The upcoming series is something of a prove-it weekend for Air Force hockey.  Internally, there’s been no shortage of superlatives to describe the way the Falcons (10-10-2, 6-7-1) have played this season. Coach Frank Serratore has called his group of six defensemen one of the best he’s seen in his 29 years at the head of the program. They’re his “super six,” according to sophomore defenseman Beau Janzig. Janzig refers to Air Force’s top line and fellow sophomores in Will Dawson, Nick Sajevic and Sam Stitz as “nerds of the game” who have a passion for hockey and know how to put the puck in the back of the net. Lastly, Serratore has had high praise for junior goaltender Dominik Wasik, who became the team’s starter in late October.  The recognition is well deserved as senior defenseman and captain Chris Hedden is second in the nation in goals among defensemen and has been named Atlantic Hockey America’s defenseman of the week five times this season. Sajevic is a top-10 player in the country for assists, and Wasik was named conference goaltender of the month in November, alongside Hedden who claimed the award for blueliners.  But in college hockey, as with all sports, it’s “what have you done for me lately,” and Air Force has dropped its previous three contests, including a sweep at home by defending conference champion Bentley last week.  “The last three games, first of all, we played good teams and I thought, out of the three games, we only had one stinker and that was last Friday. We didn’t compete like we needed to compete,” Serratore said. “The margin of error is thin when you play Arizona State, when you play Holy Cross, when you play Bentley.” Holy Cross is Air Force’s opponent this week. Puck drop at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. is 5:05 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. The series continues a brutal stretch in the Falcons’ schedule. Air Force played Arizona State on the second night of the Desert Hockey Classic two weeks ago, hosted conference-leading Bentley last week, and now face the Crusaders, who are second in Atlantic Hockey. Following a bye next week, Air Force will host another top-4 team in the conference in Sacred Heart University. Air Force’s recent and not-so-recent history against Holy Cross is unfavorable. The Crusaders swept the Falcons at Cadet Ice Arena in November and haven’t lost to Air Force since 2019.  History aside, as far as this season is concerned, this is a big weekend for the Falcons.   “I think we’re a different team. I’d say over half of us haven’t even played (at Holy Cross). A team that hasn’t won here, but also we’re a different team so I think we can pull out some wins here and pull out some points,” Janzig said. “Going into the rest of the season, we definitely need to start securing some more points to get a nice spot in playoffs.” Serratore said his team is approaching this series and every subsequent series with a playoff mindset. A sweep is great, a split is okay, but being swept can’t happen. “We need to find a way to beat Holy Cross here and we’ve got Bentley at the end of the year. We need to win in these buildings because there’s a good chance that the road to NCAA tournament, the road to the playoffs, I guarantee, is going through, for sure, one of these buildings if not both,” Serratore said. “We need to prove to ourselves that there’s no question, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we can win in these buildings.”  ...read more read less