Air Force Academy

Jan. 25, 2011

Complete Release in PDF Format

This Week Air Force (10-9-4, 8-5-4 AHA) hosts Canisius (8-11-5 overall, 7-6-4 AHA) in a two-game league series, Friday-Saturday, Jan. 28-29, at 7:05 p.m. each night at Cadet Ice Arena The Falcons are fourth in the AHA with 20 points while Canisius is in sixth with 16 points.

Radio/Internet The games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on The Sports Animal AM 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will be the color analyst. Both games will be video streamed with audio by America One Television. Subscriptions can be purchased at www.americaone.com/college. Live stats will be available for all games at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com and clicking Gametracker.

The Coaches Air Force coach Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 14th season as the Falcons' head coach. He led the Falcons to three straight conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths (2007-09). Winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey with a record of 224-236-42 (14th year at AFA) and a career mark of 273-328-51 (18th year). Canisius head coach Dave Smith is in his sixth season with a school and overall record of 70-108-27.

Scouting the Canisius Golden Griffs Canisius is 8-11-5 overall and 7-6-4 in the AHA for sixth place. The Golden Griffins snapped a six-game winless skid by sweeping AIC last week by scores of 6-4 and 8-3. Canisius started the season with a split at Western Michigan (currently ranked 17th in the nation). After a win at Mercyhurst, three points at Sacred Heart and a home win over Army, Canisius was at 4-1-1 after the first six. However, the Golden Griffs are 5-10-4 since. Senior forwards Cory Conacher and Vincent Scarsella lead the team in scoring. Conacher has 14 goals and 23 points. Scarsella has 14 assists and 22 points. Junior Dan Morrison has played the majority of the minutes in the net. He has a .904 saves percentage and a 3.61 GAA. The Griffs are averaging 3.04 goals per game while allowing 3.33.

Series with Canisius AFA and Canisius have played 13 times and the series is deadlocked at 5-5-3. The teams met earlier this season and skated to a 1-1 overtime tie in Buffalo. In games played at the Academy, Canisius has a 3-1-2 lead in the series. In games played in Buffalo, AFA has a 4-2-1 lead in the series. The teams last played in Colorado in January, 2009 and the Golden Griffins won by scored of 5-4 and 4-2. Three of the 13 games have gone into overtime and five of the last six games have been decided by two goals or less.

Cardiac Kids Air Force has 10 wins this season and seven have come by one goal, including one in overtime. In four of the 10 wins, and two of the four ties, AFA has come back from a two- or three-goal deficit. Air Force came back from a 3-0 deficit in the third period to beat current No. 1 Yale, 4-3 and give Yale its only loss of the season (15-2 as of Jan. 17). AFA came back from two-goal holes to defeat RIT, Holy Cross and Bentley. In the first game against Bentley, AFA trailed 2-0 midway through the third, tied the game in the final two minutes and won it in overtime. AFA came from a two-goal deficit to force a 5-5 overtime tie at Sacred Heart and at UConn. Air Force tried to pull another rabbit out of the hat against Army, but came up a goal short. Air Force fell behind 3-0 in the first and tied the game in the second, but lost 5-4.