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No. 11 Air Force hosts No. 3 Colorado College; travels to No. 9 Denver
Nov. 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
This Week No. 11 Air Force (12-0-0 overall and 10-0-0 in the AHA) faces two of the top teams in the nation in No. 3 Colorado College (8-3-3, 6-3-1 WCHA) and No. 9 Denver (7-5-1, 5-4-1 WCHA). The Falcons and Tigers meet Friday, Nov. 28, at 7:05 p.m. at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force and DU play Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7:07 p.m. at Magness Arena in Denver. Radio/Internet Both games will be broadcast live in Colorado Springs on KCS AM 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. The pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to faceoff. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide the analysis. The Colorado College game will also be video streamed live with audio by the B2 Network on a subscription basis. For more information, please go to the Atlantic Hockey Association web-site at AtlanticHockeyOnline.com. No television. Last Week Air Force swept AHA foe Sacred Heart by scores of 8-1 and 7-1 in front of sellout crowds at Cadet Ice Arena. Colorado College split a two-game league series at Alaska-Anchorage, losing 4-2 and winning 4-3 in OT Denver split at home with No. 1 Minnesota, losing 5-2 and then winning 4-0 Rankings The Falcons arre ranked 11th in both the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine poll. The Falcons entered the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll on Oct. 27 at No. 17. Air Force entered the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll on Nov. 3 at No. 14 marking the first time in school history Air Force has been in the top 15 of both polls. Air Force is No. 10 this week in the Inside Hockey.com power rankings. CC was No. 4 and Denver was No. 8 in the INCH power rankings. Colorado College is No. 3 in both national polls last week. The Pioneers are No. 9 in the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Inside the Rankings Air Force's No. 11 national ranking is the highest ever by an Atlantic Hockey or MAAC team. The ranking also ties as the highest ever by a team not from one of the "Big Four" conferences (WCHA, CCHA, ECAC and Hockey East). Niagara was also No. 11 in both polls late in the 1999-00 season. The Coaches Frank Serratore (Bemidji State, 1982) is in his 12th season as the head coach of Air Force. He has led the Falcons to back-to-back conference championships and NCAA berths. Serratore is the winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey with a record of 180-201-30 and a career mark of 229-293-39 in his 16th year. Scott Owens is in his 10th season at CC and has a 231-124-28 school and overall record. George Gwozdecky is in his 15th year at DU with a record of 330-210-41 record. He has a 413-304-60 record in his 20th season as a college head coach. And Then There Was One Air Force is the only undefeated and untied team in the nation. Air Force's 12-game winning streak is the longest winning streak and longest unbeaten streak in the nation. The 12-0 start is the best in school history. School-Record Winning Streak The 12-game winning streak is the longest in school history. The previous long vs. Division I teams was a six-game streak in the 2006-07 championship season. The previous school record for a winning streak vs. teams from all divisions was a 10-gamer in 1974-75 team. Scouting the Opponents Colorado College is No. 3 in the nation and was ranked as high as No. 1 earlier in the season. The Tigers are 8-3-3 overall this season with the only losses coming on the road at Minnesota-State and Alaska-Anchorage and at home to North Dakota. CC is 3-3 in its last six games. Senior Chad Rau leads the team with nine goals and 20 points. Sophomore Richard Bachman earned All-American honors last season as a freshman and is proving to be one of the top tenders in the nation once again. He has played in 87 percent of the team's minutes and has a .938 saves percentage and a 1.96 goals against average. CC is averaging 2.79 goals per game, but the penalty kill is one of the top units in the nation at 94.1 percent. CC is 2-2-3 on the road this season. Denver is No. 9 in the nation and was ranked as high as No. 2 earlier in the season. The Pioneers are 7-5-1 overall this season. DU is 1-3 in its last four games, but the one win was a 4-0 win over No. 1 Minnesota last weekend. DU is 7-2-1 at home this season. Sophomore Tyler Bozak leads the team with seven goals and 15 points. Sophomore Marc Cheverie has played nearly every minute in goal and has a .914 saves percentage and a 2.64 goals against average. The Pioneers are averaging 3.38 goals per game. Series Records Colorado College leads the series with Air Force, 56-6-2. AFA has lost 25 straight to Colorado College and is winless in the last 30 games. The teams skated to a 3-3 overtime tie at the Academy in 1989. AFA's last win over CC was in 1985, 6-5 in overtime at the Broadmoor World Arena. AFA is 4-28-1 vs. CC at the Cadet Ice Arena. The last win at home vs. the Tigers was a 6-1 win in 1978. Denver leads the series with Air Force, 25-3-0. AFA broke a 19-game losing streak to the Pioneers with a 5-2 win last season at the Academy. AFA is 2-16 all-time in games played at Denver. The last win at DU was a 5-3 victory in 1980 at the old DU arena. In the last meeting at Magness Arena, DU won, 2-1 in 2006. AFA is 0-5 at Magness Arena since the building opened in 1999. Conference Streaks Among Longest in NCAA History Air Force's current 11-game conference winning streak (dating back to last season) ties as the 11th longest in NCAA history. RPI holds the NCAA record for the longest conference winning streak (ECAC) at 25 games from Nov. 17-1984-Nov. 15, 1985. AFA's current 15-game conference unbeaten streak ties as the seventh longest in NCAA history. Maine holds the NCAA record with a 34-game conference unbeaten streak (Hockey East) from Jan. 25, 1992-Feb. 13, 1993. The 15-game conference unbeaten streak dates back to a 3-1 loss at Mercyhurst, Feb. 8, 2008. Road Winning Streak Among Longest in NCAA History Air Force's current nine-game road winning streak (not including neutral site games) is the 21st longest in NCAA history. In the NCAA record book, this streak includes road games only and not neutral site games. Boston University has the longest road winning streak in NCAA history at 20 games. AFA's current streak ties as the longest since Wisconsin had a 10-game road winning streak in 2006. Since 1991, no team in NCAA history has had a road winning streak longer than 10 games. AFA's current streak dates back to a 3-1 loss at Mercyhurst, Feb. 8, 2008. Home Streaks Air Force is riding a couple of impressive home streaks. The Falcons are currently on a nine-game home winning streak dating back to a 2-2 overtime tie with AIC, Feb. 29, 2008. The streak is the longest in school history vs. Division I teams. The school record home winning streak vs. teams from all divisions is 13 set in 1974-75. AFA is currently on an 13-game unbeaten streak at home dating back to a 4-3 overtime loss to RIT, Jan. 12, 2008. The streak started with a 5-2 win over No. 4 Denver, Jan. 18. The last time Air Force lost a home game in regulation has been more than one year ago, a 5-3 loss to Mercyhurst, Nov. 2, 2007 (a streak of 22 games). Nation's Top Scoring Team Air Force is the top scoring team in the nation, averaging 5.17 goals per game. Air Force has scored three or more goals in 11 of the 12 games and has scored five or more in six of the 10. Notre Dame is second in the nation with 3.92 goals per game. Air Force's scoring margin (+3.92 goals per game) is nearly two goals per game better than Notre Dame's +2.15, which ranks second in the nation. Streaking
Senior Josh Frider has scored a point in every game this season and his 12-game point-scoring streak is the longest point-scoring streak at Air Force since Justin Kieffer had a 14-gamer in 1998-99. Spanky Leonard also had a 10-game scoring streak in 2001-02. Lamoureux also had a four-game goal-scoring streak earlier in the season, the longest by a Falcon since Brian Reese had a six-game streak late in the 2005-06 season. The school record scoring streak was set by Chuck Delich at 24 games in 1973-74.
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 Mike Phillipich |
