# 2023–24 Atlantic Hockey season

The 2023–24 Atlantic Hockey season was the 21st season of play for the Atlantic Hockey Association and took place during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season began on October 7, 2023, and concluded on March 28, 2024, with RIT losing in the West Regional Semifinal of the NCAA tournament.
This was the final season for the Atlantic Hockey Association. Shortly after the season, the Association and the women-only College Hockey America finalized their previously announced merger, establishing Atlantic Hockey America.

## Coaches

Ryan Soderquist retired after 21 years with Bentley, turning the program over to former Massachusetts Lowell assistant coach, Andy Jones.
Robert Morris restarted its program with Derek Schooley back at the helm. He has been the team's only coach since its inception in 2004.

### Records

| Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | Atlantic Hockey record |
| Air Force | Frank Serratore | 27 | 438–417–98 | 230–158–68 |
| American International | Eric Lang | 8 | 122–99–24 | 99–58–19 |
| Army | Brian Riley | 20 | 232–336–90 | 191–235–81 |
| Bentley | Andy Jones | 1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Canisius | Trevor Large | 7 | 88–98–19 | 68–66–12 |
| Holy Cross | Bill Riga | 3 | 29–44–5 | 22–26–4 |
| Mercyhurst | Rick Gotkin | 36 | 598–501–103 | 253–212–63 |
| Niagara | Jason Lammers | 7 | 77–111–21 | 56–74–21 |
| RIT Tigers | Wayne Wilson | 25 | 437–303–78 | 246–153–54 |
| Robert Morris | Derek Schooley | 18 | 275–275–68 | 135–104–39 |
| Sacred Heart | C. J. Marottolo | 15 | 174–272–52 | 140–185–44 |

## Standings

2023–24 Atlantic Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OW | OL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #17 RIT †* | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 102 | 64 | 40 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 156 | 96 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 78 | 62 | 39 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 116 | 93 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 75 | 70 | 36 | 14 | 19 | 3 | 91 | 113 |
| Air Force | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 88 | 75 | 38 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 115 | 119 |
| American International | 26 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 79 | 68 | 40 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 119 | 111 |
| Bentley | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 69 | 58 | 35 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 95 | 82 |
| Niagara | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 78 | 79 | 39 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 111 | 122 |
| Canisius | 26 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 73 | 87 | 37 | 12 | 21 | 4 | 103 | 126 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 77 | 91 | 35 | 9 | 22 | 4 | 98 | 126 |
| Army | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 66 | 96 | 35 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 93 | 139 |
| Robert Morris | 26 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 60 | 95 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 3 | 94 | 142 |
| Championship: March 23, 2024 † indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy) * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

### Regular season record

While Atlantic Hockey had four teams posting .500 or better records in non-conference games, any benefit they received was wiped out by the five teams that were .250 or worse. As a whole, the conference performed well against Hockey East, which was one of the two best leagues during the regular season. This, and the collapse of the CCHA, helped move Atlantic Hockey up for the first time in years and the conference did not finish as the lowest-ranked league in Division I hockey.
| Team | Big Ten | CCHA | ECAC Hockey | Hockey East | Independent | NCHC | Total |
| Air Force | 1–2–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–2–0 | 0–3–0 | 3–7–0 |
| American International | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–2–0 | 2–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 4–4–0 |
| Army | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 2–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–6–0 |
| Bentley | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–4–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 4–4–0 |
| Canisius | 0–2–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–3–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–7–0 |
| Holy Cross | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 3–1–1 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 5–2–1 |
| Mercyhurst | 0–4–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 2–6–0 |
| Niagara | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–5–0 | 2–6–0 |
| RIT | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–1 | 1–2–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 4–3–1 |
| Robert Morris | 0–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–3–1 | 0–0–0 | 3–6–1 |
| Sacred Heart | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–4–1 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–7–1 |
| Overall | 3–12–0 | 3–3–0 | 4–14–2 | 10–11–1 | 8–6–1 | 2–12–0 | 30–58–4 |

