December 1, 2008 Weekly Release (PDF)

Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through November 30

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Brandon Cummings - Canisius Sophomore, Forward, Kindersley, SASK Cummings helped the Griffs earn 3-of-4 points at Clarkson during the weekend. The sophomore tallied three points in the two games. In the Griffs 4-3 victory in the opener, Cummings scored Canisius' first two goals of the game. He then added an assist on the Griffs' first goal in the finale.

Atlantic Hockey Co-Goalies of the Week

Ryan Zapolski - Mercyhurst Sophomore, Goaltender, Erie, Pa. Zapolski has been one of the key reasons why the Lakers have gone undefeated in their last five games. The sophomore netminder accumulated 85 saves this past weekend, stopping 39 in a win 4-1 win against RPI and 46 in a 6-4 stunner against No. 7 Princeton. To date, Zapolski is 4-0-1 with a goal against average of 1.99 and a save percentage of .944.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Marcello Ranallo - Connecticut Freshman, Forward, Burnaby, BC Marcello Ranallo recorded three points on the afternoon for the Huskies scoring the Huskies' second goal of the night and assisting on the Krispel goal and Michael Coppola's empty-net goal to tie his season high in points. He first recorded three points against Army on October 24. Ranallo finished the night with a +/- of +4 along with teammates Michael Coppola and Jason Krispel.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Scott Mathis, Air Force (Fr., D, Crystal Lake, Ill.) - One goal and one assist in the two games vs. Denver and Colorado College...Assisted on the game-winning goal scored by Josh Frider vs. CC...Scored AFA’s only goal vs. Denver, his second goal of the season...Ranks as the No. 3 freshman defenseman in the nation with 10 points (2-8-10)...Ranks No. 3 in the league in points by a rookie and is the top scoring freshman defenseman in the league. Andrew Volkening, Air Force (Jr., G, Genoa, Ill.) - In 120 minutes vs. two of the top nine teams in the nation, had a 2.00 GAA and a .930 saves percentage. Made 53 saves in the two games...Gave us just one goal in the win over No. 3 Colorado College. Made 28 saves in the game...Allowed three goals against No. 9 Denver in a 4-1 loss...Has a 1.35 GAA and a .942 saves percentage with a 13-1 record on the season...His only loss was to No. 9 Denver...Has allowed more than two goals just twice all season...Five of the 19 goals he has allowed this season have been power play. Michael Penny, American International (Fr., F, Calgary, ALB) - Had a goal in the Yellow Jakcets 3-1 victory over Bentley. Scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal for AIC. Dan Ramirez, American International (So., G, Rochester, N.Y.) - Made 35 save, including 14 in the first period and 12 in the third. He aslo stopped 10 shots on the penlaty-kill and was key to AIC killing off eight of Bentley’s nine power-play oppertunities, propeling the Yellow Jackets to it’s first road victory of the season, as they beat the Falcons 3-1. Adam Brace, Canisius (Fr., F, Coden, ONT) - Brace tallied a career-best three points in the Griffs’ victory over Clarkson in the series opener. Brace started the night with an assist on a power play to give Canisius an early 1-0 advantage. After Clarkson took a 3-2 lead in the third period, Brace helped lead the Griffs’ comeback. He registered the primary assist on the Griffs’ game-tying score with 13.8 seconds remaining in the game and then added a helper on Canisius’ overtime score. His three points helped Canisius to its first ever win against an ECAC school and also handed Clarkson its first home loss against an Atlantic Hockey school. Dan Morrison, Canisius (Fr., G, London, ONT) - Morrison led the Canisius defense in a 2-2 tie against Clarkson. The freshman turned away 34 shots. He made two saves in overtime, including a shot from point-blank range, to help the Griffs earn the draw against the Golden Knights. Beau Erickson, Connecticut (Jr., G, Hinton, Iowa) - Beau Erickson only allowed one goal during the game against Brown, a late-third period goal. He held the Bears to 50 scoreless minutes before the goal finishing with 23 saves on the afternoon and recording his third win of the season. Erickson held the Bears scoreless in power play opportunities as Brown went 0-4 during the game. He made several point blank saves during the game to keep UConn ahead and help them to the victory. Jason Krispel, Connecticut (So., F, Cypress, Calif.) - In 120 minutes vs. two of the top nine teams in the nation, had a 2.00 GAA and a .930 saves percentage. Made 53 saves in