After one period it would have been fair to ask what Air Force had gotten itself into at Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday night.
Outscored 4-2 and outshot 18-10, the started the second period with all-Atlantic Hockey goalie Shane Starrett on the bench.
The Falcons (6-3-2) didn’t quit even after falling behind by two goals again in the second period and ended up tying No. 18 Western Michigan, 5-5, in a non-conference game. The Broncos scored late in the second, 3-on-3 overtime to win, but for NCAA purposes the result is a tie.
“There’s good ties and there’s bad ties, and this was a good tie. You’re on the road, you’re down two twice and you tie it,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “There were more goals scored tonight than I thought would be in the whole series.”
Battling back
Not once, but twice the Falcons overcame two-goal deficits. After the teams took turns scoring the first four goals, started by Western Michigan’s Griffen Molino just 1:16 in, the Broncos went up 4-2 on goals by Wade Allison and Hugh McGing. McGing’s tally came with just 1:25 to go in the first period.
Jordan Himley‘s short-handed goal – his fourth tally in three games – seven minutes into the second drew AFA to 4-3, but Molino struck again, this time on the power play, six minutes later to make it 5-3.
Next it was the Falcons’ turn to score late in a period. Defenseman Dan Bailey tallied his third goal in four games with 2:35 to play.
The Broncos retained the 5-4 lead nearly all of the third period, until freshman Matt Pulver scored the first goal of his NCAA career with 5:24 to go to tie it.
“We had a lot of holes in our game, especially early,” Serratore said. “Our guys have a lot of spirit, they battled back. We won the second period, we won the third period.
“We tried to keep more bodies back in the second and third and it paid off.”
Special delivery
Air Force might not have stayed in the game had its power play not connected twice in the third period, and then it’s penalty kill come through. Evan Giesler got the Falcons on the board 4:59 in to tie it at 1, and defenseman Phil Boje evened things again with a power-play strike with 8:34 to go. It was his fourth goal of the season, temporarily tying him with Himley for the team lead … until Himley’s short-hander in the second period.
Change in net
Starrett’s night ended after four of Western Michigan’s 18 first-period shots eluded him. It was just the second time this season he had allowed as many as four goals (the other was a 6-1 loss to Bentley in which Bentley twice scored empty-net goals).
“Things weren’t going very good,” Serratore said. “Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut. Shane was more of a victim in that first period. He made a couple of big stops. Sometimes you just gotta change it up.”
Billy Christopoulos replaced him and allowed just one more goal on 14 shots in regulation and the first overtime.
“Billy needed that. He’s a good goalie and he’s worked hard,” Serratore added. “Billy’s been patient and he’s been working his ass off. Billy’s going into the game tomorrow with some good mojo.
“Nothing would please me more than to have a good goalie controversy.”
The plan going into the weekend was to give each goalie a start, and Christopoulos will get the start Saturday.
Notable
The teams combined for 68 shots, 36 by Air Force. … Defenseman and senior co-captain Johnny Hrabovsky and junior forward Ben Kucera returned to the lineup after battling lower-body injuries. Sophomore center Kyle Haak also was back in the lineup after serving a one-game AHC-imposed suspension.
The final word
“Whoever wins tomorrow wins the series. It’s not a bad thing … against a skilled team like that,” Serratore said. “I’m sure they’ll be better tomorrow, and we need to be better.”
