG and five GWG...Olson is 12th in the nation in points with 26...Olson in second in the nation in assists with 21...Andrew Volkening is sixth in the nation in GAA with 1.63 and eighth in saves percentage at .932...Air Force leads the nation with 4.05 goals per game and is fourth in scoring defense, allowing 1.75 per game...The Air Force power play is tops in the nation at 26.8 percent. American International: The Yellow Jackets were back in action this past weekend in a home and home series against Holy Cross. AIC’s record fell to 4-16-1 for the season and to 4-11-0 in Atlantic Hockey play as they lost both games. In their first game on Friday night, the Yellow Jackets lost 5-1. The Crusaders scored twice in the first period and then two more times in the second to take a 4-0 lead before AIC scored. Freshman Nielsson Arcibal netted his third goal of the season with assists from senior Chad Richardson and classmate Luciano Primiani. Holy Cross added another goal in the final period of play to cap off their victory. Sophomore netminder Dan Ramirez made 23 saves on the night. In the back end of the home and home, the Yellow Jackets lost 5-1. The Crusaders took a 3-0 lead into the second period. Richardson got AIC on the board as he found the back of the net with assists from Arcibal and junior Frankie DeAngelis. Holy Cross added two goals in the third for the victory. Ramirez stopped 18 shots in the loss. Next up, the Yellow Jackets travel to the Rochester Institute of Technology for a weekend series starting on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Army: The Black Knights moved into fifth-place in the league standings with a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst. Owen Meyer, Cody Omilusik, Eric Sefchik, Scott Warner and Jay Clark had big weekends in Army’s first sweep since the first round of the conference playoffs last year … Meyer scored the game-winning goals in both wins – 2-1 on Friday, 4-3 on Saturday – and finished with three goals and assist … Sefchik had a goal and four assists … Omilusik scored once and handed out three assists … Warner has a goal and assist in Friday’s win, his second multiple-point game of the season against Mercyhurst … Clark made 60 saves over the weekend and now has 116 saves in his last three games, all wins … Omilusik leads the team in scoring with 21 points (10G, 11A). He shares the team assist lead with Sefchik … Meyer has a team-best 11 goals and 19 points … Clark now has a .912 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average … Army limited Mercyhurst to one goal in 11 power play chances … Army scored twice on the power play Saturday and was 3 of 14 for the weekend … Saturday’s win against Mercyhurst was shown live on CBS College Sports Network … Army will host Holy Cross for a weekend series with games on Saturday and Sunday … Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. while Sunday’s is a 4:05 start on ESPNU … Army is 3-0 in its last three national television games. Bentley: Bentley swept two games from Canisius over the weekend at the Amherst Pepsi Center and also completed the season sweep against the Golden Griffins. Sophomore Dustin Cloutier had a career high five points (three goals and two assists) in Friday’s 8-3 win. It was the first hat trick by a Bentley player since Erik Peterson’s three goals at Holy Cross on Jan. 11, 2008. The Falcons went a season best 5-7 on the power play. The eight goals scored is the most since an 8-5 win over AIC on Feb. 11, 2000. It was also the second most goals scored in a game since the program went Division I. On Saturday night, sophomore Erik Peterson scored two first period goals, and senior Dain Prewitt scored the game-winner on the power play at 14:21 of the third period to give Bentley a 4-3 win. Peterson and senior Jeff Gumaer’s power play goal allowed the Falcons to take a 3-0 lead past the midway point of the second period, but Canisius rallied with three power play goals over the final 6:22 of the second period to tie the score. The score remained tied for most of the third period until Prewitt won it with a goal off an assist from Gumaer. Prewitt had two assists earlier in the game, and his goal was the 100th point of his career. He becomes just the 13th Falcon all-time to reach the 100 point milestone. With the win on Saturday, Bentley went 4-0 against Canisius this season. It is only the