the two games...Gave us just one goal in the win over No. 3 Colorado College. Made 28 saves in the game...Allowed three goals against No. 9 Denver in a 4-1 loss...Has a 1.35 GAA and a .942 saves percentage with a 13-1 record on the season...His only loss was to No. 9 Denver...Has allowed more than two goals just twice all season...Five of the 19 goals he has allowed this season have been power play. Matt Clune, Holy Cross (Fr., D, Toronto, ONT) - Clune recorded one goal and one assist in the three games played on the week. In the 4-2 win at Sacred Heart on Nov. 29, he assisted on the game-winning goal, while on Nov. 30 against the Pioneers he scored one goal. For the year he has two goals and two assists for four points. Jordan Cyr, Holy Cross (So., F, Winnipeg, MAN) - Cyr scored two goals and had one assist in three games during the week. He recorded one goal and one assist at No. 8 Boston University, while he scored one goal in the 4-2 win at Sacred Heart on Nov. 29. He currently leads the team in goals with six, while he is tied for second in points with 10 and is tied for third in assists with four. Adam Roy, Holy Cross (So., G, Feeding Hills, Mass.) - Roy stopped 75 out of 83 shots that he faced in three games during the week. At No. 8 Boston University, he made 25 saves and allowed three goals, while in the 4-2 win at Sacred Heart on Nov. 29 he stopped 20 shots and allowed two goals. He also made 30 saves and allowed three goals against Sacred Heart on Nov. 30. Phil Ginand, Mercyhurst (Fr., F, Milford, Mass.) - The reigning AHA Rookie of the Week, Ginand recorded his second goal of the season against RPI this past weekend. The Milford, Mass. Product scored in the second period to provide his team with the eventual game-winner in a 4-1 victory. Ginand currently has two goals and seven assists for nine points to rank fifth on the team. Scott Pitt, Mercyhurst (So, F, Ottawa, ONT) - Despite scoring one goal, Pitt’s goal against No. 7 Princeton couldn¹t have been bigger. The Ottawa, Ontario product provided the go-ahead goal with just 81 seconds remaining. The Lakers went on to win the contest by a score of 6-4 and garnish their biggest win since defeating then-No.9 Ohio State, 3-2, during the 2003-04 campaign. Erik Boisevert, Sacred Heart (Jr., F, Drummondville, QUE) - Boisvert scored two goals in SHU’s weekend split with Holy Cross, netting a goal in each game. He scored SHU’s second goal on Saturday and netted a shorthanded tally on SHU’s second goal Sunday afternoon. The junior now has four goals on the year. Nick Johnson, Sacred Heart (Jr., F, Windsor, Conn.) - Johnson tallied a goal and an assist in Sunday’s win over Holy Cross. He assisted on SHU’s first goal early in the game and scored the game winner 40 seconds into the third period. Johnson is tied for the team lead in scoring with eight points.

Atlantic Hockey Team Notes

Air Force: Improved to 13-0 to mark the best start in school history and the longest winning streak in school history with win on Friday...The win over No. 3 Colorado College marked the highest ranked team Air Force has even beaten...The win was the first over CC since 1985, ending a 25-game losing streak and a 30-game winless skid...AFA’s 13-game winning streak ended on Saturday with loss at No. 9 Denver, AFA’s first loss of the season...The loss ended Air Force’s nine-game game road winning streak, the longest in school history vs. Division I teams and tied as the 21st longest in NCAA history...AFA leads the nation in scoring with 4.79 goals per game, nearly one goal in front of No. 2 Notre Dame...AFA is second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 1.43 goals per game...AFA leads the nation in scoring margin at +3.36. Notre Dame is second at 2.07...The Air Force power play is first in the nation at 26.7 percent (24 of 90)...The Air Force penalty kill is fifth in the nation at 92.8 (64 of 69)...Air Force has outscored its opponents by a combined 66-20 this season...Air Force has scored first in 12 of its 14 games this season. Air Force has only trailed in two games this season (the second game at Sacred Heart and Denver). AFA is 12-0 when scoring first...Friday night vs. CC, Air Force scored five-on-five, four-on-four, short-handed and on the power play...AFA has killed 45 of the last 47 opponent power plays, including all nine vs. CC...AFA is now a +23 on special teams this season...AFA had killed 25 straight opponent power plays before Denver scored on Saturday on the PP...Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Air Force is 4-4-1 against ranked teams. The only losses were to eventual national Boston College, Colorado College and Miami last season and Denver this season. In those nine games, the Falcons allowed two goals or less seven times. Of the four losses, two were by one goal, including No. 2 Miami’s overtime win in the NCAA Northeast Regional...Josh Frider’s 13-game point scoring streak ended on Saturday vs. Denver. His streak was the longest since Justin Kieffer had a 14-game streak in 1998-99...Goaltender Andrew Volkening set school records last season for goals-against average (2.09), saves percentage (.911) and wins (21). He is on pace to shatter his own marks. The junior from Genoa, Ill., is second in the nation in goals-against average (1.35), eighth in the nation in saves percentage (.942) and leads the nation with 13 wins...Three Falcons are tied for fourth in the nation in scoring with 21 points: Defenseman Greg Flynn (4-17-21), right wingers Brent Olson (5-16-21) and center Jacques Lamoureux (11-10-21)...Flynn is the top scoring defenseman in the nation with 1.50 points per game and also is second in the nation in assists with 1.21 per game...Lamoureux is tied for the national lead with seven power-play goals despite not scoring a PPG in his last six games...Lamoureux also leads the nation with four game-winners...AFA hosts RIT this weekend in the final games until after the holidays. The last time the two teams met, AFA beat RIT, 5-0, in the AHA Final Five semifinals in Rochester...The teams have met 18 times and the series is tied at 8-8-2. The teams met twice last season at the Academy and split the series. AFA won 5-2 and RIT won 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 12. That was Air Force’s last loss at home. AFA goes into the series with a nine-game home winning streak and a 13-game home unbeaten streak. American International: AIC recored a win in its only game of the week, as they beat the Bentley Falcons 3-1. The win was the Yellow Jackets first road victory of the season and the fourth win in their last seven tries. Sophomore Steve McLeod put AIC on the board first as he scored on the teams very first shot in regulation at the 3:11 mark of the opening period. Classmate Tom Mele dished out the assist on McLeod’s second goal of the season. Freshman Michael Penny tallied what would prove to be the game winning goal, at the end of the first period, with an assist from junior Mike McMillan. The goal was Penny’s fifth of the season as he now has eight points on the year. Bentley got on the board in the second period, but junior Frankie DeAngelis’ early third period goal negated any comeback attempt, as he found the back of the net unassisted in four-on-four play. Sophomore Dan Ramirez stopped 35 shots including 14 in the opening period and 12 in the third. Ramirez was crutial to the penalty kill, he made 10 saves as the Yellow Jackets killed off eight of the Falcons nine power-play chances. Next up, AIC takes on Mercyhurst in a weekend series at home starting on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Olympia Ice Center. Army: The Black Knights fell to 3-8-1 with a last-second loss at Union on Friday night. The Dutchmen, members of ECAC Hockey, scored the game-winner with two-tenths of a second left of the clock in Army’s only action of the weekend … Sophomore F Chris Spracklen scored his first collegiate goal to put Army ahead 4-3 … Freshman D Bill Day registered his first collegiate point with an assist … Sophomore F Cody Omilusik and senior D Zach McKelvie each had two assists. It marked Omilusik’s fifth multiple-point game of the season and sixth of his career. McKelvie now has three multiple-point games this season and seven for his career … Senior Matt Hickey was moved back to forward this weekend. Hickey played forward his first two seasons but was switched to defense in his junior and start of his senior seasons. He registered an assist while playing on a line with Drew Pierson and Will Ryan … Sophomore G Jay Clark made 39 saves against Union, including 17 in the second period and 13 in the final period … Army will return to conference play with a two-game series against Canisius at Buffalo State. The Saturday-Sunday series will mark Army’s sixth and seventh straight road games. Bentley: Bentley dropped its only game of the week to AIC, 3-1 on Nov. 25. The loss snapped Bentley’s four game unbeaten streak and five game Atlantic Hockey unbeaten streak. It was also Bentley’s first loss of the season at Ryan Skating Arena. AIC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but junior Marc Menzione cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal on a two-man advantage at 13:34 of the second period. A third period tally by AIC’s Frankie DeAngelis with the teams