Ice hockey completes sweep of Air Force, clinches home ice in AHA Quarterfinals

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - The American International College ice hockey team used a resilient effort to defeat the Air Force Academy 4-3 in an Atlantic Hockey Association matchup on Saturday, February 18, clinching home ice in the quarterfinal of the 2023 AHA Tournament in the process.

AIC stands at 16-12-6 overall and 13-8-3-2-2-0 in the AHA.

Much like the series in Springfield between the teams earlier this season, the Falcons struck first in the second game. Bennett Norlin wired a shot home from the point at 4:05 to open the scoring for the home side.

That deficit stood for AIC all the way into the second period when the Yellow Jackets scored off the rush. Blake Bennett and Brett Rylance came into the zone and despite being outnumbered by air Force defenders generated a tally as Bennett threaded a pass to the netfront where Rylance had arrived after splitting the defense, tipping in his eighth of the year to tie the score at the 8:52 mark.

Barely three minutes later, AIC took the lead. Aaron Grounds made a brilliant move to cut to the net from the right side and got the puck out in front. It deflected to Dustin Manz, who made no mistake in putting home his eighth of the season at 12:09.

Air Force came right back and tied the game on the power play. Brandon Koch snapped home a shot at 13:50 to draw the score level at 2-2, which remained the count through 40 minutes.

The third period was a flurry of goals, and it started just after a power play ended for AIC. Grounds fed the puck up the wing to Manz on the rush, and his cross pass was right in the wheelhouse for Brett Callahan, whose slapshot hit the target at 7:10 for his second of the year.

Air Force's season was on the line and the Falcons played like it, tying the game on a netmouth scramble at 9:23 as Holt Oliphant jammed in a rebound of a shot by Austin Schwartz.

However, the Yellow Jackets were not to be denied. On the next shift, Grounds poke-checked the puck away at the point and launched AIC on a four-on-one attack. Grounds carried up the left wing and then dropped the puck for Manz, who was trailing, and his shot found the low right corner for his ninth of the season at 10:12.

That goal proved to be the deciding one. Air Force put on enormous pressure, but Alexandros Aslanidis put aside 11 shots in the third and 34 in the game to earn the win.

AIC's victory ensures the team of no worse than a fourth-place finish in the AHA this season, which means the team will host one of the AHA's quarterfinal series. That series will be a best-of-three on March 3-5, with opponent and start time to be announced. 

The Yellow Jackets have one more regular season series remaining, a rematch with Sacred Heart University. The first game of the set will be Friday, February 24 at 7:05 p.m. and will serve as the team's senior night. Tickets are available at the MassMutual Center box office or at www.aictix.com.