2017 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

The 2017 Atlantic Hockey Tournament is the 13th Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 3 and March 18, 2017 at home campus locations and at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The tournament champion Air Force was granted Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round the sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds, as determined by the conference regular season standings, will play a best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top five teams from the conference regular season standings receive a bye to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lowest-ranked first round winner, the second seed and second-highest-ranked first round winner, the third seed and highest-ranked first round winner, and the fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three series, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest remaining seeds will play a single game each, with the winners advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

Conference recordOverall record
GPWLTPTSGFGAGPWLTGFGA
Canisius281846429053392111710785
#12 Air Force*281963419156422710513393
Army2815103337756371814510078
Robert Morris2815103338673382212412395
Holy Cross2811107297878361415799106
RIT28131502690793714221108111
Mercyhurst28111342682833915204106123
Bentley28101262678823913197101120
Sacred Heart2810153236787371319588116
American International28714721639136820882122
Niagara28323285511939531376168
Championship: March 18, 2017
† indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 6, 2017

Bracket

Army and Robert Morris finished tied for third. Army wins the 5th tiebreaker (record against #1 seed). RIT, Mercyhurst and Bentley finished tied for sixth place. RIT was seeded sixth with tie breakers over both (head-to-head wins and conference wins) while Mercyhurst was placed seventh (conference wins).

First round
March 3–5
Quarterfinals
March 10–12
Semifinals
March 17
Championship
March 18
1Canisius32
6RIT45111Niagara01
11Niagara5041Canisius2
4Robert Morris6
2Air Force42
8Bentley01
4Robert Morris1
2Air Force2
3Army624
7Mercyhurst457Mercyhurst43*3
10American International302Air Force1
3Army0
4Robert Morris63
8Bentley153**5Holy Cross32
9Sacred Heart422

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

First round

(6) RIT vs. (11) Niagara

March 3[1]RIT4 – 5NiagaraGene Polisseni CenterRecap 
(Logan, Mikowski) Jordan Peacock – 11:15
(Brubacher, Abt) Danny Smith – 14:48
(Abt, Valenzuela) Liam Kerins – 18:10
First period15:25 – Kris Spriggs (Kovachis, Cakebread)
No scoringSecond period04:08 – EA – Stephen Pietrobon (Harper, Spriggs)
(Abt, Rotolo) Erik Brown – 10:25Third period16:05 – SH – Vinny Muto (Curran)
19:03 – EA – Johnny Curran (Rennaker, Sarcona)
19:49 – GW SH – Sam Rennaker (unassisted)
( 17 saves / 22 shots ) Mike RotoloGoalie statsJackson Teichroeb ( 35 saves / 39 shots )
March 4[2]RIT5 – 0NiagaraGene Polisseni Center 
(unassisted) Myles Powell – GW SH – 06:15
(Cameron, Abt) Ryan Kruper – 13:25
(Kruper) Darren Brady – 19:42
First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
(Girduckis, Brubacker) Danny Smith – 03:27
(Powell, Brubacher) Matt Abt – PP – 11:44
Third periodNo scoring
( 19 saves / 19 shots ) Mike RotoloGoalie statsJackson Teichroeb ( 27 saves / 31 shots ) / Joe O'Brien ( 7 saves / 8 shots )
March 5[3]RIT1 – 4NiagaraGene Polisseni Center 
No scoringFirst period01:00 – Kris Spriggs (Pietrobon, Muto)
03:49 – GW – Sam Rennaker (Curran, Dzakhov)
(Logan) Jordan Peacock – 05:00Second periodNo scoring
No scoringThird period05:10 – PP – Stanislav Dzakhov (Delman, Boman)
16:56 – EN – Stanislav Dzakhov (Harper, Teichroeb)
( 15 saves / 18 shots ) Mike RotoloGoalie statsJackson Teichroeb ( 42 saves / 43 shots )
Niagara won series 2–1


(7) Mercyhurst vs. (10) American International

March 3[4]Mercyhurst4 – 3American InternationalMercyhurst Ice Center 
(Duszak, Riley) Derek Barach – 03:27
(Dsuzak, Wu) Taylor Best – PP – 12:14
(Baker, Lancaster) Michael Verboom – 17:24
First period18:20 – PP – Martin Mellberg (Christensen, Mueller)
(Enns, Charbonneau) Derek BarachGW – 16:32Second period05:08 – Kyle Stephan (Christian, Demel)
06:00 – Hugo Reinhardt (Orszulak, Florian)
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
( 29 saves / 32 shots ) Brandon WildungGoalie statsZackarais Skog ( 31 saves / 35 shots )
March 4[5]Mercyhurst5 – 0American InternationalMercyhurst Ice Center 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
(Enns, Piacentini) Stephen Hrehoriak – GW – 09:00
(Lancaster, Best) Derek BarachPP – 11:19
(Barach, Lancaster) Jonathan Charbonneau – 13:30
(Drouin, Barach) Jack Riley – PP – 17:41
Second periodNo scoring
(Lammon, Whittaker) Joseph Duszak – 01:08Third periodNo scoring
( 24 saves / 24 shots ) Brandon WildungGoalie statsZackarais Skog ( 29 saves / 34 shots )
Mercyhurst won series 2–0