skating 4-on-4 proved to be too much for the Falcons to overcome. Bentley out-shot AIC 36-26, including 14 shots in the first period, but were stymied for most of the night by AIC goalie Dan Ramirez. Menzione’s goal was his third of the season. Senior Anthony Canzoneri had an assist on the goal, giving him 61 for his career which ties him for the most assists in Bentley’s Division I history. The Falcons have a home-and-home with Holy Cross this weekend, with Friday’s game in Watertown. The two teams spilt last season’s games at the Hart Center, with Bentley winning the first game 6-4 and the Crusaders taking the second game 4-2. Bentley is 5-9-1 all-time at home against Holy Cross and 4-11-2 at the Hart Center. Canisius: The Griffs took three points in a weekend series at ECAC foe Clarkson. Canisius won the opener against the Golden Knights, 4-3 in overtime, and the two teams tied on Saturday, 2-2. The win on Friday marked the first victory for the Griffs against an ECAC opponent. Canisius, who entered the weekend winless in five attempts against the conference, is now 1-5-1 all-time against ECAC schools. It also ended Clarkson’s perfect record against Atlantic Hockey schools at Cheel Arena. The Golden Knights entered the weekend with an 8-0-0 record at home against Atlantic Hockey teams. Canisius ended its non-conference schedule with a 2-2-2 record. The Griffs earned their first-ever victories against CCHA and ECAC schools and also tied a Hockey East opponent. Canisius finished .500 in non-conference play for the first time since the 2000-01 season, when they went 3-2-0 against non-league opponents. Sophomore Brandon Cummings tallied a career-best two goals in Canisius’ overtime victory. The sophomore, who tallied one goal in first 32 career games, has scored four goals in his last six contests. Junior Jason Weeks scored with 13.8 seconds remaining and senior Spencer Churchill added a score in overtime to lift the Griffs to victory. Weeks, who entered the weekend ranked fourth nationally in assists, tallied only his second goal of the season. Churchill’s goal marked the Griffs second-consecutive victory when playing in overtime. It was the first time that Canisius won consecutive overtime games since the 2003-04 season. Sophomores Vincent Scarsella and Pat Kenney tallied goals in the finale, but Clarkson rallied from the two-goal deficit to earn the draw. Canisius returns to league play next weekend, hosting Army for a pair of non-conference games. Connecticut: The Huskies traveled to Providence, R.I. for their sixth match up with the Brown Bears. Brown had a 4-0-1 advantage going into the meeting. But UConn came out strong scoring at least two goals during the first period for the fourth straight game. The first goal of the game was scored by Bobby Reiners, the goal was the first of his college career. He was helped out by Jason Krispel who tallied his tenth assist of the season, the first Husky to reach double digits. Krispel added to his assist total on the second goal when he and Michael Coppola tallied helpers on Marcello Ranallo’s goal. Ranallo’s goal was his fourth of the year (which leads UConn freshmen). In the second, UConn added to their lead when Krispel scored his first goal of the year to record his third point of the game. Ranallo returned the favor as he got an assist on the play with Coppola also recording his second assist of the game on the play. The 3-0 lead that UConn had was the largest lead since UConn had a 3-0 lead against Army on Oct. 24. Brown was able to get one goal during the third period and after doing so pulled their goalie with a minute remaining. UConn took advantage of the open net and Coppola recorded his third point of the game on his open net goal. UConn won 4-1 taking the only victory against the Bears in the history of the program. UConn will be on the road for their next two games traveling to Sacred Heart on December 2 and then to face No. 17 UMass on December 5. Holy Cross: On Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6, the Crusaders will play Atlantic Hockey opponent Bentley in a home-and-home series. Friday’s game will be played at the John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown, Mass., while Holy Cross will host Saturday’s contest. