By GREG CAMERON



EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Out of the Olympia and into the great outdoors.



American International College and Army took their game outside at East Hartford's Rentschler Field on Saturday as part of former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin's Whalers Hockey Festival. The Yellow Jackets were felled by the Black Knights 4-1 in the team's Atlantic Hockey Association affair.



"It was a little dampened by the outcome, but it was a great experience for our guys," AIC coach Gary Wright said. Yesterday's game was the undercard to the Whalers and Bruins Alumni game and an AHL game pitting the Connecticut Whale and Providence Bruins.



After a quiet first period and a half, it was Army who first summoned a scoring punch. The Black Knights announced their presence in the form of a furious 3:17 goal-scoring flurry.



Right winger Mark Dube got the scoring started for Army as he slipped the puck past freshman Yellow Jackets netminder Ryan Kerpan for a power play goal after Yellow Jacket forward Jon Puskar was called for a trip.



Army's Danny Colvin potted a goal of his own, a short 2:44 later. Colvin benefited from some sweet passes from Dube and Mike Hull on the play.



Hull was particularly stellar on the offensive end of the ice for the Black Knights by tallying a four-pack of assists on the afternoon.



The Black Knights struck for the third time in the period on a whistling wrist shot from Cody Omilusik. In that period, the Yellow Jackets were charged with defending the end of the ice taking in the crux of the afternoon's sunlight which, according to Kerpan, was a factor.



"It was a little difficult with the wind and sun in your face, but I thought it was fun overall," the fresh-faced netminder said. "When you're in a rink, there isn't any elements exposed to you; out here there's wind, blowing snow, glare off the ice and your face in the bright sun," Kerpan added.



Kerpan and a slew of his AIC teammates took on the look of a team that had just taken to the Rentschler Field gridiron as many of them had smeared eye black on their faces to combat the sun's rays.



In a third period where both teams switched ends of the ice midway through Army wasted no time getting back in business when Bryant Skarda tacked on another goal just 51 seconds into the final frame.



The Yellow Jackets would not drive back up north empty-handed however as sophomore forward Richard Leitner tallied AIC's only goal on the afternoon. The Alaska native sped up the wing and received a sweet tape-to-tape pass from Nick Grasso to deny Army goaltender Jay Clark of a shutout.



"I just went down the wing hoping for a pass back-door," Leitner said. "He (Grasso) got it to me and I put it in."



Ice conditions were less-than-stellar after warm weather and rain descended upon the sheet at Rentschler Field on Friday night. In the early-goings, quite a few players took a spill on the surface.



"The ice was better, but there wasn't much of a difference," Leitner said of the comparison between the ponds in his home state and this surface. "The corners were a little slushy, but it played fast."



Thermometers read 31 degrees by the time the puck dropped. However, it felt much colder at ice level, thanks in large part to a whipping wind.



Even with the less-than-ideal state of the ice and weather conditions, Kerpan gave a full endorsement of the experience. Taking the game outdoors brought back quite a few childhood memories for the Saskatchewan native.



"It was fun. It kind of reminded me of being a kid out on the pond back home," Kerpan said. "It was a little difficult with the wind and sun in your face, but I thought it was fun overall."



Wright also expressed his enthusiasm with the experience.



"Even as I was sitting on the bench of the last couple of minutes with the natural elements and the sun shining, it was a really neat experience for our guys," he said.



AIC had trouble with their power play unit on the afternoon. The Yellow Jackets held five one-man advantages and was unable to capitalize on any of them.



"Up until about two weeks ago or so we were one of the 15-20 best teams in the country with regards to power play percentage," Wright said. "I think we're just in one of those lulls that every team goes through," the Yellow Jackets' long-time coach added about his club's special team's woes.



Both teams met Friday night in West Point, N.Y., with the Black Knights defeating the Yellow Jackets 6-4. Army scored five unanswered goals in the contest.



AIC falls to 7-19-1 overall and 7-16-1 in the Atlantic Hockey Association after yesterday's loss. The Yellow Jackets will head back to the Nutmeg State on Friday night to take on Connecticut in another Atlantic Hockey matchup.