# 2022–23 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 75th season of play for the program and 20th in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College, played their home games at MassMutual Center and were coached by Eric Lang, in his 7th season.

## Season

Coming into the season as the three-time reigning Atlantic Hockey champion, AIC's biggest hurdle for a title was the monumental turnover with the roster. With more than half of the team leaving, coach Lang brought in a mix of freshman and transfers to try and plug the holes in the lineup. While the brain trust in goal had left, the Yellow Jackets managed to retain Blake Bennett, the team's leading scorer from the previous year. Even with the reshuffling on the defensive side, AIC posted nearly identical number, allowing 2.45 goals per game. Senior Jarrett Fiske ended up with the lion's share of minutes while transfer Alexandros Aslanidis proved to be a capable backup. The retooled offense was nearly as strong, scoring slightly fewer goals per game. Unfortunately, AIC's overall performance wasn't quite up to the championship standards.
The team got off to a decent start, posting winning records both in and outside their conference. November, however, was not kind to the Yellow Jackets and the team lost four conference matches. From that point on, the Yellow Jackets were playing catchup with RIT. AIC played well for the rest of the regular season, not losing consecutive games for the remainder of the regular season, but they could never match the Tigers and ended up 2nd in the league standings.
Because of the team's poor non-conference results, AIC finished well below the cutoff line for an at-large bid and would have to win the conference tournament to return to the NCAA tournament. The Yellow Jackets opened against Holy Cross and won the first game comfortably. After that the team appear to lose all of its momentum and were outplayed by the Crusaders. AIC was outshot 44–91 in the following two games but the disparity in talent allowed the matches to remain close. After a narrow defeat in the second game, AIC got into a dogfight with Holy Cross in the deciding game. The Yellow Jackets fell behind on three separate occasions but were able to tie the game each time and force the game into overtime. While the play was a little more even in the extra session, the team was unable to stop the Crusaders from netting the winning goal and ending the season for the Yellow Jackets.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Elijiah Barriga | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Dundee Stars) |
| Alec Calvaruso | Goaltender | United States | Signed professional contract (Greenville Swamp Rabbits) |
| Justin Cole | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Chris Dodero | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with HK Olimpija) |
| Zak Galambos | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Western Michigan |
| Santeri Hartikainen | Forward | Finland | Transferred to Long Island |
| Hunter Johannes | Forward | United States | Transferred to Lindenwood |
| Jake Kucharski | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Omaha |
| Luka Maver | Forward | Slovenia | Graduation (signed with Pioneers Vorarlberg) |
| Ryan McInchak | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Cornell |
| Parker Revering | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Brian Rigali | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Worcester Railers) |
| Jake Stella | Forward | Sweden | Transferred to Massachusetts Lowell |
| Michal Stinil | Forward | Czech Republic | Signed professional contract (Wichita Thunder) |
| Chris Theodore | Forward | Canada | Graduate transfer to Union |
| Chris Van Os-Shaw | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel) |
| Justin Young | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Allen Americans) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Andrew Amousse | Forward | Canada | 21 | Laval, QC |
| Alexandros Aslanidis | Goaltender | United States | 21 | Morristown, NJ; transfer from Western Michigan |
| Joshua Barnes | Forward | Canada | 20 | Cornwall, ON |
| Jordan Biro | Forward | Canada | 22 | Sherwood Park, AB; transfer from Colorado College |
| Brennan Boynton | Goaltender | United States | 22 | Champlin, MN; transfer from Minnesota |
| Grayson Dietrich | Forward | Canada | 20 | Calgary, AB |
| Oscar Geschwind | Forward | Sweden | 21 | Karlstad, SWE; transfer from Northern Michigan |
| Timofei Khokhlachev | Forward | Russia | 20 | Moscow, RUS |
| Troy Kobryn | Goaltender | United States | 23 | Hillsborough, NJ; transfer from Merrimack |
| John Lundy | Forward | United States | 21 | Brooklyn, NY; joined mid-season |
| Alexander Malinowski | Forward | Sweden | 21 | Linköping, SWE |
| Dustin Manz | Forward | United States | 22 | Vanderbilt, MI; transfer from Lake Superior State |
| Hunter McCurdy | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Mokena, IL |
| Casey McDonald | Forward | Canada | 21 | Kindersley, SK |