second time since the Falcons have been a member of Atlantic Hockey that they have gone 4-0 against a team in the regular season (2005-06 against Connecticut was the other). Bentley is at UConn this Wednesday and at Maine on Friday. Bentley defeated the Huskies 1-0 on a Jeff Gumaer power play goal back on Nov. 7. It will be the first ever meeting against Maine. Canisius: The Griffs lost a pair of games at the Amherst Pepsi Center to Bentley, losing by 8-3 and 4-3. Canisius is now 7-8-4 on the season and 5-6-2 in Atlantic Hockey play. Four of the team’s six losses in conference are against Bentley. The Canisius penalty kill unit, which entered the weekend first in Atlantic Hockey play, struggled during the series. The Falcons converted 7-of-13 power play opportunities, including a 5-of-7 performance on Friday. Canisius also performed well on the power play during the weekend, scoring five of its six goals from the weekend with the extra-man advantage. Freshman Dave Kostuch tallied three power play goals during the weekend to lead the Canisius attack. Kostuch leads the Griffs with 12 goals, six power play tallies and is tied for the team lead with 18 points. He ranks eight nationally with 0.63 goals per game and 10th with his six power play goals. Both numbers are also the top marks in the country by any freshmen. Kostuch is third nationally among rookies with 1.00 per game. The Griffs return to the ice on Friday and Saturday, playing at No. 14 Air Force. Connecticut: The Huskies were on the road for three Atlantic Hockey Games this week first traveling to Sacred Heart on Tuesday. The Pioneers got out to an early lead but Brad Cooper would tie up the game before the end of the first period on his first career collegiate goal. But his goal would be the only offensive action the Huskies would have as Sacred Heart went on to score five unanswered goals taking a 6-1 lead and the victory. The Pioneers took both of the games from UConn during this 2008-09 season and have won eight of the last nine. UConn took to the road on Thursday and Friday for their final two games of the season against RIT. On Friday UConn was the team to get out to a 1-0 lead when Pat McAuley scored his fourth goal of the season giving UConn the early lead. But the game would once again be tied up before the end of the first and the 1-1 tie would carry all the way to the third period. In the third, RIT outscored UConn 4-2 for the lead and the victory. Andrew Olson and Chris Waterstradt added on the goals for UConn in the third, both of the power play kind. In their third and final game of the week, RIT gained the early 1-0 lead but again, for the third game in a row the score would be knotted at one heading into the first intermission. UConn’s comeback goal in the first was scored by Sean Erickson, his third of the year. The second period is where all of the action was in this game, and RIT started it all off by scoring three goals in a 1:29 span. UConn knocked one in to cut the lead to two, but before the end of the period the Tigers tacked on another two goals to give themselves the four-goal advantage heading into the third period. The Huskies clawed their way back in the third period, scoring two power play goals. Brad Cooper had the first for the Huskies, his second of the week and the season, with Matt Pedemonti tapping in a goal during a 5 on 3 advantage cutting the lead to two. RIT would add another late into the third period to finish with the 7-4 victory over UConn. Holy Cross: The Crusaders have now won three in a row and are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Last season, Holy Cross had a five-game unbeaten streak as it went 1-0-4. The Crusaders have outscored their opponents by a 16-7 margin in the last four contests. Holy Cross takes this year’s season series with American International, 3-1-0. Freshmen Luke Miller (Andover, Mass.) and Andrew Cox (Lombardy, Ontario) each scored their first collegiate goal in the 5-1 win over American International on Jan. 10. Both of them also had two assists for three total points over the two-game series. Junior goalie Ian Dams (Manotick, Ontario) has won in his last three starts. Junior Rob Forshner (Sundre, Alberta) has three goals and two assists for five points over the last three games. The Crusaders are seventh in the country and third in Atlantic Hockey in fewest penalty minutes per game with 