Air Force leaning on captains to help snap winless streak

Scott Mathis and Paul Weisgarber are wearing letters on their chests for a reason. They’re Air Force’s captains, and they’re supposed to be providing leadership in every situation – in good times and in bad times, when the Falcons are winning and when they’re losing.

“We’re at that point where these guys need to take this team over,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore, whose squad has fallen into a tailspin, dropping from first to third in the Atlantic Hockey Association after a forgettable stretch of five games without a victory.

Not since a Dec. 30 upset of No. 11 Colorado College has Air Force (10-7-4, 8-4-3 AHA) broken into the win column. It was outscored 18-10 with a 2-for-28 effort on the power play and a 65 percent clip on the penalty kill in a defeat against No. 15 Denver that preceded a tie and a loss against both Holy Cross and Bentley. This weekend, Air Force heads to Army, which has only two wins but sold out both games – Friday’s is on CBS Sports Network.

A senior, Mathis was a captain last year, while Weisgarber, also a senior, was an alternate captain on a team that made another run into the NCAA Tournament, and they deferred to Jacques Lamoureux, who Serratore dubbed an “authoritarian guy,” like himself. With Lamoureux gone, Mathis and Weisgarber are responsible for solving a long list of issues – a lack of passion on game nights and too many offsides calls and retaliation penalties.

“Good teams find ways to win, and bad teams find ways to lose,” Serratore said, adding that his team is “finding ways to lose. … You find out what you’re made of when things are tough. We’ve been there before. We’ve been there in each of the last three years. You either collectively get together, and you work your way out of it, or you self-destruct.”

For Mathis and Weisgarber to become effective leaders, Serratore admitted that he has to “get out of their way,” he said. “You like to think you have a feel, you have a vibe. But you don’t. These guys are players. They’re there. They know how they feel. They know how their teammates feel. They know if they’ve got energy. They know if they’re tired.”

During a slump, Weisgarber said, his questioning never stops: “Are we getting the guys prepared properly? Are we doing the right things? Are we setting an example during the game, during practice? Are you doing it to the best of your ability?” Minus the questions, “it’s the blind leading the blind,” Weisgarber said. “The onus is on us, and we’re going to do a better job this week. … We’re knocked down right now. We’re not knocked out.”

Contrary to popular belief, “there’s no flipping the switch,” Mathis said. “You build into how we want to play.” He also has questioned, “How do you respond during adversity? If things aren’t going your way, what are you going to do to make things better?” He noted, “You feel that added role of responsibility, and Paul and I embrace that. We want that.”

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez.