#20/#18 Air Force and Army set to battle in West Point

Falcons and Black Knights meet Friday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 27

Jan. 22, 2008

This Week #20/18 Air Force (12-8-4, 9-6-3 AHA) travels to West Point, N.Y., to face Army (7-12-3, 7-7-2 AHA), Friday, Jan. 25, 8:05 pm EST, (CSTV) and Sunday, Jan. 27, 4:05 pm EST, (ESPN U) at Tate Rink.

Radio/Internet Both games will be broadcast on the radio on KKML AM 1300 The Sports Animal and on the internet at GoAirForceFalcons.com. Jay Ritchie will do the play-by-play while Dave Toller will do the color. The pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to faceoff each night.

Television Friday:Friday's game will be televised live nationally by CSTV. CSTV is available on Comcast in Colorado Springs Channel 170, DirecTV Channel 610 and Dish Network Channel 152. Ben Holden will provide the play-by-play for Friday's contest with Jim Paradise handling analyst duties. Sunday's game will be televised live nationally on ESPN U. ESPNU is not available on Comcast in Colorado Springs, but it is available on DirecTV Channel 609 and on Dish Network Channel 148. E.J. Hradek and Barry Melrose will call Sunday's contest.

Video Streaming Both games will be video streamed 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.

Last Week Air Force split with two of the top four teams in the nation. The Falcons beat fourth-ranked Denver, 5-2, at the Academy. AFAthen fell to third-ranked Colorado College, 2-1, at the World Arena. Army split a two-game home league series with Canisius, losing on Friday, 3-0, and winning on Saturday, 2-1.

Rankings For the first time in school history, Air Force is in the top 20 in all three national polls. The Falcons are No. 20 in the USCHO/CSTV poll. Air Force is No. 18 in the InsideCollegeHockey.com poll. The Falcons are receiving votes in the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll and based on the number of votes, Air Force is No. 18. Army is unranked.

Scouting The Opponents Army is 7-12-3 overall and 7-7-2 in the AHA. The Black Knights split a home league series with Canisius last week. Prior to Saturday's 2-1 win over Canisius, Army had not won since Nov. 30. The win ended an eight-game winless skid for Army. The Black Knights got off to a great start, going 5-2-1 in their first eight league games. Army is 4-4 at home this season. Sophomore Owen Meyer leads the team with 13 goals and 23 points. Senior Luke Flicek leads the team with 15 assists. Junior Josh Kassel entered the season as the team's top goalie after winning 17 games last year. However, recently, Kassel has been splitting time with freshman Jay Clark and sophomore Joey Spracklen. Kassel started both games last weekend, stopping 22 of 23 shots on Saturday in a 2-1 win.

Historic Victory Over DU Air Force's win over Denver was the Falcons' first over DU since 1980, ending a 19-game losing streak to the Pioneers. The win was also AFA's first ever win over Denver at the Academy, ending an 11-game losing streak at home to the Pioneers. It was also the Falcons first win over a WCHA team since beating Colorado College, 6-5 in overtime, in 1985 at the Broadmoor World Arena. The win was the first over a top five team since beating fourth-ranked Colorado College, 7-6 in overtime in 1975 at the Academy. The win over the No. 4 team in the nation ties as the highest ranked team Air Force has ever beaten.

Beating the Best Air Force has a 3-2-1 record vs. ranked teams this season. The Falcons opened the season by sweeping then No. 14 Quinnipiac at the Academy by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. Quinnipiac is currently ranked 14th. The Falcons lost to then No. 14 (currently No. 11) Boston College, 8-2. The Falcons tied then No. 12 and current No. 18 Minnesota, 2-2 in overtime. Air Force defeated No. 4 Denver, 5-2, Jan. 18. The next night, the Falcons fell to No. 3 Colorado College, 2-1, at the World Arena.

Series Records Army Army and Air Force have played 43 times and the Falcons hold a 25-16-2 lead in the series that began in 1976The teams have played 20 times at Army with each team winning 10. The Falcons had a six-game winning streak at Army from 1998-2004. Air Force dominated the series from 1997-2001 with a 10-1-1 record in that span. However, since then, the series has been very even. Since 2003, Army has won six of the 11 games. Just three of the 40 games have gone into overtime (ties in 1990 and 1997 and the Army win in 2005). Eleven games have been decided by one goal and seven by two goals.

Interesting Matchups The Air Force-Army series presents some interesting matchups this weekend. Air Force is first in the league and 15th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 3.12 goals per game. Army is second in the league and 27th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 2.50 goals per game. The Air Force power play has improved in the last 11 games and is at 14.8 percent on the season, fifth in the league. The Army penalty kill ranks second in the league and 18th in the nation with an 86.2 percentage.

Best Non-Conference Schedule in Nation Air Force is the only team in the nation to have played every non-conference game this season against teams ranked in the top 15. Air Force is 3-2-1 vs. ranked teams this season. The Falcons opened the season by sweeping then-No. 14 Quinnipiac. AFA fell to then No. 14 Boston College and tied then-No. 12 Minnesota. Air Force beat then-No. 4 Denver and lost 2-1 at No. 3 Colorado College. All five teams are currently in the USCHO/CSTV top 20 with Minnesota the lowest ranked team at No. 17. The only team with a similar non-conference schedule is Mercyhurst. The Lakers played seven non-conference games against teams in the top 20 (all six of AFA's games were vs. the top 15). Mercyhurst was 0-7 in those games. vs. No. 19 Ohio State (L 1-2), No. 8 Notre Dame (L 0-4), No. 17 Maine (L 2-4 and 1-4) and No. 20 Michigan Tech (L 2-3 and 1-5). The previous rankings are at the time of the game. In the current poll, Ohio State, Michigan State and Maine are unranked.