Air Force successfully turned the page on a disappointing first half, and in the process retained the Pikes Peak Trophy with a 6-3 victory against cross-town rival Colorado College on Friday night at Cadet Arena.

The Falcons (8-8-3) scored three goals in the first 4:44 of the game, then answered every push the Tigers (8-8-3) made the rest of the way. Senior Erik Baskin scored his first NCAA hat trick and linemate and fellow senior Tyler Ledford had a hand in five of the Falcons’ goals. Billy Christopoulos made 25 saves and seniors Jordan Himley and Kyle Mackey added goals.

“The first three shots going in, that’s definitely a better start than you’d anticipate,” Baskin said. “We still felt like there was a lot we could work on with our game tonight. They outshot us, outplayed us for stretches. Christopoulos was unbelievable tonight, he made some key saves.”

With the Falcons holding a 5-3 lead midway through the third, Christopoulos (25 saves) stopped a point-blank chance by the Tigers. That followed a shorthanded breakaway save on Mason Bergh late in the first a couple of other odd-man rushes generated by the Tigers’ top line of Bergh, Nick Halloran and Trey Bradley. The trio accounted for all three CC goals and totaled seven points, three by Bradley. Each had a goal.

“They’ve improved, but they’re top heavy,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “That’s the best line we’ve played again.”

Despite the six goals, the season-high six goals, Serratore said one of the major differences was in net.

“Their goalie looked rusty, ours didn’t,” the coach said. “Their goalie struggled and Billy was solid.”

Another difference was special teams play. In a game that included 16 penalties, the Falcons’ killed off six of the Tigers’ seven power players while scoring on two of their five.

The biggest one, however, was Air Force’s resilience, Serratore said.

“When they got close, we found a way to answer,” he said. “Good teams answer.”

The answers came after a week of questions, one in which Ledford said the team called a players-only meeting in an attempt at a course correction. Mission accomplished.

“Going into the winter break we weren’t happy with where we were,” he said. “We had a big meeting as a team, none of the coaches. We just said, ‘Enough’s enough.’

“Hopefully we can build off this. We weren’t great tonight, but it was a good stepping stone. We were sick of losing.”

The Falcons didn’t score on every shot of the first period, it only seemed like it during their three-goal outburst. They put their first three shots past Alex Leclerc, ending the sophomore’s night after 4:44. It was the second time in 19 starts this season Leclerc has been pulled. The first was Nov. 17 at St. Cloud State.

Matt Koch, who was plus-4, initiated the play the started the scoring, firing a slap shot from the left point that careened off the end boards to Ledford. Leclerc tried to poke check the puck from the Falcons assistant captain, but Ledford found Baskin all alone on the right doorstep for his seventh goal.

Just 1:55 later, Mackey walked in on Leclerc and beat the goalie with a nice forehand-backhand move that went upstairs.

“It’s always good to get goals to begin a period,” Ledford said. “(The first one) may have been a little lucky but it was what we needed. I can’t tell you the last time we got a goal on the first shift. It just helps, guys are more confident.”

Then, just as a penalty to Evan Giesler was expiring during a 4-on-4 situation, Ledford worked a 2-on-1 with Himley, with Himley finishing a nice right-to-left feed just 4:44 in. Himley nearly made it 4-0 when he ripped a shot off the cross bar with 10:30 to go in the period.

Halloran got one back for the Tigers with 5:03 to go in the first, but Ledford collected a turnover just inside the CC line and outfaked backup Alec Calvaruso (19 saves) to make it 5-1 just 13 seconds in.

The Tigers’ top line then went to work, scoring the next two goals in a span of less than 3 minutes. Time and again the trio gained speed in the neutral zone and backed off the Falcons’ defense – Bradley and Bergh made them pay and it was 4-3 with 9:32 to go in the second and anyone’s game.

Until Baskin finished a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Phil Boje and Ledford. Boje, another Falcons assistant captain started the play to the other two from the right point, finding Ledford below the left dot. Ledford patiently waited and found Baskin right on the top of the crease.

Baskin removed any doubt with 6:07 to go when he deposited a rebound of Leddy’s shot from the right wing into the CC net.

“He’s a goal scorer. I love playing with him,” Ledford said. “I get him the puck and he makes things happen. I had a couple of assists because he can put the puck on the back of the net.”

Spreading the wealth

The Tigers’ top-line scoring surge should come as no surprise. The trio had 60 of CC’s 111 points from the forwards in its lineup Friday.

Another 35 were from the second line of Trevor Gooch, Christiano Versich and Westin Michaud. The other two lines had 10 and six points.

The Falcons, whose Friday forwards entered the game with 80 points, had lines with 29, 25, 13 and 13 points, led by the Ledford-Giesler-Baskin trio. That group added eight points Friday.

The Falcons had 31 points from the defensemen in the lineup compared to 22 from the Tigers’ blue liners.

Lineup shuffle

The returns of defenseman Dylan Abood and forwards Kyle Haak and Brady Tomlak to the lineup meant a handful of players who had played quite a bit before the break were spectators. Defenseman Dan Bailey, who had played a handful of games at center, shifted back to the blue line. But fellow defenseman Mackey remained at forward on a line with Erich Jaeger and Ben Kucera.

Air Force’s three stars

1. Erik Baskin. The senior started the Falcons’ party 28 seconds into the game and slammed the door with 6:07 to go. His hat trick was his first since his senior year at Minnetonka (Minn.) High School.
2. Tyler Ledford. His five-point night was his best in, well, forever. The senior couldn’t recall hitting that mark at any point.
3. Billy Christopoulos. His 25 saves included several big ones that prevented CC from drawing closer.

Up next

The Falcons travel north up Interstate 25 to take on No. 2 Denver at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at Magness Arena. The Pioneers lost their second in a row Friday, falling to Merrimack College, 3-2. The Tigers head back to World Arena on Saturday to take on the Warriors  at 6:07 p.m.