2011 Atlantic Hockey Tournament The 2011 Atlantic Hockey Tournament took place between March 5 and March 19 , 2011 . The regular season champions were the RIT Tigers . This is RIT ' s fourth regular - season championship since entering the league in 2006 – 07 and second consecutive year as the top seed in the tournament . The seeds for the tournament were : With two new teams in the league this year , the playoff format was modified . The teams were divided into two " pods " , the same east – west division used for scheduling purposes this year . The first - round byes and the first - round match - ups were determined based on seeding within the pods ; the teams were then re - seeded as a single conference for subsequent rounds . Western pod Eastern pod First Round . The first round , held on March 5 , was used to reduce the field of 12 to a standard bracket of 8 teams . The top two teams in each pod received byes ; the # 3 and # 4 teams in each pod hosted the # 6 and # 5 teams , respectively , in single - elimination games . The night was one full of surprises . First and foremost , all four away teams defeated their hosts . If that wasn ' t enough , three of the four games ended in 6 – 3 scores , two of them on empty - net goals . American International at Army . AIC wins its first postseason game since 2007 and will travel to Rochester to face RIT . Sacred Heart at Bentley . Sacred Heart will fly to Colorado Springs to face Air Force . Canisius at Niagara . Canisius will face Holy Cross . Mercyhurst at Robert Morris . Mercyhurst will visit UConn . Quarterfinals . The teams were reseeded for this round without regard to the scheduling pods . The quarterfinals were a best - of - three round played at the home rinks of the top four seeds . The games took place on March 11 and 12 , with third games ( where necessary ) on March 13 . American International at RIT . RIT moves on to the first semifinal . Sacred Heart at Air Force . Air Force will play in the second semifinal . Canisius at Holy Cross . Holy Cross moves on to the semifinals for the first time since 2006 — the year they won the tournament , made the national tournament , and stunned the hockey world by defeating Minnesota in overtime . Mercyhurst at Connecticut . Connecticut moves on to the semifinals for the first time since 2007 . Semi - finals . The teams would have been reseeded for this round , if necessary . Championship weekend is again being held at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester , New York . The semifinal games will take place on Friday , March 18 , with the winners meeting on Saturday , March 19 . There is no consolation game . The matchups followed the script almost perfectly . It appears the pod system had the desired result : the top two teams from each pod in the semifinals , with each semifinal an east – west matchup . Connecticut vs RIT . RIT , missing first - line forward Andrew Favot due to a game disqualification penalty in their previous match , found themselves uncharacteristically outshot by a fired - up Connecticut team . Even so , the Tigers managed to chase UConn netminder Garrett Bartus after scoring three times on just ten first - period shots . ( The third of those goals was a beauty by senior Sean Murphy , who won a short - handed faceoff in the UConn zone , pushed past the Husky center , and roofed the puck past Bartus for the unassisted shorty . ) Matt Grogan played well in relief but the Huskies never managed to tie it up . UConn freshman Cole Schneider got both of his team ' s goals ( depending on whom you ask ) , but those were the only two to evade Shane Madolora , who made 39 saves for the win . RIT moves on to their second consecutive AHA championship game . Holy Cross vs Air Force . Air Force returns to the AHA championship game after a one - year hiatus . Final . Air Force vs RIT . Neither team has lost an AHA championship game ( Air Force 3 – 0 ; RIT 1 – 0 ) . The last time these two teams faced each other in the tournament was in RIT ' s first postseason year , 2008 , when Air Force caught a good Tiger team snoozing and won 5 – 0 in the semifinal round . The winner will take the AHA ' s autobid into the NCAA tournament . All - Tournament Team . TBD is the Tournament MVP .