12.6. Last year, the Crusaders won the Atlantic Hockey Sportsmanship Award as they led the league and were fourth in the nation in fewest penalty minutes per game with 11.1. For the fourth straight season, the Crusaders will be on ESPNU. Holy Cross’ game at Army on Jan. 18 will mark the fifth time a Crusader game has been on ESPNU. Holy Cross is 2-2-0 in these games. The previous four times were the 3-1 win over Army at the Hart Center on Nov. 4, 2007, the 7-0 loss at Quinnipiac on Jan. 28, 2007, the 4-3 overtime victory over Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA West Regional Semifinals on Mar. 24, 2006 and the 5-2 loss at North Dakota in the NCAA West Regional Finals on Mar. 25, 2006. Mercyhurst: The Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team saw its five-game winning streak over Army come to an end this past weekend as the Black Knights swept the Lakers by the scores of 2-1 and 4-3 to split the season series at two games apiece. The Lakers hadn’t lost to Army since Jan. 13, 2007 when the Black Knights skated to a 2-1 victory. Sophomore Scott Pitt, junior Chris Risi and freshmen Derek Elliot and Phil Ginand tallied goals for Mercyhurst, who now falls to 7-12-2 on the season and 5-6-2 in Atlantic Hockey play. The Lakers return home this weekend to kick off the start of a nine-game homestand beginning on Friday, Jan. 16 when AHA foe Sacred Hearts comes to town for a two-game series. Last season, Mercyhurst defeated the Pioneers, 4-1, to advance to play Army in the semifinal round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament. Rochester Institute of Technology: The Tigers are on a roll, having won seven straight games. It is the longest winning streak for the Tigers as a Division I program. It is the third longest current winning streak in Division I. The Tigers have outscored their foes 33-18 over their winning streak and have scored 29 goals over their last five home games, all wins (5.8 goals per game). In nine home games this season, RIT has outscored its opponents 46-29 (5.1 goals per game). The Tigers are 7-2-0 at home this season. The Tigers scored a season-high seven goals in Saturday’s 7-4 win over Connecticut. RIT’s five second period goals on Saturday equaled a Division I team record, set on Oct. 20, 2006 vs. AIC. The 12 goals in a weekend series are a season-high. All 12 RIT forwards hat at least a point in Saturday’s game. RIT has sole possession of second place in Atlantic Hockey with 23 points, just two points behind first place Air Force (who was idle this weekend), and eight ahead of third place Bentley. RIT leads all of Division I with seven shorthanded goals. RIT is now sixth in Division I averaging 3.5 goals per game. The Tigers have incredibly balanced scoring, with six players scoring at least 17 points and nine in double digits. Junior defenseman Dan Ringwald tied a career-high with four assists on Saturday. He is tied for fourth among all Division I defensemen with 19 assists and seventh with 21 points. Sophomore Andrew Favot has 11 points (3-8-11) during a seven-game point scoring streak. Junior forward Matt Crowell has five goals in his last four games and 11 points (5-6-11) during a seven-game point streak. Freshman Tyler Brenner has a six-game point scoring streak. Freshman forward Scott Knowles scored his first collegiate goal on Saturday. RIT players are a combined plus-91 in AHA play. Sophomore goaltender Jan Ropponen made his first collegiate appearance on Saturday, stopping all seven shots he faced in just under four minutes of play. The Tigers will look to stay hot this weekend, as they host AIC at Ritter Arena. Both games start at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Sacred Heart: The Pioneers beat UConn 6-1 Tuesday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion. Senior Bear Trapp had two goals and assist to record his first multi-point game of the year. The three points gave him 135 for his career, moving him into third place on the Sacred Heart all-time list. Junior Erik Boisvert scored two goals to tally his first mutli-goal game of the year. The six goals were the most SHU has scored in one game this year. The Pioneers have now won three straight league games. The Pioneers begin a stretch of 14 games over the next seven straight weeks to close out the regular season this weekend when they visit Mercyhurst for a pair of games.