Hockey Renews Rivalry with Air Force

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team welcomes service-academy rival Air Force for a two-game set at Tate Rink as the teams renew one of the biggest rivalries in college hockey.

Friday's game is a 7:05 p.m. puck drop and a reminder to fans that Saturday's game starts at 6:05 p.m. and is live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in New York.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (Saturday)
RADIO • 1420 WLNA-AM/1260 WBNR-AM
VIDEO • EverSport.tv ($)
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mhockey
GAME NOTES • Army Notes • Air Force Notes
TICKETS • Hockey Tickets (Friday Only)
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Hockey

NEW VISITOR POLICIES AT WEST POINT
Starting Jan. 10, people using a driver's license from the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico or Washington will have to use another approved form of identification in order to enter West Point and all other military installations, due to federal guidelines. If you possess a valid Department of Defense issued identification card, this new requirement does not affect your ability to enter military installations.

Acceptable alternate forms of identification are a U.S. passport, a permanent resident card/Alien Registration Receipt Card (form 1-551), a foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp or visa or an employment authorization document that contains a photograph (Form I-766).

THIS WEEK: THE RIVALRY CONTINUES
The biggest weekend of the regular season is finally here as the Black Knights welcome its biggest rival Air Force for a pair of games. Friday night's game is set for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop, while Saturday's matchup is a 6:05 p.m. start. The Falcons enter this weekend with a 9-9-2 overall record and a 7-5-2 mark in conference play. They are coming off of an impressive sweep over American International. Air Force outscored the Yellow Jackets 13-3 in the two games, including a 8-2 win on Jan. 8. The Falcons started the season with a 2-6-1 mark, but they battled back to .500 with a 7-3-1 mark over their last 11 games.

NEXT WEEK: NORTH OF THE BORDER
Army renews the longest-running international collegiate rivalry next weekend with a visit to the K-Rock Center in Kingston, Ontario, for its annual matchup with the Royal Military College. This is the fifth-straight season the schools will take to the ice and Army is riding a eight-game unbeaten streak against the Paladins with RMC's last win coming on Feb. 9, 2002. Last season, the Black Knights scored four in the first period to cruise to an 8-0 win over RMC to take home the Challenge Cup. The Paladins are currently 3-18 on the season in the Ontario University Athletics conference. They swept Laurentian last weekend and face McGill this weekend.

LAST WEEK: HOME-AND-HOME SERIES WITH SACRED HEART
The Army hockey team went to overtime for the eighth time this season last Friday night at Tate Rink and skated to a 1-1 tie in game one against the Pioneers. The teams returned to the ice Saturday night at Sacred Heart and the Pioneers came away with a 4-1 win. The Black Knights scored first in both games. Tyler Pham tallied his third goal of the season on Friday night and then Taylor Maruya added his third on the road on Saturday. The Pioneers fired back in both games to earn league points, including four unanswered on Saturday.
ON THE RADIO
Both games will be live on the radio in the Hudson Valley on 1260 WBNR-AM in Beacon and 1430 WLNA-AM in Peekskill. Nikolai Busko has the call for both games this weekend. The games are also live on Knight Vision at GoArmyWestPoint.com.

LIVE STREAM THROUGH EVERSPORT
EverSport is back as the web stream provider of the Atlantic Hockey Association. Games throughout the season, both home and away, will be live on EverSport.tv by searching Atlantic Hockey. EverSport allows payment per game and season.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Black Knights played their final non-conference game of the season on Jan. 2 against UMass and fell by a 2-1 score in overtime. Army finished 2-2-0 in non-league competition, which is the first time since 1999-2000 that it had a .500 or better record out of conference play.

AIR FORCE TIES
The Army hockey team has a new tie to Air Force after former skater Jim Knowlton was named Athletic Director at the Air Force Academy. Knowlton was a four-year letterwinner for Army and is a member of the West Point Class of 1982. Prior to Air Force, Knowlton was the Athletic Director at Rensselaer and also spent time at West Point as deputy and interim director of athletics from 2003-06.

MILITARY FAMILY
Joe Kozlak is in his final season with the Black Knights and will face his brother's old team for the last time in the regular season this weekend. Scott Kozlak was a 2011 Air Force graduate and continues to serve in the Air Force today. Scott played 149 games for the Falcons and tallied 54 points on 20 goals and 34 assists. Joe has 62 points on 27 goals and 35 assists in 120 games played for the Black Knights.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
The yearling class has not seen a drop in numbers this season after leading the team last year in class points. The sophomores have 48 points of Army's 176 this season with 17 goals and 31 helpers on the year. Conor Andrle and Tyler Pham lead the way with 16 and nine points respectively. Pham added to his totals with one of the two goals scored last weekend against Sacred Heart.

TAKING ADVANTAGE
The Army power play has been extremely effective this season as the Black Knights are averaging just under a goal a game on the power play. They are third in the league in efficiency at 18.9 with 17 goals on 90 opportunities. The 17 tallies are second in the conference, which is led by Robert Morris with an impressive 32 goals with the extra skater. Conor Andrle is the top point-getter on the power play with 10 points, which is tied for fifth in Atlantic Hockey. Army has scored a power play goal in 14 of its 20 games this season.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Air Force enters this weekend with a 9-9-2 overall record and a 7-5-2 conference mark after sweeping American International at home last weekend. The Falcons have won seven of their last 11 games to move up the Atlantic Hockey standings for fourth with 15 points. Air Force has been able to earn league points in every weekend series this year, but last weekend was its first sweep of the season. The Falcons' scoring offense is tallying three goals a game, while the defense is allowing three.

Sophomore Jordan Himley is the top scorer on Air Force with 16 points on seven goals and nine assists. Two of his goals have been gamewinners and one was on the power play. Senior Ben Carey is second with 15 points on five goals and a team-leading 10 assists. Sophomores Ben Kucera and Erik Baskin are tied for third with six goals and six assists.

Air Force has gotten solid work from rookie Shane Starrett in net with a 5-7-2 record and a 2.68 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. Billy Christopoulos has played in eight games and is 4-2-0 in his seven starts with a 3.27 goals against average and a .873 save percentage. Both goalies earned wins last weekend against American International.

SERIES HISTORY
Army and Air Force have faced each other 63 times with the Falcons holding onto a 36-22-5 advantage in the series. Air Force has gone unbeaten in the last eight competitions and swept the series last year at Cadet Ice Arena. The series kicked off in 1969 and the first two games were played in St. Petersburg, Fla. Overall there have been five neutral site games. The series is tied 13-13-2 when the game is played at West Point.

Hockey Renews Rivalry with Air Force

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Players Mentioned

Conor Andrle

Joe Kozlak

Taylor Maruya

Tyler Pham

Army West Point Athletics