(8) Bentley vs. (9) Sacred Heart

March 3[6]Bentley1 – 4Sacred HeartJohn A. Ryan Arena 
(Riggleman, Callin) Alexey Soloyev – 10:46First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
No scoringThird period02:13 – Mike Crocock (McIlmurray, De Concilys)
10:15 – GW – Vito Bavaro (Jasper, Tsekos)
17:23 – Justin Danforth (Hladin, Nylen)
19:16 – EN – Stephen Hladin (Minello, Danforth)
( 29 saves / 32 shots ) Aiden PelinoGoalie statsBrett Magnus ( 29 saves / 30 shots )
March 4[7]Bentley5 – 2Sacred HeartJohn A. Ryan ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst period17:01 – Vito Bavaro (Tsekos)
(Desbiens, Gorowsky) Max French – 06:39
(French) Chris Buchanan – 07:48
Second periodNo scoring
(McMurphy, McDonald) Kyle Schmidt – GW – 11:28
(Schmidt, Gorowsky) Max French – 18:13
(unassisted) Max French – EN – 19:29
Third period02:13 – Jeff Caroll (McIlmurray, Doerksen)
( 30 saves / 32 shots ) Jayson ArgueGoalie statsBrett Magnus ( 27 saves / 31 shots )
March 5[8]Bentley3 – 22OTSacred HeartJohn A. Ryan Arena 
(Gorowsky) Max French – SH – 19:25First period12:42 – Jordan Minello (Doherty, Danforth)
(Berry, DePourcq) Matt Riggleman – 08:55Second periodNo scoring
No scoringThird period12:53 – Ruslan Rakhmatov (Danforth, Minello)
(French, Desbiens) Ryner Gorowsky – GW – 00:30Second overtime periodNo scoring
( 29 saves / 31 shots ) Jayson ArgueGoalie statsBrett Magnus ( 30 saves / 33 shots )
Bentley won series 2–1


Quarterfinals

(1) Canisius vs. (11) Niagara

March 10[9]Canisius3 – 0NiagaraHarborCenter 
(Chamberland, McLaughlin) Jimmy Mazza – GW PP – 14:57First periodNo scoring
(Parrottino, Heath) Dylan McLaughlin – 03:32Second periodNo scoring
(Chamberland) Nick Hutchison – 01:48Third periodNo scoring
( 24 saves / 24 shots ) Charles WilliamsGoalie statsJackson Teichroeb ( 36 saves / 39 shots )
March 11[10]Canisius2 – 1NiagaraHarborCenterRecap 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
(Schmelzer, Parrottino) Felix Chamberland – PP – 03:06
(Mazza, Stief) Ryan SchmelzerGW PP – 18:45
Third period03:49 – PP – Vinny Muto (Curran, Rennaker)
( 25 saves / 26 shots ) Charles WilliamsGoalie statsJackson Teichroeb ( 32 saves / 34 shots )
Canisius won series 2–1


(2) Air Force vs. (8) Bentley

March 10[11]Air Force4 – 0BentleyCadet Ice ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
(Bailry, Serratore) Phil Boje – GW – 03:12
(Stone, Boje) Evan Feno – 08:26
(Feno, Boje) Dan Bailey – 09:01
Second periodNo scoring
(Feno) Matt Koch – EN SH – 17:06Third periodNo scoring
( 18 saves / 18 shots ) Shane StarrettGoalie statsJayson Argue ( 10 saves / 13 shots ) / Aidan Pelino ( 12 saves / 12 shots )
March 11[12]Air Force2 – 1BentleyCadet Ice Arena 
(unassisted) Jordan Himley – 05:59First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond period10:10 – Andrew McDonald (Callin, Orr)
(Feno) Ben Kucera – GW – 00:39Third periodNo scoring
( 13 saves / 14 shots ) Shane StarrettGoalie statsAidan Pelino ( 37 saves / 39 shots )
Air Force won series 2–0