| Jake Rosenbaum | Defenseman | United States | 25 | Laguna Niguel, CA; graduate transfer from Minnesota Duluth |
| Brett Rylance | Forward | Canada | 21 | Edmonton, AB |
| Jake Sacratini | Forward | Canada | 21 | Pincourt, QC |
| Casper Söderling | Defenseman | Sweden | 21 | Stockholm, SWE |

## Roster

As of September 15, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 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 |
| RIT † | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 85 | 55 | 39 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 127 | 100 |
| American International | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 87 | 62 | 39 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 124 | 98 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 87 | 72 | 37 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 107 | 112 |
| Canisius * | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 76 | 71 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 118 | 119 |
| Army | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 72 | 81 | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 98 | 119 |
| Niagara | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 73 | 86 | 40 | 19 | 18 | 3 | 119 | 129 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 73 | 71 | 41 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 98 | 119 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 77 | 80 | 36 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 98 | 122 |
| Bentley | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 61 | 89 | 34 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 81 | 124 |
| Air Force | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 63 | 87 | 36 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 95 | 128 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy) * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 1 | 11:07 PM | at Alaska* | Carlson Center • Fairbanks, Alaska | FloHockey | Fiske | T 1–1 $^{OT}$ | 1,950 | 0–0–1 |
| October 2 | 8:07 PM | at Alaska* | Carlson Center • Fairbanks, Alaska | FloHockey | Fiske | L 1–2 | 1,410 | 0–1–1 |
| October 8 | 7:05 PM | #13 Massachusetts* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | T 2–2 $^{OT}$ | 1,144 | 0–1–2 |
| October 14 | 7:00 PM | at Niagara | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 6–3 | 903 | 1–1–2 (1–0–0) |
| October 15 | 5:30 PM | at Niagara | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 5–2 | 511 | 2–1–2 (2–0–0) |
| October 18 | 7:05 PM | Holy Cross | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | L 3–7 | 254 | 2–2–2 (2–1–0) |
| October 22 | 7:05 PM | Lindenwood* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 5–0 | 343 | 3–2–2 |
| October 23 | 3:05 PM | Lindenwood* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 5–3 | 146 | 4–2–2 |
| October 28 | 7:00 PM | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 8–2 | 1,492 | 5–2–2 (3–1–0) |
| November 5 | 1:05 PM | RIT | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Aslanidis | L 3–4 | 227 | 5–3–2 (3–2–0) |
| November 6 | 3:05 PM | RIT | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Kobryn | L 2–3 | 231 | 5–4–2 (3–3–0) |
| November 11 | 7:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | L 2–5 | 605 | 5–5–2 (3–4–0) |
| November 12 | 3:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Kobryn | L 2–3 | 603 | 5–6–2 (3–5–0) |
| November 15 | 7:05 PM | Holy Cross | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 193 | 6–6–2 (4–5–0) |
| November 19 | 1:05 PM | Air Force | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 347 | 6–6–3 (4–5–1) |
| November 20 | 7:05 PM | Air Force | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 3–1 | 199 | 7–6–3 (5–5–1) |
| November 26 | 2:00 PM | at Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | ESPN+ | Fiske | L 1–5 | 2,910 | 7–7–3 |
| December 1 | 7:05 PM | Bentley | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 7–2 | 181 | 8–7–3 (6–5–1) |
| December 2 | 7:05 PM | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 5–1 | 1,442 | 9–7–3 (7–5–1) |
| December 8 | 5:05 PM | Niagara | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | T 0–0 $^{SOL}$ | - | 9–7–4 (7–5–2) |
| December 9 | 1:05 PM | Niagara | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 296 | 10–7–4 (8–5–2) |
| December 29 | 7:00 PM | at Cornell* | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Fiske | L 4–8 | 2,927 | 10–8–4 |
| December 30 | 7:00 PM | at Cornell* | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Aslanidis | T 3–3 $^{OT}$ | 3,024 | 10–8–5 |
| January 7 | 1:05 PM | #17 Massachusetts Lowell* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | L 2–4 | 449 | 10–9–5 |
| January 14 | 7:00 PM | at Vermont* | Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont | ESPN+ | Aslanidis | W 4–0 | 2,301 | 11–9–5 |
| January 17 | 7:00 PM | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 977 | 12–9–5 (9–5–2) |
| January 20 | 7:05 PM | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Aslanidis | L 1–4 | 600 | 12–10–5 (9–6–2) |
| January 21 | 3:05 PM | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 354 | 13–10–5 (10–6–2) |
