The 2024–25 Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey season was the 57th season of play for the program and the 1st in Atlantic Hockey America. The Falcons represented the United States Air Force Academy, played their home games at the Cadet Ice Arena and were coached by Frank Serratore in his 28th season.
Season From the beginning of the season, Air Force struggled with a weak offense; averaging just over 2 goals per game, the Falcons give themselves little margin for error defensively. Fortunately for the team, they were able to rely on stable goaltending from Guy Blessing and capable shot-blocking from both Chris Hedden and Will Staring. The result for the team was a great many close, low-scoring games.
For the first half of the season, Air Force was a bit streaky, alternating stretches of wins and losses. By the time the team paused for the winter break, the Falcons were sitting just below .500 but had played well in conference play. After two splits to open the second half against two of the AHA luminaries, the team hit a rough patch. An uncharacteristically poor stretch of games from Blessing saw the team lose six consecutive and sag into the middle of the standings. While the team recovered in early February, the would be forced to begin their postseason run in the First Round of the conference tournament.
In their final home game of the season, Air Force faced a rebuilding Robert Morris club that gave them a tougher challenge than their record would have indicated. The Colonials were able to get three goals on the Falcons and it took just about everything the home team had to remain in the contest. Air Force fired 43 shots on goal in regulation and managed to equal the total from RMU. After such a harrying ordeal, the Falcons appeared to relax a bit in overtime, getting only 5 shots over a 20-minute span. Fortunately, the defense was up to the task and a fifth period was required. The Falcons began to pressure the visitors cage and eventually forced them to take a slashing penalty. Mere seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Anthony Yu jammed the puck in from just outside the paint and sent the team to the quarterfinals.
In the series with Sacred Heart, the lack of finish caught up with the Falcons as the team was unable to content with the Pioneers' offense. Air Force still fought hard, winning another double-overtime game on the strength of Austin Schwartz' team-leading 12th of the season. However, their valiant effort was not enough for the Falcons to take the series and after a succeeding loss the team's season came to a close.
Departures Brian Adams Forward Graduation (retired) Maiszon Balboa Goaltender Graduation (retired) Owen Baumgartner Defenseman Transferred to Augustana Sam Brennan Defenseman Graduation (retired) Parker Brown Forward Graduation (retired) Will Gavin Forward Graduation (signed with Tucson Roadrunners) Nathan Horn Forward Graduation (retired) Jacob Marti Forward Graduation (retired) Luke Robinson Defenseman Graduation (retired) Luke Rowe Defenseman Graduation (signed with Ontario Reign)
Recruiting Cooper Boulanger Forward 21 Barre, VT Joseph Cesario Forward 21 Westminster, CO Will Dawson Forward 20 Traverse City, MI Toby Hopp Goaltender 20 Maple Grove, MN Beau Janzig Defenseman 20 Hermantown, MN Will Jones Defenseman 20 Brentwood, TN Michael Kadlecik Forward 20 Lansing, NY Ren Morque Defenseman 20 Grand Rapids, MN Jake Peterson Defenseman 20 Rosemount, MN Nick Sajevic Forward 21 Shoreview, MN Samuel Stitz Forward 21 Perry Hall, MD Anthony Yu Forward 20 Baldwin Park, CA
Roster As of August 13, 2024.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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Scoring statistics F 40 9 20 29 23 D 39 11 15 26 52 F 40 12 9 21 6 C 39 9 9 18 15 D 40 5 13 18 26 F 39 8 8 16 8 F 36 4 11 15 14 LW 35 5 5 10 41 F 34 2 8 10 10 F 38 2 7 9 6 D 39 1 8 9 26 F 35 5 2 7 31 F 29 3 4 7 8 D 36 3 4 7 4 F 20 2 5 7 4 D 39 0 7 7 2 F 34 3 3 6 23 D 40 0 5 5 6 F 17 1 2 3 2 F 22 0 3 3 4 G 39 0 2 2 0 F 15 1 0 1 0 D 36 0 1 1 2 G 3 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 D 5 0 0 0 0 D 12 0 0 0 23 Total 86 151 237 342
Goaltending statistics 39 2367:49 15 21 3 98 953 3 .907 2.48 4 97:03 1 0 0 5 35 0 .875 3.09 Empty Net - 35:41 - - - 9 - - - - Total 40 2500:33 16 21 3 112 988 3 .898 2.69
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Austin Schwartz Atlantic Hockey Best Defensive Forward
References