Atlantic Hockey Picks, Dec. 5 – 6

Last week:

Dan: 3-4
Chris: 5-2

On the season:

Dan: 53-33-12 (.602)
Chris: 56-30-12 (.633)

 

This Week’s Picks:

Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6
Mercyhurst at Army
Dan: Army’s had some major issues over its history with the Lakers, but surprisingly none of those issues are at Tate Rink. Mercyhurst’s lost only nine games in its history to the Black Knights – eight of which are in West Point. Call me crazy, but after two games earlier this year, I find it incredibly hard to knock off a team four times in Atlantic Hockey. Mercyhurst wins on Friday. Army wins on Saturday.
Chris: Not crazy at all and I’m thinking along the same lines. Both teams have played better the second night of weekend series, but I’m going with Army at home to be the difference there. Mercyhurst wins on Friday. Army wins on Saturday.

Air Force at Bentley
Dan: Get ready for a good, fun match between two young goalies if Jayson Argue plays for Bentley and goes head-to-head with Air Force sophomore Chris Truehl. Despite Bentley’s successes in Colorado, nobody on the team’s taken more than one point at home. Air Force is slightly ahead of Bentley right now, especially in light of the injuries and scattered lineup in Watertown. So while I think a tie is in order for Friday, I need to pick the team that’ll win on Saturday. Since I can’t pick ties at all for these purposes, I’ll call it an Air Force sweep.
Chris: These teams have played some wild games, especially at Bentley.  Games like this. And this. Bentley needs these points at home, because they won’t be back to the JAR until the end of January. I’m picking the Falcons to win each night. Yeah, I mean Bentley on Friday and Air Force on Saturday.

American International at Canisius
Dan: AIC hasn’t won in over a month, compounded by playing only four home games to this point. Two of those home games came against Canisius, who swept the Jackets back in October. Canisius sweeps.
Chris: Canisius got into the winning column at HarborCenter last weekend with a split against Air Force and and I think they’ll have even more success this weekend with a sweep.

Holy Cross at Niagara
Dan: Great test for the Crusaders out in Western New York. Niagara’s suddenly hot, having won three in a row with last week’s sweep of Army. If Holy Cross can end that streak, we’ll know they’re for real. Holy Cross sweeps.
Chris: This should be a highly competitive series in which I could make a case for zero to four points for both purple-clad squads. As Dan said, Niagara has won three in a row, and Holy Cross has just one loss in its last eight contests. I too have become a believer in the Crusaders, and am going with a Holy Cross sweep.

Sacred Heart at Robert Morris
Dan: #20 RMU enjoyed a weekend off last week, returning to the national polls by not playing. But they come back by drawing a Sacred Heart team battle tested by a 3-1 record in one or two goal games. I like the Pioneers here to take one game. Sacred Heart wins on FridayRMU wins on Saturday.
Chris: Sacred Heart has been a pretty good road team so far (4-2-1), but RMU has the extra motivation to stay in the Top 20. Robert Morris sweeps.