## Statistics
### Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Liam McLinskey | Junior | Holy Cross | 26 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 28 |
| Cody Laskosky | Senior | RIT | 26 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 8 |
| Will Gavin | Senior | Air Force | 26 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 12 |
| Chris Hedden | Sophomore | Air Force | 26 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 29 |
| Matteo Giampa | Freshman | Canisius | 26 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 6 |
| Carter Wilkie | Junior | RIT | 26 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 22 |
| John Jaworski | Senior | Sacred Heart | 26 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 18 |
| Garrett Dahm | Junior | Mercyhurst | 26 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 23 |
| Gianfranco Cassaro | Graduate | RIT | 26 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 22 |
| Elijah Gonsalves | Graduate | RIT | 22 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 22 |
| Jack Ricketts | Senior | Holy Cross | 26 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 50 |
| Matthew Wilde | Freshman | RIT | 26 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 8 |
| Aiden Hansen-Bukata | Senior | RIT | 24 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 24 |

### Leading goaltenders

Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games. GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Class | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Nicholas Grabko | Senior | Bentley | 11 | 610:35 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 2 | .919 | 2.06 |
| Jason Grande | Senior | Holy Cross | 11 | 654:42 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 0 | .926 | 2.20 |
| Nils Wallström | Freshman | American International | 20 | 1182:01 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 44 | 1 | .916 | 2.23 |
| Connor Hasley | Sophomore | Bentley | 16 | 946:47 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 2 | .901 | 2.28 |
| Thomas Gale | Junior | Holy Cross | 16 | 917:21 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 35 | 2 | .922 | 2.29 |

## Conference tournament

Teams are reseeded for the semifinals
| First Round March 2 | First Round March 2 | First Round March 2 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Semifinals March 15–17 | Semifinals March 15–17 | Semifinals March 15–17 | Semifinals March 15–17 | Semifinals March 15–17 | Championship March 23 | Championship March 23 | Championship March 23 |
| | | | 1 | RIT | 7 | 5 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Bentley | 3 | 11 | Robert Morris | 0 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Robert Morris | 4* | | | | | | 1 | RIT | 4 | 5 | - | | | |
| | | | | | | | | 7 | Niagara | 1 | 2 | - | | | |
| | | | 2 | Holy Cross | 4 | 2** | - | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Niagara | 4 | 8 | Canisius | 3 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Army | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | RIT | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | American International | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Sacred Heart | 3 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Canisius | 5 | 7 | Niagara | 6 | 5 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Mercyhurst | 2 | | | | | | 2 | Holy Cross | 5 | 0 | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | 5 | American International | 2 | 3 | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Air Force | 1 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | American International | 3 | 3* | - | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Rankings
### USCHO

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Final |
| Air Force | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| American International | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Army | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Bentley | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Canisius | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Holy Cross | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Mercyhurst | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Niagara | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| RIT | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 |
| Robert Morris | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Sacred Heart | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |

### USA Hockey

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Final |
| Air Force | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| American International | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Army | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Bentley | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Canisius | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Holy Cross | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Mercyhurst | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Niagara | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| RIT | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | NR | 20 | NR | NR | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 |
| Robert Morris | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Sacred Heart | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |

### Pairwise

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Final |
| Air Force | 19 | 7 | 32 | 38 | 49 | 45 | 41 | 45 | 47 | 50 | 54 | 46 | 43 | 38 | 40 | 43 | 45 | 43 | 43 | 42 | 44 | 44 | 45 |
| American International | 32 | 39 | 26 | 26 | 39 | 24 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 29 | 25 | 27 |
| Army | 32 | 43 | 33 | 56 | 63 | 64 | 63 | 54 | 56 | 58 | 50 | 55 | 55 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 56 | 56 | 57 | 56 | 56 | 56 |
| Bentley | 30 | 53 | 37 | 43 | 40 | 28 | 39 | 40 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 45 | 47 | 33 | 44 | 45 | 42 | 44 | 42 | 44 | 43 | 43 | 44 |
| Canisius | 32 | 50 | 57 | 59 | 48 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 53 | 57 | 57 | 58 | 57 | 57 | 56 | 59 | 59 | 57 | 58 | 57 | 58 | 58 | 58 |
| Holy Cross | 1 | 1 | 11 | 23 | 33 | 46 | 36 | 32 | 37 | 35 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 28 |
| Mercyhurst | 32 | 40 | 54 | 55 | 59 | 55 | 54 | 52 | 48 | 51 | 56 | 52 | 53 | 57 | 61 | 62 | 62 | 60 | 59 | 61 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| Niagara | 32 | 56 | 56 | 60 | 56 | 61 | 56 | 53 | 51 | 60 | 59 | 58 | 56 | 47 | 48 | 48 | 43 | 46 | 46 | 45 | 39 | 42 | 42 |
| RIT | 32 | 24 | 53 | 29 | 27 | 39 | 33 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Robert Morris | 32 | 34 | 42 | 49 | 60 | 59 | 62 | 63 | 63 | 63 | 63 | 62 | 62 | 63 | 63 | 61 | 60 | 61 | 61 | 59 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Sacred Heart | 32 | 55 | 55 | 53 | 57 | 52 | 50 | 38 | 30 | 40 | 43 | 42 | 44 | 46 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 49 | 49 | 50 | 53 | 53 | 53 |
Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.

## Awards
### NCAA

| Award | Recipient |
| Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award | Luke Robinson, Air Force |
| AHCA All-American Teams ||
| East Second Team | Position |
| Gianfranco Cassaro, RIT | D |
| Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross | F |

### Atlantic Hockey

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross |
| Goaltender of the Year | Goaltender of the Year | Tommy Scarfone, RIT |
| Rookie of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Matteo Giampa, Canisius |
| Best Defensive Forward | Best Defensive Forward | Austin Schwartz, Air Force |
| Best Defenseman | Best Defenseman | Brian Kramer, American International |
| Individual Sportsmanship Award | Individual Sportsmanship Award | Braeden Tuck, Sacred Heart |
| Team Sportsmanship Award | Team Sportsmanship Award | Sacred Heart |
| Regular Season Scoring Trophy | Regular Season Scoring Trophy | Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross |
| Regular Season Goaltending Award | Regular Season Goaltending Award | Jason Grande, Holy Cross |
| Coach of the Year | Coach of the Year | Wayne Wilson, RIT |
| Tournament MVP | Tournament MVP | Elijah Gonsalves, RIT |
| All-Atlantic Hockey Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Tommy Scarfone, RIT | G | Jason Grande, Holy Cross |
| Gianfranco Cassaro, RIT | D | Chris Hedden, Air Force |
| Brian Kramer, American International | D | Aiden Hansen-Bukata, RIT |
| Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross | F | Matteo Giampa, Canisius |
| Carter Wilkie, RIT | F | Jack Ricketts, Holy Cross |
| Will Gavin, Air Force | F | Joey Baez, Army |
| Cody Laskosky, RIT | F | |
| Third Team | Position | Rookie Team |
| Owen Say, Mercyhurst | G | Nils Wallström, American International |
| Luke Rowe, Air Force | D | Mac Gadowsky, Army |
| Nick Bochen, Bentley | D | Trent Sambrook, Mercyhurst |
| Ethan Leyh, Bentley | F | Matteo Giampa, Canisius |
| John Jaworski, Sacred Heart | F | Boris Skalos, Mercyhurst |
| Elijah Gonsalves, RIT | F | Jack Stockfish, Holy Cross |
| Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |||
| Tommy Scarfone, RIT | G |
| Gianfranco Cassaro, RIT | D |
| Nico Somerville, American International | D |
| Elijah Gonsalves, RIT | F |
| Tyler Fukakusa, RIT | F |
| Jordan Biro, American International | F |

## 2024 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | NHL team |
| 4 | 106 | Trevor Hoskin $^†$ | Niagara | Calgary Flames |
† incoming freshman