AIC and Sacred Heart Battle this Weekend
THE MATCHUP: AIC (5-13-2, 5-9-1 AHA) will hit the road to
square off against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University (7-9-2,
7-3-2 AHA).
THE SERIES: Last time these two teams met, Sacred Heart eliminated American International College from the 2006-07 Atlantic Hockey Tournament with a 4-0 win at home. The Pioneers lead the all-time series 16-8-4.
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS: AIC downed Holy Cross 3-2 Tuesday evening at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield. For the Jackets, it was their fifth win of the season, moving them into a tie for ninth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with the Crusaders, who also have 11 conference points.
Mike McMillan continues to be a weapon offensively, tailing his eighth goal of the season against Holy Cross. He leads the team and is tied for fifth in the conference in goals. Jereme Tendler is tied with McMillan for a team best 17 points. Tendler's 15 points in conference action place him in a tie for fifth overall in the AHA. Steve McLeod, Tendler and McMillan's first-line mate, is tied for fourth among freshman in Atlantic Hockey with 10 total points.
Jacket goalie Dan Ramirez is 5-6-1 on the season. He has posted a .904 save percentage and a 2.82 goals-against-average.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Sacred Heart is third in the conference with a 7-3-2 mark. The Pioneers went 1-1-0 against Atlantic Hockey leader Air Force last time out.
Bear Trapp currently leads the squad in scoring with 16 points. Alexandre Parent leads the team with seven goals. Parent is currently fifth in the AHA with that total. Nick Johnson is almost among the leaders in scoring for Sacred Heart, compiling 15 points off of five goals and 10 assists on the season.
The Pioneers have one of Atlantic Hockey's better goalies night in and night out. Stefan Drew currently ranks third in the AHA with a .914 save percentage. He is 7-7-1 on the season.
THE BUZZ: AIC's 3-2 win over Holy Cross (1/8/07) was only the second victory in the last 20 match-ups over the Crusaders (2-16-2). Freshman Tom Mele notched his first collegiate goal (1/5/08) against Robert Morris. The victory over RIT (12/7/07) was the Yellow Jacket's first ever win against the Tigers. AIC killed nine out of a possible 10 power-play chances that RIT had on the weekend. Mike McMillan notched his sixth goal of the season against UConn, passing his total output of five goals from a year ago. The Jackets tallied three power-play goals against Air Force. They had only two man advantage scores prior to last weekend. AIC earned a 1-1 tie against No. 16 RPI (10/23/07). After starting the season 0-5-1 the Jackets have gone 4-8-1 in their last 11 contests. Freshman goalie Dan Ramirez was named Atlantic Hockey Association Goalie of the Week (11/18/07) and Rookie of the Week (12/11/07) this season. After sweeping Canisius (10/16/07) AIC earned their first four point weekend since the 2005-2006 season when they downed Canisius 5-2 and 3-1. Jereme Tendler, Bryan Jurynec, Greg Genovese and Chris Bolognino all played in their 100th collegiate match-up this season. Sophomore Chris Campanale notched his first collegiate goal against UConn (10/19/07). Freshman Steve McLeod and T.J. Smith captured their first collegiate point when they both assisted on a Chris Bolognino score against Quinnipiac (10/30/07). McLeod earned his first goal against Army (11/10/07). T.J. Smith notched his first collegiate goal against Canisius last Saturday. AIC has a strong non-conference schedule this season facing two teams that were ranked in the top 20 last year. The Jackets return three out of their top four scorers from a year ago, while adding an impressive cast of freshman recruits. Jereme Tendler earned a spot on the AHA Third-Team All-Conference list last season totaling 15 goals and 13 assists. He notched the team's first hat-trick since 2005 when he scored three times against UConn last season. It was the most points scored by a Yellow Jacket since Ryan Robin totaled four points off of two goals and two assists against the Huskies in round one of a 2005 AHA tournament game. The Yellow Jackets' victory December 1, 2006 over Mercyhurst was the first time AIC had defeated the Lakers in 15 attempts and was the first time AIC had downed Mercyhurst since February 2nd, 2001
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Freshman Dan Ramirez has been a hot topic in college hockey this season. Ramirez has five wins on the year and was twice given major Atlantic Hockey awards. He has also been mentioned in the Boston Herald's hockey round-up and also on www.USCHO.com.
250 AND COUNTING: The Yellow Jackets victory over Holy Cross Tuesday evening was win number 250 for AIC head coach Gary Wright.
WELCOMING IN THE NEW YEAR: The Yellow Jackets have enjoyed bringing in the new year. Last season the team was 2-14-0 in 2006 and 5-10-1 after the new year, including a first-round Atlantic Hockey Tournament victory over the Canisius Golden Griffins. In the prior season, AIC was 1-10-2 entering 2006, and finished the season going 5-11-3.
HEAD COACH GARY WRIGHT: Gary Wright is in his 24th season at the helm of the AIC hockey program. The winningest coach in AIC history, Wright has amassed a 250-397-46 record in 23 seasons. Wright led the Jackets to a 11-14-4 MAAC record in their first year of Division I play, earning MAAC Coach of the Year honors. He also led the Jackets to an ECAC East title in 1989-90. Wright is a 1976 graduate of the University of Vermont.
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: AIC currently has five wins on the season. It took the Yellow Jackets until January 30th of their 2006-2007 campaign to garner their fifth win.
JACKETS FEATURED IN NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY JOURNAL: Check out the November issue of the New England Hockey Journal. The American International College hockey squad is featured in a two-page layout promoting the teams' positive push forward.
TENDLER FEATURED IN REPUBLICAN: Tuesday, December 11th, the Springfield Republican printed an article titled "center makes smart choice" in reference to Jereme Tendler's decision to play college hockey instead of major juniors.
JACKETS AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED TEAMS: This week RIT cracked the Inside College Hockey top-20 Power Rankings. American International downed the Tigers earlier this season 4-2. The Yellow Jackets also earned a 1-1 tied against RPI who has been in and out of the top 20 all season.
BURNS JOINS STAFF: A four-year member of the Connecticut Huskies, Brian Burns joins the Yellow Jacket's as a volunteer assistant coach. Burns takes Pat Tabb's spot, who was inked as the head coach of the Springfield Falcons Junior B Team earlier this season.
CAN'T CATCH THE GAME?: For scores and highlights of men's ice hockey as well as AIC's 21 other varsity sports, check out www.aicyellowjackets.com. The site is updated regularly and available 24 hours a day to read about your favorite Yellow Jacket teams.