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Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey

College men's ice hockey team representing the United States Air Force Academy

Summary

College men's ice hockey team representing the United States Air Force Academy

Field	Value
team_name	Air Force Falcons
team_link	[](air-force-falcons)
current	2025–26 Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey season
image	Air Force Falcons logo.svg
image_size	150px
university	United States Air Force Academy
sex	men's
conference	Atlantic Hockey America
conference_short	AHA
location	USAF Academy, Colorado
first_year	1968–69
coach	Frank Serratore
coach_year	29th
coach_wins	472
coach_losses	457
coach_ties	102 ()
assistant_coaches
arena	Cadet Ice Arena
NCAAtourneys	2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018
conference_tournament	AHA: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018
conference_season	AHA: 2009, 2012
uniform_image	AHA-Uniform-USAFA.png

The Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Air Force Academy. The Falcons are a member of Atlantic Hockey America. They play at the Cadet Ice Arena in El Paso County, Colorado, north of Colorado Springs. The Falcons have reached the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament seven times in program history. It is the most amount of appearances for a program without reaching the Frozen Four as of 2025.

History

Independent

Air Force Academy's ice hockey program began as a club team in 1966, led by former Michigan head coach and six-time national champion Vic Heyliger. The program grew swiftly and posted a winning record by its third season. In their fourth season, the team posted an impressive 25-6 mark and had the nation's leading scorer on the roster, Dave Skalko. When Heyliger retired in 1974, turning the team over to John Matchefts, the success continued with two more 20+ win seasons in three years. By the time the 1980 rolled around, however, the team's on-ice results began to flag and after a pair of disappointing, single-digit-win seasons Matchefts pushed his team to a .500-record before turning control over to the program's all-time leading scorer. Chuck Delich led the program for the 12 seasons, posting moderate results for most of his tenure, but as the 20th century drew to a close, the Falcons' days as a plucky Independent were numbered.

CHA

In 1997, former Denver head coach Frank Serratore was hired to replace Delich and recorded two 15-win seasons before everything changed for the Falcons. In 1999, Air Force became a founding member of the CHA, joining with the other service academy Army and five other newly-minted Division I teams. Despite the other programs having little history of success, Air Force was unable to make much headway in the conference, with the best finish being 4th out of 7 teams in their inaugural year. Army left the conference after only one year, leaving the conference with only six programs, and the Falcons found themselves as one of the worst. Air Force finished in 5th- or 6th-place for four consecutive seasons and threw in a pair of 4th-place marks for good measure. Despite their regular season woes, the Falcons did achieve some success in the CHA tournament, reaching the semifinals three times despite being an underdog. By 2006, however, it became apparent that the men's side of CHA (which had added a women's division in 2002) was in trouble. The Falcons left the CHA and were accepted into the Atlantic Hockey Association, rejoining Army in the same conference.

Atlantic Hockey Association

The Falcons bench celebrates a goal during a game in 2018

The change seemed to suit the Falcons, who posted their first winning season in 7 years. In the conference tournament, Air Force defeated Holy Cross 3-0 before stunning #1 seeded Sacred Heart 5-4 in overtime. In the championship match, the Falcons took on Army and routed the Black Knights 6-1 to win the program's first conference championship and receive their first bid into the NCAA tournament. Though they lost to Minnesota in the opening round, the success would continue for the next two years with two additional Atlantic Hockey tournament titles and culminated with a 28-win season in 2009 where they won their first regular season conference title and NCAA tournament game. After a middling season in 2010, the Falcons posted back-to-back conference championships but failed to escape the first round in either season. Air Force spent the mid-teens rebuilding their program, and it came to a head in 2017 with their sixth Atlantic Hockey crown. The Falcons played so well over the course of the season that there was some talk of them making the NCAA tournament even if they were to lose the Atlantic Hockey championship (an exceedingly rare occurrence for Atlantic Hockey Teams). Their second quarterfinal appearance was followed by another in 2018, where they were outplayed by eventual champion Minnesota–Duluth until the final period.

Atlantic Hockey America

After the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association merged with CHA, which had become a women-only league after the 2009–10 season. The two conferences had shared a commissioner and office staff since 2010. The new league was unveiled on April 30, 2024 as Atlantic Hockey America, maintaining the Association's AHA initialism. All members of both predecessor leagues were brought into the new conference.

Season-by-season results

Main article: List of Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey seasons

All-time coaching records

As of the end of the 2024–25 season

Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"	Tenure	Air Force Falcons
1968–1974	Vic Heyliger	6	85–77–3
1974–1985	John Matchefts	11	154–150–6
1985–1997	Chuck Delich	12	154–197–19
1997–Present	Frank Serratore	28	472–457–102

Awards and honors

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

The following individuals have been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Vic Heyliger (1974)
John Matchefts (1991)

NCAA

[[NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Scoring Champion|Scoring Champion]]

Dave Skalko (1972)

[[List of Senior CLASS Award ice hockey winners|Lowes' Senior CLASS Award]]

Jacques Lamoureux (2011)
Kyle Haak (2019)

[[Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award]]

Mike Phillipich (2009)
Dylan Abood (2018)

All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

Eric Ehn (2007)
Jacques Lamoureux (2009)
Tim Kirby (2012)

[[College Hockey America]]

Individual awards

Player of the Year

Marc Kielkucki (2001)

Rookie of the Year

Andy Berg (2000)

