Photo Credit:Army West Point Athletics

Another week brings Atlantic Hockey another opportunity to make its mark on the national stage. Here are two matchups to watch in non conference play and why they merit your attention. For Atlantic Hockey, these games are against opponents that are still sensational, but also against teams both profiled here have clear advantages against.

Canisius-Ferris State

This is a matchup that is personal for Trevor Large. The Canisius Head Coach graduated from Ferris State and his team should compete with the Bulldogs. Both brought in transfers and both want to improve on how they finished a year ago. Canisius put up seven goals in two games against Penn State but did not win either game. If the Griffins can get back to the level of defense Large likes to be at, his team could be the first non Niagara team to earn a non conference victory. Large was excited to have Randy Hernandez back in the lineup from injury a year ago as well. He is the player to watch for the Golden Griffins. Ferris State has a veteran team that can defend well but does not have as much offensive upside as Large’s group does. Whoever gets to their game first each night will win this crucial non conference series.

Army West Point-RPI

Every year the Black Knights deal with adversity and try to right the ship. For Brian Riley’s team that adversity is now. While the young team played the Tigers of RIT tough, they did not do enough to earn points in Atlantic Hockey despite playing well for moments. This team has the talent to do a lot but needs to string together three periods against the same opponent. We will be watching sophomore Joey Baez in this one. He has come a long way since the start of his plebe year, and has only gotten better and more confident in his game over the summer and into this season. He is not Colin Bilek, but the staff is working to make him the best Joey Baez they can and it shows. His eye for the puck around the net and determination will take him far at West Point and beyond.

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