Suppose your hockey team returned from a road series a long way away having been outshot both games, having taken 14 penalties, scoring a total of four goals, sustaining multiple injuries and giving a new starting goalie back-to-back starts. How do you think that would have worked out?
For Air Force, not bad at all. The Falcons took three of a possible four points against a physical Alaska team and had goaltender Billy Christopoulos emerge as the lockdown starter they’d been hoping for.
Our first Weekend Rewind takes a closer look at AFA’s series at Alaska.
Set in net
Billy Christopoulos
Question No. 1 (and maybe 2 and 3) for the Falcons’ season was what was going to happen in net after Shane Starrett‘s early departure for the pros? We have our answer. Christopoulos took the handoff in a difficult setting and got first down after first down, making key saves in Friday’s win and Saturday’s tie to help the Falcons come away with three important non-conference points. “The MVP for the weekend – if we had wanted to pick one going in – it would be Billy, and Billy filled it like a champ,” coach Frank Serratore told AM 1300’s broadcast team after Saturday’s game. “Andrew Volkening, (Jason) Torf, Starrett, none of them could have done any better. That’s the most encouraging thing. If you can do it once, you can do it twice, if you can do it on the road, you can do it any time.” Christopoulos made 32 saves in Friday’s win and 25 more in Saturday’s tie. He was composed and consistent all weekend.
The wait increases in sick bay
The best news about Monday’s exhibition was no apparent injuries. Turns
Matt Serratore
out wing Matt Serratore sustained a neck injury that kept him out all weekend at Alaska. The junior made the trip and skated with the Falcons in practice but didn’t play. The hope is he’s close to returning. Friday, junior center Evan Feno sustained a knee injury late in the first period when he was taken down on a breakaway, drawing a penalty. Feno left for the locker room but returned for the second period. He didn’t play Saturday, nor did sophomore wing Pierce Pluemer, who sustained a hip injury Friday. That is an entire line missing, and all three play in most or all situations. It was eerily reminiscent of last season, when the injury bug bit the Falcons and kept on biting. Fortunately, none of these injuries sounded like long-term ones, and the Falcons have better depth this season.
By the numbers
It’s rare when Air Force is outshot, rarer still when it happens in consecutive games, but that’s exactly what happened in Fairbanks. The host Nanooks had a 34-26 edge Friday and a slight 26-25 margin Saturday. The Falcons inserted sophomore Joe Tyran and freshman Zack Mirageas in on defense Saturday, and though both took costly penalties (Tryan a 5-minute boarding penalty during which the Nanooks scored; Mirageas an interference call in overtime) they were generally solid. It’s also important to remember both were making their first NCAA starts. And it’s not a bad thing to get young players experience early in the season should injuries strike, something the forward ranks already have had to deal with. … Two of the four goals came from defensemen (juniors Matt Koch and Dan Bailey), and Koch added an assist on Erik Baskin‘s goal Friday. It’s clear the blue line continues to be an important driver for the Falcons’ offense.
The grind begins
The Falcons don’t have a weekend off until Dec. 9-10, but this past week had to be particularly grueling. Play Monday night at home, fly to Alaska on Wednesday, play Friday and Saturday, then fly back. Three games in six nights, more than 6,000 air miles. It’s tiring thinking about that.