Student-Athlete of the Year

Scott Bradley (2001)
Brian Gornick (2002)
Mike Polidor (2004)

All-Conference teams

First Team All-CHA

Marc Kielkucki (2001)
Brian Gornick (2001)
Derek Olson (2002)

Second Team All-CHA

Brian Gornick (2000)
Andy Berg (2001, 2003)
Brian Gineo (2005)
Michael Mayra (2006)
Eric Ehn (2006)

All-CHA Rookie Team

Andy Berg (2000)
Joe Locallo (2001)
Zach Sikich (2002)
Matt Charbonneau (2005)
Eric Ehn (2005)
Michael Mayra (2006)

[[Atlantic Hockey|Atlantic Hockey Association]]

Individual awards

Player of the Year

Eric Ehn (2007)
Jacques Lamoureux (2009)

Best Defensive Forward

Brady Tomlak (2020)
Austin Schwartz (2024)

Best Defenseman

Gregg Flynn (2009)
Tim Kirby (2012)
Adam McKenzie (2013)
Ben Carey (2016)

Scoring Champion

Eric Ehn (2007)
Jacques Lamoureux (2009)
Tim Kirby (2012) Regular Season Goaltending Award
Shane Starett (2016)
Billy Christopoulos (2018, 2019)

Individual Sportsmanship Award

Jason Fabian (2014)
Ben Carey(2016)

Coach of the Year

Frank Serratore (2016)

Tournament MVP

Mike Phillipich (2007)
Brent Olson (2008)
Matt Fairchild (2009)
Jacques Lamoureux (2011)
Jason Torf (2012)
Shane Starrett (2017)
Billy Christopoulos (2018)

All-Conference teams

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

2006–07: Eric Ehn, F
2008–09: Andrew Volkening, G; Greg Flynn, D; Jacques Lamoureux, F
2009–10: Tim Kirby, D; Jacques Lamoureux, F
2010–11: Scott Mathis, F
2011–12: Tim Kirby, D; Scott Mathis, F; Kyle De Laurell, F
2012–13: Adam McKenzie, D; Kyle De Laurell, F
2015–16: Shane Starrett, G
2016–17: Phil Boje, D
2018–19: Billy Christopoulos, G
2023–24: Will Gavin, F

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

2006–07: Andrew Ramsey, F
2007–08: Greg Flynn, D
2009–10: Andrew Volkening, G
2010–11: Jacques Lamoureux, F
2011–12: John Kruse, F
2013–14: Adam McKenzie, D; Cole Gunner, F
2014–15: Cole Gunner, F
2015–16: Johnny Hrabovsky, D
2016–17: Jordan Himley, F
2022–23: Luke Rowe, D
2023–24: Chris Hedden, F

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

2007–08: Eric Ehn, F
2010–11: Tim Kirby, D
2016–17: Shane Starrett, G
2019–20: Brandon Koch, D
2021–22: Brandon Koch, D
2023–24: Luke Rowe, D

All-Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team

2008–09: Scott Mathis, D
2010–11: Jason Torf, G; Adam McKenzie, D
2013–14: Chris Truehl, G
2015–16: Shane Starrett, G; Matt Serratore, F
2019–20: Brandon Koch, D
2021–22: Mitchell Digby, D; Clayton Cosentino, F
2022–23: Chris Hedden, D

Statistical Leaders

Career Scoring leaders

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"	Player	Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"	Years	Air Force Falcons
Chuck Delich	1973–1977	109	156	123	279	151
Bob Sajevic	1976–1980	113	107	121	228	54
Dave Skalko	1969–1973	118	75	144	219	208
Bob Ross	1968–1972	106	105	92	197	41
Gary Batinich	1974–1978	104	82	114	196	107
Tom Richards	1978–1982	118	78	90	168	54
Mike Smellie	1976–1980	103	77	89	166	56
Frank Daldine	1983–1986	109	79	77	156	75
Dave Bunker	1970–1974	109	82	70	152	118
Robin Robideaux	1975–1979	108	68	84	152	200

Career Goaltending Leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 35 games

Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"	Player	Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"	Years	Air Force Falcons	color=white}};"
Shane Starrett	2015–17	70	3918	128	9	.924	1.96
Andrew Volkening	2006–10	127	7370	269	15	.915	2.19
Stephen Caple	2009–12	36	1792	66	2	.908	2.21
Jason Torf	2010–14	115	6561	269	10	.915	2.46
Chris Truehl	2013–15	50	2745	124	3	.900	2.71

Statistics current through the start of the 2017-18 season.

Current roster

As of August 12, 2025.

Falcons in the NHL

Goalie Shane Starrett signed an Entry Level Contract with the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL on April 10, 2017. He is currently the only Air Force Falcons Men's Ice Hockey player to be in the NHL or respected affiliates.

References

"Air Force Falcons Men's Hockey". U.S. College Hockey Online.
(2017-03-13). "What I Believe – Monday Edition". USCHO.com.
(2018-03-24). "Minnesota Duluth earns second straight Frozen Four berth with victory over Air Force". USCHO.com.
(April 30, 2024). "Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America Join to Form Atlantic Hockey America". Atlantic Hockey America.
"Air Force Hockey 2018-19 Record Book". Air Force Falcons.
(September 22, 2009). "The Record Book". [[University of Michigan]].
(2018-08-17). "Air Force Falcons Men's Hockey 2017-2018 Record Book". Air Force Falcons.
"2025-26 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Air Force Falcons.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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