The Yellow Jackets represented American International College, played their home games at MassMutual Center and were coached by Eric Lang in his eighth season.

Senior Alexandros Aslanadis had shown flashes of good goaltending over the previous two seasons but had yet to serve as the primary netminder.

Conversely, freshman Nils Wallström entered the program with a solid résumé in the Swedish junior leagues and NAHL but he had yet to face the collegiate level of competition.

Coach Lang decided to throw Wallström into the deep end at the beginning of the season, with the first-year netminder facing down Massachusetts and defending national champions, Quinnipiac.

The forward unit was a slightly more cohesive group at the start but it was the defense that allowed American International to overcome its early rough patch.

From the start of November, the defenders, led by Brian Kramer, gave their young netminder the time needed to grow accustomed to the college game and held off the opposing attack.

After a week off, their inconsistent offense could only manage a split with Robert Morris but then the injury bug began to bite the team.

After a turnover at their own blueline, AIC got on an odd-man rush and Nico Somerville ended the game on a laser that bounced in off of the crossbar.