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Last year the two teams split a two-game season series with the Falcons winning 6-4 on Jan. 11, 2008, and the Crusaders winning 4-2 on Jan. 12, 2008. Both games were played in Worcester. Holy Cross leads the all-time series with Bentley, 22-10-3. The Crusaders have a 7-2-0 record against the Falcons in the last nine games. This year, Holy Cross is 3-5-1 in games on its home ice and 1-4-0 in games away from Worcester. With the 3-2 loss at No. 8 Boston University, the Crusaders are now 3-3-2 in their last eight games against teams from Hockey East, including a 6-4 loss this season at home versus Providence on Oct. 25. Last year, Holy Cross had a 1-1 tie at Vermont on Dec. 29, 2007, a 2-2 tie at home with Merrimack on Dec. 4, 2007 and a 6-4 win at Providence on Oct. 20, 2007. Two years ago, the Crusaders fell to Northeastern, 7-2, on Dec. 30, 2006 and won at Merrimack, 2-1, on October 24, 2006. In 2005 the Crusaders earned a 3-2 win at UMass Amherst on Oct. 21. Holy Cross will play at New Hampshire on Dec. 11. Senior co-captain Marty Dams (Manotick, Ontario) has played in 101 career games which are the most by any current Crusader. For his career, he has three goals and 16 assists for 19 points as a defender, including one goal and one assist in 14 games this year. Sophomore goalie Adam Roy (Feeding Hills, Mass.) has 1,102 career saves which are already second on Holy Cross’ all-time Division I saves list. Also his 12 career victories are fifth all-time on the Division I list. Last year, he set a Holy Cross freshman record for most saves in a single-season with 771 and is ranked second on the school’s Division I all-time single-season saves list. This year, he has made 331 saves and has a 4-8-1 record. Sophomore defenseman Mark Znutas (Emerson, N.J.) scored his first career game-winning goal in the 4-2 win at Sacred Heart on Nov. 29. For the year, he is tied for first on the team in points by defenders with four as he has one goal and three assists. For his career, Znutas has seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 49 games. Holy Cross scored eight goals with seven different goal scorers in the three games played during the week. Mercyhurst: The Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team extended its winning streak to four games this past weekend, defeating RPI 4-1 and stunning No. 7 Princeton 6-4 to claim the 58th Annual RPI Holiday Hockey Tournament Championship. Senior Ryan Toomey led the offense with a goal and four assists while sophomore Scott Pitt netted a score and two helpers. Pitt’s goal, which came in the game against No. 7 Princeton, provided the Lakers with their first win over a top-10 team since a victory over then-No. 9 Ohio State during the 2003-04 season. Reigning AHA Rookie of the Week Phil Ginand tallied the game-winner against RPI. Sophomore Ryan Zapolski, who has been in goal each game during the Lakers five-game unbeaten streak, advanced his record to 4-0-1 with back-to-back wins and 85 combined saves. The Erie, Pa. native record 46 stops against the Tigers to earn the tournament’s most outstanding player award. Mercyhurst returns to action this weekend with a pair of games against AHA foe American International in Springfield, Mass. Rochester Institute of Technology: Junior Matt Crowell had a hand in all three RIT goals last Saturday versus UMASS-Lowell. He scored the first two goals and had the secondary assist on the third in a 6-3 loss to the River Hawks. The 17 shots recorded last Saturday versus Lowell were the fewest shots RIT has taken since January of 2008 when they fired 19 at Air Force. RIT went 1-for-4 with the man advantage on Saturday and allowed two power play goals. The Tigers have allowed at least one power play goal in each of the last eight games. The last time the Tigers did not allow a power play goal in a game was October 25 versus Sacred Heart. In five of the eight games in that stretch RIT has allowed two or more power play goals and are 72.8 (43-of-59) on the penalty kill. Heading into this weekend’s series with Air Force the Tigers and the Falcons are tied 8-8-2 all-time. The two teams split all four regular season games last year. This will be the first time these two teams have faced one another since last March’s AHA semifinals where the Falcons blanked the Tigers 5-0 at Blue Cross Arena. Sacred Heart: The Pioneers split a weekend series with Holy Cross, winning 3-2 in Worcester on Sunday after dropping a 4-2 decision on home ice Saturday. Junior Erik Boisvert scored two goals on the weekend while Nick Johnson scored the game winning goal and had an assist on Sunday. Saturday’s loss was the first time SHU had lost to Holy Cross in Milford since January of 2005, a string of seven straight games. Sunday’s win was the first victory away from home for the Pioneers this season and broke a nine game losing streak away from home for Sacred Heart, dating back to February 8, 2008. The Pioneers take on UConn Tuesday night in Milford in their final game before final exams.