Chris Lerch

The first half of the 2024-25 season has not been kind to Rochester Institute of Technology. Nearing the holiday break, the Tigers find themselves in an unfamiliar position —- near the bottom of the Atlantic Hockey America standings. RIT has won the regular-season title the past two seasons and a playoff championship last year. But … Read more

We’re past Thanksgiving, which means it’s OK to start looking at the PairWise rankings. At least that’s what my friends say. Here’s some early analysis from the USCHO Weekend Review podcast as well as our Tuesday Morning Quarterback column. If you follow Atlantic Hockey America, one quick peek is all you need. The highest-ranked AHA … Read more

It’s an old sports writing cliche, but at this time of the season, you’ll often see stories listing what teams have to be thankful for so far. Guilty as charged. I’m offering a slight variation – here’s a player on each Atlantic Hockey America team whose play inspires gratitude from coaches, players, and fans, at … Read more

Last Tuesday, word began spreading that American International was downgrading its men’s hockey program to Division II at the end of this season. Yellow Jackets coach Eric Lang confirmed it to me in a text and later issued the following statement to social media: AIC has been the place I've called my home for over … Read more

While Sacred Heart was the consensus pick to finish first in Atlantic Hockey this season, coach CJ Marottolo, in his 16th year behind the Pioneers bench, knows his team is a work in progress. His roster includes seven rookies as well as nine transfers, and it will take some time to gel. After a split … Read more

Last season was the first for Andy Jones behind the bench at Bentley. Jones, who was appointed in late June of 2023, didn’t have a lot of time to get to know his team well and inherited a recruiting class put together by the departing Ryan Soderquist. The Falcons were picked to finish in last … Read more

Parity continues to reign in Atlantic Hockey America. Ask any coach about the league and they’ll tell you one of its strengths is that the margin between the top and bottom is small. To date, there have been six conference series, with four resulting in splits, and two more that featured one team getting four … Read more

Last season was version 2.0 of the Robert Morris men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both had to start from almost scratch after the programs were canceled in 2021 but revived for the 2023-24 season. Most of RMU’s players transferred out after the program was shuttered, requiring coach Derek Schooley, in his 20th season at RMU, … Read more

Mercyhurst has begun the season 1-3, but coach Rick Gotkin says the team easily could be 2-2 or 3-1 (Photo: Mercyhurst Athletics)

It was a tale of two games for Air Force last weekend. On Friday, the Falcons opened their season with an 8-1 loss on home ice to 20th-ranked Arizona State. Nothing went right for coach Frank Serratore’s team, which allowed three short-handed breakaway goals in the loss. The Sun Devils tacked on a pair of … Read more