(3) Army vs. (7) Mercyhurst

March 10[13]Army6 – 4MercyhurstTate Rink 
(Andrle, Pham) Joe Shecter – 03:53First period12:57 – PPJoseph Duszak (Barach, Charbonneau)
(Soucie, Nick) Dominic Franco – PP – 07:42
(Evancho, Andrle) Nick DeCenzo – 15:35
Second period02:52 – Kyle Dutra (Sienerth, Bucci)
(Nick, Franco) Brendan Soucie – 03:29
(unassisted) Michael Wilson – PP – 05:41
(Fidler, Franco) Brendan Soucie – 10:41
Third period04:12 – Jonathan Charbonneau (Riley, Todd)
18:01 – EA – Stephen Hrehoriak (Dutra, Drouin)
( 37 saves / 41 shots ) Parker GahagenGoalie statsBrandon Wildung ( 29 saves / 34 shots ) / Colin DeAugustine ( 7 saves / 8 shots )
March 11[14]Army2 – 3OTMercyhurstTate Rink 
(Nick) Conor Andrle – PP – 15:50First period08:27 – Matthew Whittaker (Ferriero, Duszak)
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
(Reuschlein, Fidler) Brendan Soucie – 14:18Third period09:33 – PP – Josh Lammon (Whittaker, Wu)
No scoringFirst overtime period00:33 – GW PP – Matthew Whittaker (Lancaster, Best)
( 33 saves / 36 shots ) Parker GahagenGoalie statsBrandon Wildung ( 38 saves / 40 shots )
March 12[15]Army4 – 3MercyhurstTate Rink 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
(Reuschlein, Wilkinson) Matt Riggleman – PP – 08:55
(Andrle, Pham) Zach Evancho – 15:20
Second period12:53 – Philippe Drouin (Duszak, Todd)
13:03 – Wes baker (Lancaster, Verboom)
13:41 – Josh Lammon (Wu, Whittaker)
(unassisted) Trevor Fidler – 00:57
(Mansfield, Maruya) Mike Preston – GW – 11:02
Third periodNo scoring
( 40 saves / 43 shots ) Parker Gahagen / ( 9 saves / 9 shots ) Cole BrunsGoalie statsColin DeAugustine ( 30 saves / 34 shots )
Army won series 2–1


(4) Robert Morris vs. (5) Holy Cross

March 10[16]Robert Morris6 – 3Holy Cross84 Lumber Arena 
No scoringFirst period17:35 – PP – Mike Barrett (Moore, Lopez)
(Leavens, Israel) Alex Tonge – PP – 12:36Second periodNo scoring
(Moore, Ghantous) Spencer Dorowicz – 01:50
(Bontje) Brady Ferguson – SH – 02:32
(Lynch, Mann) Daniel Mantenuto – GW – 06:11
(Mantenuto, Leavens) Alex Tonge – 09:36
(Robillard, Dagnal) Kyle Horsman – 16:14
Third period13:35 – SH – Ryan Ferrill (unassisted)
17:54 – Mitch Collett (Robinson, Mackie)
( 16 saves / 19 shots ) Francis MarotteGoalie statsPaul Berrafato ( 21 saves / 27 shots )
March 11[17]Robert Morris3 – 2Holy Cross84 Lumber Arena 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
(Ferguson, Israel) Daniel Leavens – PP – 08:37
(Tonge, Ferguson) Daniel Leavens – 16:34
Second periodNo scoring
(Bontje) Brady Ferguson – GW EN – 18:42Third period16:09 – Mitch Mollett (Mulcahy, Skelly)
19:36 – EA – Peter Crinella (Pooley, Trapp)
( 22 saves / 24 shots ) Francis MarotteGoalie statsPaul Berrafato ( 19 saves / 21 shots )
Robert Morris won series 2–0


Semifinals

(1) Canisius vs. (4) Robert Morris

March 17[18]Canisius2 – 6Robert MorrisBlue Cross ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst period12:01 – Spencer Dorowicz (Watt, Ghantous)
19:48 – Daniel Mantanuto (unassisted)
No scoringSecond period12:40 – GW – Brady Ferguson (Leavens, Tonge)
(Hoover, Edmondson) Nick Hutchison – PP – 04:45
(McLaughlin, Jerry) David Parrottino – EA – 18:03
Third period14:31 – PP – Brady Ferguson (Leavens)
17:20 – EN – Alex Tonge (Ghantous, Marotte)
18:54 – EN SH – Brady Ferguson (Leavens)
( 19 saves / 23 shots ) Charles WilliamsGoalie statsFrancis Marotte ( 27 saves / 29 shots )


(2) Air Force vs. (3) Army

March 17[19]Air Force1 – 0ArmyBlue Cross ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
(Hrabovsky, Giesler) Ben Kucera – GW – 11:03Second periodNo scoring
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
( 29 saves / 29 shots ) Shane StarrettGoalie statsParker Gahagan ( 22 saves / 23 shots )


Championship

(2) Air Force vs. (4) Robert Morris

March 18[20]Air Force2 – 1Robert MorrisBlue Cross ArenaRecap 
(Himley, Ledford) Erik Baskin – 01:15First periodNo scoring
(Ledford) Jordan Himley – GW – 19:29Second period16:02 – Ben Robillard (Israel)
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
( 24 saves / 25 shots ) Shane StarrettGoalie statsFrancis Marotte ( 12 saves / 14 shots )


Tournament awards

  • G Shane Starrett* (Air Force)
  • D Johnny Hrabovsky (Air Force)
  • D
  • F Jordan Himley (Air Force)
  • F Tyler Ledford (Air Force)
  • F Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

References