Falcons undecided on goalie for AHA Final Four opener

Who’s going to be in goal? That’s the million-dollar question for Air Force coach Frank Serratore, who remains undecided on whether he’ll start Jason Torf or Stephen Caple in the opener of the Atlantic Hockey Association Final Four on Friday in Rochester, N.Y.

Neither has been particularly sharp, although the 14 wins by Torf are the second-most by any freshman goaltender in the nation. Caple has four victories, three of which have come as a backup – a role Serratore likes, noting “he has done better in those situations. That’s what I got to think about. You start him, and he struggles. Then what do you do?”

Lamoureux reaches milestone

When Jacques Lamoureux hit the 40-point mark Friday against Sacred Heart, he became Air Force’s first player to have three straight 40-point seasons since Tom Richards pulled the feat from 1980 to 1982. He’s tied for 16th in academy history with 136 career points, and his 40 career power-play goals and 16 career game-winning goals are school records.

Lamoureux and fellow seniors Matt Becker, Sean Bertsch, Derrick Burnett, Scott Kozlak, Blake Page and Brad Sellers played their final home game Saturday against Sacred Heart. They’ve combined for 178 goals and 443 points in 882 games, with an 83-49-20 record – as freshmen and sophomores, they won the AHA title to make the NCAA Tournament.

C’mon, fans! It’s the playoffs!

The attendance drop-off typical of the AHA tournament continued, as Air Force attracted 2,046 fans Friday and 2,514 fans Saturday to 2,470-seat Cadet Ice Arena – well below its average of 2,716 in the regular season, when 13 of 16 games were sellouts.

Air Force had enjoyed eight straight sellouts, and its average attendance of 110 percent of capacity was the highest in the country among teams that played all their home games at their home rink. For the 10 AHA quarterfinal games the Falcons have hosted the past five years, they’re averaging 1,819 fans, with four crowds exceeding 2,000 and three sellouts.