| February 2 | 7:05 PM | Sacred Heart | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Kobryn | L 2–4 | 363 | 13–11–5 (10–7–2) |
| February 4 | 7:00 PM | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 4,267 | 14–11–5 (11–7–2) |
| February 8 | 7:05 PM | Bentley | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | L 3–4 | 277 | 14–12–5 (11–8–2) |
| February 10 | 7:05 PM | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | T 2–2 $^{SOW}$ | 1,620 | 14–12–6 (11–8–3) |
| February 17 | 9:05 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Fiske | W 3–2 | 1,850 | 15–12–6 (12–8–3) |
| February 18 | 7:05 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | FloHockey | Aslanidis | W 4–3 | 2,299 | 16–12–6 (13–8–3) |
| February 24 | 7:05 PM | Sacred Heart | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | T 2–2 $^{SOW}$ | - | 16–12–7 (13–8–4) |
| February 25 | 7:00 PM | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey | Fiske | W 5–0 | 4,225 | 17–12–7 (14–8–4) |
| Atlantic Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 3 | 1:05 pm | Holy Cross* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 3–1 | 147 | 18–12–7 |
| March 4 | 1:05 pm | Holy Cross* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Fiske | L 3–4 | 264 | 18–13–7 |
| March 5 | 1:05 pm | Holy Cross* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Fiske | L 3–4 | 297 | 18–14–7 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Blake Bennett | F | 38 | 22 | 13 | 35 | 35 |
| Jordan Biro | F | 38 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 2 |
| Dustin Manz | F | 39 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 17 |
| Brian Kramer | D | 35 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 38 |
| Nicholas Cardelli | F | 31 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 12 |
| Julius Janhonen | F | 38 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 24 |
| Alexander Malinowski | F | 34 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 8 |
| Brett Rylance | F | 33 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 8 |
| Brett Callahan | D | 35 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 10 |
| Matt Rickard | D | 33 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 10 |
| Oscar Geschwind | F | 35 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 6 |
| Evan Stella | D | 39 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 35 |
| Timofei Khokhlachev | F | 35 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 22 |
| Josh Barnes | F | 21 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 |
| Aaron Grounds | F | 31 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 19 |
| Casey McDonald | F | 18 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Austen Long | F | 35 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 43 |
| Luis Lindner | D | 35 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| Eric Otto | F | 18 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Nico Somerville | F | 30 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| Jarrett Fiske | G | 26 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Andrew Amousse | F | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| John Lundy | F | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Reggie Millette | F | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Zach Purcell | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brennan Boynton | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grayson Dietrich | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Casper Soderling | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Troy Kobryn | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexandros Aslanidis | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darwin Lakoduk | F | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jake Rosenbaum | D | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | | | 124 | 203 | 327 | 369 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Alexandros Aslanidis | 16 | 728:03 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 311 | 2 | .923 | 2.14 |
| Jarrett Fiske | 26 | 1435:04 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 682 | 2 | .923 | 2.38 |
| Troy Kobryn | 9 | 193:39 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 78 | 0 | .897 | 2.79 |
| Brennan Boynton | 3 | 20:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .889 | 3.00 |
| Empty Net | - | 22:38 | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 39 | 2399:24 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 98 | 1079 | 4 | .917 | 2.45 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 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 Today | 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 | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Jarrett Fiske | Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Goaltending Award |
| Blake Bennett | Atlantic Hockey First Team |
| Jarrett Fiske | Atlantic Hockey Second Team |
| Brian Kramer | Atlantic Hockey Second Team |
| Jordan Biro | Atlantic Hockey Third Team |