AFA Sports   Air Force Academy sports

Junior forward Kyle DeLaurell (10 points, team-high six goals) was named as the Atlantic Hockey Association’s player of the month for October.

Senior Stephen Caple (3-0-2) was named as the goaltender of the month while freshman forward Cole Gunner, who leads the Falcons with 11 points, garnered rookie of the month honors.

Air Force junior Kyle De Laurell and freshman Cole Gunner earned Atlantic Hockey Association weekly honors with De Laurell named the AHA Player of the Week while Gunner garnered the rookie honor.

De Laurell, a winger from Mission Viejo, Calif., had two goals and two assists at Alabama-Huntsville.

He leads AFA with five goals and is tied for the team lead with nine points this season. He is tied for first in the AHA in goals and points. His nine points are tied for 10^th in the nation while his five goals are tied for sixth.

Gunner, a winger from Richfield, Minn., had two goals and two assists at Alabama-Huntsville last weekend. He scored AFA’s only goal in the 1-1 overtime tie on Friday.

On Saturday, he had one goal and two assists in the 7-2 win. Gunner leads AFA with seven assists and is tied for team lead with nine points this season. He is the top scoring freshman in the nation with nine points in six games.  He is tied for 10^th in the nation (among all players) with nine points and is tied for second in the nation with seven assists.

Air Force (3-2-1, 2-0 AHA)  hosts league rival at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force sophomore goalie Jason Torf told 1300 AM that he hopes to return to action in time for the Dec. 30 road game against Colorado College from what he called a partial tear between his groin and a tendon sustained late in the OT loss against Michigan State.

“I’d love to be back by Christmas time,” he said. “But, it’s something I’ll have to be patient with.”

Air Force 4, Robert Morris 2

Robert Morris  1          0          1          –2

Air Force         2          1          1          –4

First period – 1. AFA, Carew (unassisted) 5:40; 2. RMU, Brooks (Wilson) 9:40; 3. AFA, De Laurell (Michalke, Gunner) 13:46. Penalties – none.

Second period – 4. AFA, Fabian (Kruse) 1:29. Penalties –  RMU, Hervato, slashing, 4:57; AFA, McBride, hooking, 7:22; AFA, Weissenhofer, hooking, 10:38; RMU, Lyle, cross checking, 13:44; RMU, Blazek, hooking, 18:40; RMU, Jamison, tripping, 19:47..

Third period – 5. RMU, Lewis (Blandina, C. South) 18:23 (EX); 6. AFA, Kruse (unassisted) 19:30 (EN). Penalties – RMU, Hervato, tripping, 9:54; AFA, Demers, holding, 13:07; AFA, Walsh, interference, 19:43.

Power play – Robert Morris 0-4, Air Force 0-5. Shots on goal – Robert Morris 7-3-10-20; Air Force 13-13-9-35. Saves-minutes – Robert Morris, Ostergard 11-12-8-57:59; Air Force, Caple 6-3-9-60:00. Attendance – 2,393.

Air Force hockey won’t look back on this league-opening weekend with regret as they’ve done the past two years.

The Falcons relied on their depth and energy to eke out a 4-2 win over visiting Robert Morris and pick up an important four points at home to start Atlantic Hockey Association play thanks to Friday’s overtime win against Niagara.

Air Force (2-2, 2-0 AHA) wasn’t so fortunate in years past, going 0-4 the past two seasons.

“Points this early in the season are huge,” said senior co-captain Scott Mathis. “In February, we’ve always looked back and said we wished we’d had those two points from October. This sets us up better for later in the season.”

What made the four points all the more precious is that the Falcons did it while missing three key players because of injury: forwards Casey Kleisinger (shoulder) and Mitch Torrel (concussion) and goalie Jason Torf (groin). Replacing them were freshmen wings Brad McBride and Scott Holm and senior backup goalie Stephen Caple.

“We put three inexperienced guys in there and they got the job done,” coach Frank Serratore said. “We’ve never been this deep.”

Air Force’s hustle helped it win most of the one-on-one battles and resulted in the eventual game-winner when John Kruse forced a turnover behind the net of the Colonials (1-2, 0-1). Kruse collected the loose puck and fired a pass in front for a one-timer by Jason Fabian that made it 3-1 early in the second.

“We definitely had the legs tonight,” Fabian said.

Caple didn’t make any huge saves, but he played well enough to win two games this weekend thanks to a save percentage of more than 90 percent.

“Steve did his job,” Serratore said. “We played well in front of him and he didn’t lose the games for us. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Like getting four league points in mid-October.

“Getting four points when you consider the situation we were in was huge,” Serratore said.

Jason Fabian scored an insurance goal early in the second when he popped open in front, one-timing a pass from behind the RMU net by John Kruse.

The Falcons will have 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 man advantage to start the third. We’ll see if AFA can record first power play goal this season.

Cole Gunner generated the go-ahead goal with a good effort along the boards, keeping the puck in the Robert Morris zone with 6:22 left. He beat two Colonials to the puck and poked the puck to George Michalke III, whose slaps shot led to a rebound for Kyle DeLaurell to tap for the 2-1 lead with 6:14 remaining in the first period.

Air Force took the 1-0 lead thanks to its good hustle from the start. Stephen Carew one-timed a clearing attempt by Robert Morris goalie Brooks Ostergard only 5:40 into the game.

RMU tied it up at 1-1 when Tom Brooks beat Air Force goalie Stephen Caple high glove side four minutes later.

Notes: AFA’s Casey Kleisinger is out with a shoulder injury … Third string goalie David Bosner is wearing Jason Torf’s No. 29 road jersey. Torf remains out with a groin injury.

Robert Morris (1-1, 0-0 AHA)

LW/C/RW

Cramer/Crichton/Brace

C. South/Hervato/Lewis (C)

Chiavetta/Blandina/F. South

Brooks/Cartier/Jones

LD-RD

Lyle/Jamison

Wilson/Blazek

Renwick/Geerin

Goalies – Ostergard/Levine

Air Force (1-2, 1-0 AHA)

LW/C/RW

De Laurell/Demers/Gunner

Weisgarber (C)/Carew/Timar

Thomas/Fabian/Kruse

Holm/Michalke/McBride or Persian

LD-RD

McKenzie/Weissenhofer

Mathis (C)/Kirby

Halloran/Walsh

Goalies – Caple/Moberg/Bosner

Air Force coach Frank Serratore said an MRI was still pending but did not expect sophomore goalie Jason Torf to be available for the AHA home openers this weekend versus Niagara and Robert Morris.

“He ripped his groin out,” Serratore said. “We’re going to see which one of the other two guys step up.”

The backups are Stephen Caple and Paul Moberg.

Air Force sophomore left wing Mitch Torrel was released from Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, the day after he suffered a head injury and cut above his left eye after being driven headfirst into the boards during the Falcons’ 5-4 exhibition hockey win over McGill of Montreal. The injury is likely a concussion.

Air Force sports information director Dave Toller said all tests came back normal and that Torrel is out indefinitely.