RIT came charging out of the locker room and controlled the first two periods, then it got a key power-play goal in the third to hold off Air Force, 3-2, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game on Saturday night at Cadet Arena.
The Tigers (6-4-1, 6-2 AHC) gained a split of the series, largely on the strength of building a 2-1 lead via a 22-10 shots-on-goal edge during the first 40 minutes.
The Falcons (6-6-2, 2-5-1 AHC) took over in the third period and tied the score with 8:55 to go on Jordan Himley‘s power-play goal, but almost five minutes later the Tigers won it on Ryan Kruper‘s power-play tally. The Tigers struck twice on six power plays.
“They gave it to us the in the first two periods,” AFA coach Frank Serratore said. “Billy (Christopoulos) kept us in there. I really liked our third, but we needed a kill.
“I was hoping we would be able to steal a point.”
Air Force generated 22 total shots in the third (eight of which found the net) after compiling just 32 (only 10 on goal) in the first two periods, but it was too little too late despite Himley depositing a rebound off Logan Drackett‘s left pad into the net for a short-lived tie. Freshman defenseman Alex Mehnert fired a shot through traffic on Drackett (16 saves) after taking a pass from Phil Boje.
Himley said the Falcons’ approach in the third was simple. “Just get on them. We had nothing to lose. Just get on pucks, get two hard, three hard when we had the six on five at the end.”
Christopoulos (24 saves) was pulled with 2 minutes remaining, and the Falcons generated several quality chances but couldn’t get one past Drackett.
“We’ve got to get back to playing our game,” Boje said. “We know how good we can play when we’re all buzzing and all moving our feet and keeping the play simple. We’ve got to use our legs. We just weren’t able to capitalize and score goals.”
The Tigers took their first lead with 4:53 to go in the second after the Falcons failed to clear a puck along the boards to Christopoulos’ left. Kruper held it in and found Jake Hamacher free. The freshman snapped in a shot to the wide side for a 2-1 lead.
Marshall Bowery became the third Falcons freshman to register his first NCAA point in the past three games when he scored on a rebound in the slot 3:57 into the game. Linemates Pierce Pluemer and Erich Jaeger each had shots in the sequence.
The Tigers tied it on a power play with 2:51 to go in the first. Chase Norrish‘s shot from the right dot bounced off one of Christopoulos’ pads to Erik Brown on the right doorstep, and the junior wasted no time getting his second goal in two nights.
In the end, the Falcons had just 18 of their 54 shots land on goal, something they know they have to fix.
“It all starts in the D end,” Boje said.”We’ve got to break pucks out, we’ve got to keep it simple, funnel some pucks to the net, get some traffic.
“You can’t score when you don’t shoot the puck enough, that’s the big thing we’ve got to do.”
Musical chairs
Freshman wing Walker Sommer did not play after the first period, and the Falcons compensated by moving another defenseman, Kyle Mackey, up to forward. Air Force already was playing blue liners Dan Bailey and Joe Tyran at forward because of injuries. They went with five defensemen the rest of the game.
“You’ve just got to trust your linemates, no matter who it is,” Himley said. “Just trust they’re going to be in their spots and get pucks out, and everyone’s going to get pucks in.”
Air Force’s three stars
- Billy Christopoulos. Once again, the junior made several point-blank stops among his 24 saves to keep the game within reach for the Falcons.
- Jordan Himley. The senior forward played with a lot of energy, had a team-high three shots on goal and was rewarded for it with a Johnny-on-the-spot power-play goal that tied it.
- Marshall Bowery. The freshman scored his first NCAA goal by burying a third-chance rebound to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.
Up next
The Falcons travel to Sacred Heart next weekend for an Atlantic Hockey Conference series on Saturday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (10:30 a.m.)
