Chris Lerch

Chris Lerch has been writing for USCHO since 1999, first as D-III columnist, then covering Atlantic Hockey for the past 19 seasons.

Previewing the 2022 NCAA hockey tournament, Allentown Regional: Michigan, Quinnipiac, St. Cloud State, American International

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ALLENTOWN REGIONAL When: Friday, March 25 & Sunday, March 27 Where: PPL Center, Allentown, Pa. Matchups: Michigan vs. American International, March 25, 3 p.m., ESPNU; Quinnipiac vs. St. Cloud State, March 25, 8 p.m., ESPNews; championship, March 27, 4 p.m./6:30 p.m., ESPN2 1. MICHIGAN How they got here: Won Big Ten tournament championship Overall season … Read more

AIC blanks Air Force for third straight Atlantic Hockey tournament title as five different players score to back Calvaruso’s shutout in net

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Neither Air Force coach Frank Serratore (7-0) or American International coach Eric Lang (2-0) had lost an Atlantic Hockey championship game. Something had to give. It was Lang’s Yellow Jackets that came out on top 7-0, thanks to goals by five different players and an 18-save shutout by goaltender Alec Calvaruso. “I’ve been here a … Read more

Air Force off to Atlantic Hockey championship game after one-goal victory over RIT in conference semifinals

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Frank Serratore has seen a lot of glory in his 25 seasons behind the Air Force bench. Those accolades include seven conference titles in addition to a 14-2 record in the Atlantic Hockey final four coming into tonight’s semifinal with Rochester Institute of Technology. But after dispatching Army West Point in this year’s Atlantic Hockey … Read more

Behind three-goal performance from Bennett, AIC edges Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey semifinal

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Good things have come in threes lately for Blake Bennett, and American International hopes that continues. Bennett’s hat trick, his second in as many games, led AIC to a 5-4 win over Mercyhurst. The Yellow Jackets (21-12-3) are a game away from their third consecutive Atlantic Hockey playoff title. “It was an entertaining college hockey … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Three games, four teams, one dream with conference title at stake this weekend in Utica

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And then there were four. The Atlantic Hockey tournament quarterfinal round had its fair share of drama and upsets, with two favorites and two underdogs advancing to Utica. Four of the nine games played last weekend went to overtime, including three of four on Friday. – Air Force kept its streak of postseason wins against … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With conference playoffs down to eight teams, battle for NCAA tournament autobid heating up this weekend

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The opening round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament consisted of a pair of sweeps, one by the favorites and one by an underdog. At Mercyhurst, the story was Lakers goaltender Kyle McClellan who stopped 74 of 76 Holy Cross shots he faced in a pair of 2-1 wins. At Niagara, Bentley got a pair of … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Previewing the opening round of AHA conference tournament

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When the dust settled on the 2021-22 Atlantic Hockey regular season, we were left with the following seedings for the upcoming AHA tournament: 1. American International 2. Canisius 3. Army West Point 4. Rochester Institute of Technology 5. Sacred Heart 6. Air Force 7. Mercyhurst 8. Niagara 9. Bentley 10. Holy Cross Army West Point … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Conference standings still in state of flux with last regular-season weekend on tap

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With one weekend left in the regular season in Atlantic Hockey, it’s down to the wire with eight of the 10 playoffs spots still to be determined. The top six teams in the standings will get a first-round bye. The top four will host quarterfinal series beginning March 11. Seeds seven through 10 will pair … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Holy Cross finding win column as ‘plan and vision that our staff put together hasn’t changed’ under first-year coach Riga

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When we last checked in on first-year Holy Cross coach Bill Riga, he was chalking up his first win as a head coach. The first part of the season was full of growing pains for the Crusaders, whose record at Christmas was 4-13-1. Since then, Holy Cross is 6-6-1, including 4-1 in its last five … Read more

Monday 10: Denver finally loses on home ice, AIC close to Atlantic Hockey title, Alaska on 10-4-1 run, Beanpot final tonight

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Each week during the season, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Denver’s streaks come to an end Minnesota Duluth defeated host Denver 3-2 on Saturday, handing the Pioneers their first loss on home ice this season and ending their nine-game winning streak. Bulldogs sophomore … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With ‘a relentless expectation to do well against them,’ Niagara gearing up for weekend rivalry series with Canisius

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When Jason Lammers took the head coaching job at Niagara in 2017, it didn’t take him long to appreciate the school’s long-standing rivalry with Canisius. “It took about one minute,” said Lammers. “In the interview process, it was made clear that we had not had a lot of success lately against the team south of … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Consistent Canisius squad making late-season run by ‘trying to be in the present’

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Looking at Canisius’ season to date, the word that comes to mind is “consistency.” The Golden Griffins (12-10-3) have taken points in every Atlantic Hockey series they’ve played so far, which puts them in a tie for third place, trailing Bentley by a point and first-place American International by 11 with eight games to go. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With RIT soon to be able to offer athletic scholarships, Wilson says ‘it was common sense’ for resolution to pass

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Rochester Institute of Technology coach Wayne Wilson got some good news on Saturday, when the NCAA Division III membership passed a resolution to allow multi-divisional institutions, including RIT and Union, to offer scholarships for their men’s and women’s hockey programs. The schools had been competing in Division I without the benefit of scholarships since 2005 … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Discussing which conference teams are playoff contenders, pretenders as second half in full swing

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With just over 50 percent (54.6 percent to be exact) of the Atlantic Hockey schedule in the books, and nonconference play completed (with the exception of Sacred Heart defending its Connecticut Ice title on Jan. 29-30), it’s now a sprint to the finish. How’s the race shaping up? If you aren’t a subscriber to the … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With just five wins in ’21-22, Mercyhurst ‘might have deserved better in some of those games’

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There’s a saying in sports (and life): “You get what you deserve”. In hockey, that means points in the standings after a hard-fought victory, as well as a loss resulting from a disappointing effort. But there’s another saying: “Life isn’t fair.” Sometimes, you have the effort and the correct game plan, but the puck doesn’t … Read more