Men’s hockey goes west to play Air Force this weekend

‌

Taylor McReynolds and the Tigers will battle #10 Air Force this weekend.

The RIT men’s hockey team travels west to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play the two-time defending Atlantic Hockey Tournament Champion #10 Air Force Academy Falcons in a pair of Atlantic Hockey Association games at 9:05 p.m. EST Friday and Saturday. It is the only time this season the Tigers will play outside the eastern time zone.

RIT (5-8-1, 4-3-1 AHA) fell 6-3 to #17 UMass-Lowell on Nov. 29. Junior forward Matt Crowell netted a pair of goals and added an assist in the loss for the Tigers. Before that, the Tigers split a pair of Atlantic Hockey road contests at Connecticut. The Tigers are tied for 14th nationally in goals per game.

The Tigers have never been swept in a weekend series during Atlantic Hockey play.

Air Force (13-1-0, 10-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) comes into the weekend series looking to get back on the winning track after having its 13-game winning streak snapped by #8 Denver 4-1 on Saturday.

The Falcons are outscoring their foes 67-20 in 14 games this season. In 10 Atlantic Hockey games, Air Force has outscored its opponents 50-13. The Falcons are the highest-scoring team in the nation with 4.79 goals per game and are second in scoring defense, allowing just 1.43 goals per game. Air Force has the top power-play in the country and is fifth in penalty-killing. Eight players have at least 10 points this season.

The all-time series between the two schools is even at 8-8-2. Last season, the two teams continued their strong rivalry, playing five times, with Air Force winning three of the five contests. Both teams split on each other's home ice before the Falcons pulled out a 5-0 win over RIT in the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinals at Blue Cross Arena. Since RIT moved to Division I in 2005, the two teams have met 13 times, with Air Force holding a slim 6-5-2 advantage.

Games can be heard on WITR-FM (89.7). For more, visit RIT Athletics.