Chris Lerch
A massive snowstorm hit Buffalo back on Dec 23-24, shutting the city down for days. That prevented Canisius from flying to Air Force for a two-game series scheduled for Dec. 30-31. With no free weekends left for either school, much less the same one for both, Atlantic Hockey was faced with choosing the least terrible … Read more
On Feb 2. Atlantic Hockey announced the selection of Michelle Morgan as its new commissioner, beginning April 17. She will succeed Bob DeGregorio, who is retiring after 20 years at the helm, dating back to the foundation of the conference. She will also replace DeGregorio as the commissioner of the women’s College Hockey America conference. … Read more
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1) Bobcats over Crimson in key ECAC battle In one of the most anticipated games of the weekend, second-ranked Quinnipiac shut out No. 8 Harvard, 3-0 on Friday at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Bobcats were led by … Read more
Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist knew that his young team would need some time to gel. With nine freshmen in the lineup, he expected growing pains, and the Falcons’ record though the first half of the season reflected that. At Christmas, Bentley was 5-13-0 and had taken points in two of five conference series. But since … Read more
Last weekend’s series between Air Force and Niagara brought some good news and bad news for the Falcons. The good news was that Frank Serratore’s team was able to snap a nine-game losing streak on Friday when the offense came to life in a 6-3 win over the Purple Eagles. While that outburst included two … Read more
In 2007, I attended my first Sacred Heart game as part of Rochester Institute of Technology’s radio broadcasting crew. The game was played at SHU’s home rink at the time, the Milford Ice Pavilion. The place, to be kind, wasn’t up to the standards of a Division I Hockey program. In 2016, SHU upgraded and … Read more
Last April, Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio announced that this season, his 20th, would be his last at the helm. He will also retire as commissioner of the College Hockey America women’s conference, which he has led for 13 years. At age 76, and after 40 years in college athletics, DeGregorio said that it was … Read more
In the last Atlantic Hockey column, we handed out midterm grades for each Atlantic Hockey team. As we head into the second semester, what players are in the running to make the dean’s list? Here are my midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? They sure will. But … Read more
With the first half of the Atlantic Hockey season in the books, let’s hand out some mid-term grades: Air Force (6-10-2, 2-7-1 AHA) Atlantic Hockey Standings: Ninth Points Per Game: 0.70 (Ninth) PairWise Ranking: 55 The Lowdown: The Falcons have some quality wins, including over Colorado College and RIT. But they’ve dropped five in a … Read more
The first half of Army West Point’s 2022-23 season came in two parts, according to coach Brian Riley. And his team needed to go through some rough times in Part One to get to Part Two. “I saw somewhere that we have the second-youngest team in college hockey,” said Riley, in his 19th year behind … Read more
There have been some growing pains for Holy Cross in the first half of this season. A challenging schedule has meant more losses than wins so far, but the consistency that coach Bill Riga has been looking for is starting to emerge. “We’ve been up and down, especially early in the season,” Riga said. “We’ve … Read more
Mercyhurst wasn’t getting a lot of puck luck earlier in the season. Coach Rick Gotkin, in his 35th season behind the Lakers’ bench, felt that his squad was better than its 1-9-2 record indicated. “I think that our early record said as much about our opponents as it did about us,” he said. “We played … Read more
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1) Quinnipiac first in Friendship Four Fans in Belfast were treated to some exciting college hockey over the weekend in the sixth edition of the Friendship Four Tournament, played for the first time since 2019. Only one … Read more
It’s been a strange couple of years for Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. On May 26, 2021, with no warning, RMU’s president and board announced that effective immediately, it was canceling their men’s and women’s hockey programs. Coaches, players, alumni, and fans were in shock. But quickly, Schooley helped lead a massive effort to restore … Read more
For a league where sweeps have historically been hard to come by and splits are the norm, so far this season it’s been feast or famine in conference series in Atlantic Hockey. There have been 15 conference series so far, with nine ending in sweeps. Another three series saw one team take five of six … Read more
I had the chance recently to talk to Pierre-Luc O’Brien, who starred for Sacred Heart from 2004 to 2008. O’Brien was a three-time Atlantic Hockey all-star as well as a Hobey Baker finalist. He holds the school’s record for career points (156). When asked about his favorite college hockey memory, O’Brien related the “Miracle at … Read more
Rochester Institute of Technology has opened the 2022-23 season 6-2-0, its best start in four years. While there are several reasons for the strong start, one number sticks out. The Tiger power play is clicking at 33.3 percent, tied for third nationally and double the 16.2 percent rate for RIT last season. And while Wayne … Read more
It was mostly splitsville in Atlantic Hockey last week, with both conference series (Rochester Institute of Technology at Air Force and Sacred Heart at Niagara) ending in splits. In each case, the home team won the first game, with the visitors coming back the next day to get their three points. Mercyhurst and Clarkson also … Read more
Bentley, like many Atlantic Hockey schools, expects to feel some growing pains early in the season. It will take time to gel with 13 new players on the roster. The Falcons took a big step last Saturday, defeating Maine 5-1 at Bentley Arena in front of a packed house. The impact of new players was … Read more
Heading into this season and every season for the past decade, hope springs eternal for Atlantic Hockey to get more than its playoff champion into the NCAA tournament. That will require a team to have a strong enough record to not need the automatic qualifier awarded to the playoff champion. It also requires a strong, … Read more