American International College saw its final game as a Division I men’s hockey program end in heartbreaking fashion Sunday, but the game proved to be a reminder of what the program had become over the last near decade with Eric Lang at the helm.

• Watch the Atlantic Hockey Playoffs on FloHockey
• Must See: Army's JJ Cataldo Makes Incredible Diving Paddle Save
• Holy Cross Wins In OT, Advances To AHA Semis

The Yellow Jackets ultimately fell to top-seeded Holy Cross in overtime – pushing the conference’s class team to the brink and just one goal away from continuing what will be their final season as a Division I program.

AIC announced in November, amid financial considerations, that the Division I hockey team would be going back down to Division II with the rest of the school’s athletics department at the end of this season. It was a devastating blow for the players and staff who had worked so hard to maintain a standard that many never believed possible for the Springfield, Mass., school that for a long time was nothing more than a doormat for the rest of Atlantic Hockey for the bulk of its Division I existence.

That was until Eric Lang came along, serving as head coach for his alma mater starting in 2016-17. After finishing eighth his first year at the helm, AIC won the regular-season and postseason titles in Atlantic Hockey, earning the school’s first berth to the NCAA tournament. That same year, AIC pulled off a dramatic upset of No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State in the first round before dropping the next game to Denver.

Getting into the tournament at all seemed like a miracle given the history of the program.

The Yellow Jackets won two more AHA championships in the postseason and four straight regular-season crowns between 2019 and 2022. They went to the NCAA tournament three times.

This season, AIC struggled to find wins, going 13-23-2, but for the last two weeks had played some of their best hockey. 

In the opening round of the AHA postseason, with their very existence on the line, the Yellow Jackets beat RIT 2-1 in overtime with captain Casey McDonald scoring the game-winner to extend their season.

That set up a date with No. 1 seed Holy Cross, which is in the midst of a historic season of their own. In the best-of-three series, AIC stunned Holy Cross with a 3-0 lead heading into the third period. Then AIC was able to hold off an onslaught from the Crusaders including a 16-2 shot differential in the third period to hang on for the win.

In Game 2, AIC gave Holy Cross all they could handle. It was tied 2-2 heading into the third period before Jack Stockfish scored the go-ahead goal with 3:41 remaining in regulation to save the Crusaders’ season and force the decisive Game 3.

AIC put everything on the line in the game and played the way they had to – like there was no tomorrow. After getting badly outshot in the first period, AIC was only down 1-0. They tied the game twice that period to keep it knotted heading into the third. Holy Cross scored 1:10 into the period to put AIC on their heels.

With their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker and AIC on a power play, Brett Bamber found the net to give the Yellow Jackets hope. The game remained tied at the end of regulation, setting up a winner-take-all overtime period.

It did not last long. Michael Abgrall scored 51 seconds into the extra frame on a beautiful shot into the top corner to propel Holy Cross into the AHA semis and end AIC’s final Division I season.

The fight this team showed with their Division I lives on the line showed the incredible possibilities of desperation and desire. They didn’t want it to end and they nearly put the No. 1 team in the conference in offseason mode. 

Lang shared an emotional tweet after the game, capping nine years at the helm of a program he played for as a student. 

Nine years and seven championships later, we’ve achieved what many thought impossible in college hockey. We fought hard until the very end.

To all the supporters of AIC hockey, we are incredibly grateful.

To my amazing wife and family, what a journey it has been. I wouldn’t… pic.twitter.com/mHimLcalHH

— Eric Lang (@ericlang9) March 10, 2025

I’d have to agree with Lang’s point about his staff doing “so much with so little.” AIC had a lot of disadvantages as a program over the years. With no tradition of success, Lang had to find ways to recruit against that and find players willing to build a culture and change the narrative.

The fact that happened in under a year is one of the more astonishing accomplishments we’ve seen in college hockey.

It’s why Lang will likely be heading to another coaching job somewhere. It may not be as a head coach right away, but you have to think the phone is going to be ringing this offseason.

But Lang doesn’t want to leave his players behind. He had arranged a transfer portal showcase to encourage other schools to send staff to watch his now-displaced players to see if they might be a fit for their own programs.

Some will catch on somewhere, but for many, their Division I careers likely ended Sunday.

The realities of modern college athletics will likely ensure that AIC is not the only team to have to recalibrate. They will still have men’s hockey, but it will be in the NE10, which is the nation’s only Division II men’s hockey conference. There will be no more NCAA tournament berths to chase.

There will be a legacy though. Regardless of the way it ended, what happened at AIC, especially over the last decade, defies logic. It wasn’t ever supposed to be what it became. Being a moderately respectable program was all anyone ever thought could be possible and even that seemed like a stretch. Yet they made three NCAA tournaments and gave a lot of players from around the world a shot to be successful Division I men’s hockey players. 

There are plenty of other programs that come and go and have no such pedigree to speak of and there are plenty more programs that wouldn’t have gone out the way AIC did.

This team did not wish to go out with a whimper, despite every player knowing the next weeks are going to be among the most tumultuous of their hockey careers as they enter the transfer portal and hope. They made sure everyone knew who they were and what they were about. 

The situation changed. The standard didn’t.

NHL Prospect Coverage On FloHockey

The best, and most complete, coverage of the NHL minor league hockey and NHL Draft is found on FloHockey. Don't miss the latest new prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.

Watch the AHL, ECHL, USHL, And More On FloHockey

FloHockey is the streaming home to some of the best hockey leagues in North America, including the ECHL and more. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more hockey.

Join The Hockey Conversation On FloHockey Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloHockey
• Follow us on Instagram @flohockey
• Follow us on TikTok @flohockeytv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook