The Air Force Falcons men’s ice hockey team, seeded sixth, will travel to Pittsburgh to face third-seeded Robert Morris University in a best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) quarterfinal series from March 6-8 at Clearview Arena.
Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 6 at 7:05 p.m. ET, followed by game two on Saturday at the same time. If necessary, a deciding third game will take place Sunday at 5:05 p.m. All games will be streamed on FloHockey and broadcast on KVOR 740 AM and KVOR.com. Live statistics will be available through SideArm.
Air Force enters the playoffs with a record of 17-13-4 overall and 13-10-3 in conference play. The Falcons are unbeaten in their last three games and recently swept Bentley, the AHA regular-season champion, marking their third league road sweep this season.
Head coach Frank Serratore leads Air Force in his 29th season with a school record of 489-470-106. His counterpart at Robert Morris is Derek Schooley, who has been with the Colonials for 20 years and holds a school record of 309-338-79.
The teams have met three times previously in postseason play but never before in a playoff series format. Air Force defeated Robert Morris in both the 2017 and 2018 AHA Championship games as well as last season’s first round single-elimination contest.
This year’s matchup follows a split two-game series between the teams held at the U.S. Air Force Academy last December. In total, Air Force leads the all-time series against Robert Morris with a record of 26 wins, 18 losses, and five ties since their first meeting in 2004.
Key players for Air Force include Chris Hedden, Will Dawson, and Sam Stitz—each tied for the team lead with eleven goals this season. Hedden also ranks among national leaders for defensemen with his goal tally and points total; he is under consideration for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award after earning AHA Defenseman of the Week honors five times this year.
Nick Sajevic stands out with second-most assists (23) in the AHA while ranking high in points and faceoff wins within conference statistics. Goaltender Dominik Wasik has started each of the past twenty-nine games for Air Force; his four shutouts tie him for fourth nationally while he maintains strong numbers both in goals-against average (2.38) and save percentage (.911). Wasik was named AHA Goalie of the Week on March 3 following his performance during the Bentley sweep.
Robert Morris comes into this quarterfinal as No.3 seed after finishing its regular season at 13-18-3 overall (13-11-3 AHA), clinching its spot by sweeping Mercyhurst last weekend. The Colonials have won four out of their last five games and improved significantly over their preseason projections—having been picked ninth by coaches—and were seventh mid-January before closing strong down the stretch.
Tanner Klimpke leads RMU offensively with twelve goals and twenty-six points while goaltender Charlie Schenkel has made twenty-four starts this season posting a goals-against average of 2.81 alongside a .905 save percentage.
Historically at Clearview Arena—the site of this weekend’s series—Air Force holds an all-time mark of nine wins, six losses, and five ties; they are unbeaten there over their past six visits dating back to January 2017.
