Air Force overcome a first period to forget and ultimately tied Holy Cross 2-2 in an Atlantic Hockey game at Worcester, Mass., on Friday night.
The Falcons (7-5-3, 4-2-1 AHC) had just three shots on goal to 11 by the Crusaders (5-5-3, 2-2-3) in the first yet escaped down just 2-1. Erik Baskin‘s power-play goal 6:45 to go in the period made it 1-1, but Holy Cross retook the lead on a goal by Charlie Barrow with just 2:02 to go in the first.
The Falcons’ start didn’t sit well with their coach.
“Look at the first period stats, (Holy Cross) led 15-6 in face-offs, three shots on goal (for Air Force), and what’s worse is six shot attempts,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said.
“We had to change that. Our D core played terrific. Shane (Starrett) was a rock in net. Our forwards need to play better. The breakdowns came from poor execution by our forwards.”
Jordan Himley scored his team-high eighth goal, also on the power play, 1:48 into the second period and that was all the work the scoreboard operator had to do for the evening.
The Crusaders outshot the Falcons, 26-15. Starrett (7-2-2) made 24 saves.
“Fifteen shots. Who’s responsible for generating those?” Serratore said. “Our forwards have to lead the charge. They have to lead the rush or the forecheck.”
Power surge
The Falcons’ two power-play goals gave them extra-man strikes in five of the past six games, and two PPGs four times in that span. Overall, they’re 9 for 27 (33.3 percent) over that stretch.
Himley’s power-play strike was his first of the season, while Baskin’s was his second.
As it has quite a bit of the time of late, the Falcons’ defense was front and center in generating chances. Junior Phil Boje had the primary assist on Baskin’s goal, giving him a team-high 14 points. Fellow junior Jonathan Kopacka had the secondary assist on both AFA goals.
“When we get possession and kick it back to our D they’re doing their job,” Serratore said.
Air Force held the Crusaders, sporting one of the nation’s top-10 power plays, to 1 for 5 Friday.
Fit to be tied
That the game ended in a deadlock shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. Every third meeting or so Air Force and Holy Cross tie. It was the 10th tie in 29 Atlantic Hockey meetings between the teams.
