Air Force wasn’t ready to have its 50th season of Division I hockey end at the hands of its biggest rival.
Senior Tyler Ledford, who couldn’t play in the series against Army West Point at Cadet Arena in November because of an injury, scored 6:38 into overtime off a feed from fellow senior Erik Baskin to lift the Falcons to a 1-0 victory in Game 3 of an Atlantic Hockey Conference quarterfinal series Sunday night.
“For me personally – this might be the greatest experience I’ve had as the Air Force coach,” said Frank Serratore, who is in his 21st season at the Academy. “You’re coming into the lion’s den. We had to paste our lineup together. Our fourth line had two defensemen on it. We’ve got 28 skaters and eight can’t play because of injuries.”
Junior goaltender Billy Christopoulos stopped all Army 15 shots on goal, including a huge one on a Black Knights breakaway late in the third period. His counterpart, Army senior Cole Bruns, made 39 saves.
The Falcons, who outshot the Black Knights 5-0 in overtime, capitalized on an Army turnover to earn their third consecutive trip to the AHC semifinals and a chance to defend their conference championship, which comes with an NCAA Tournament berth.
Baskin knocked down a zone-exit attempt at the Black Knights blue line and got the puck to his center, and Ledford made good on his chance for his fourth goal of the season.
“It’s a surreal moment,” Ledford said. “We talked about getting every shot to the net. I turned around and let it go. I never had a goal that big before. I just wanted to share the moment with my teammates.”
The Falcons will play Canisius in a semifinal on Friday. Regular-season champion Mercyhurst will play Robert Morris in the other semi. The times will be determined Tuesday.
“I knew it was going to be one for the ages,” Serratore said. “We outshot them 16-4 in the second period, (Zack) Mirageas hit the cross bar. It worries you when those things aren’t going your way. Bruns had a shutout (Saturday) and was playing with a bunch of confidence.
“This Army team was not going to beat themselves. Tonight we deserved to beat them – we were clearly the better team. It doesn’t always work out that way. These games against these guys mean a lot to me.”
The Falcons had an almost unreal 91-36 total shots advantage and controlled play for long stretches.
“We scored one goal in our last 126 minutes and we win the series,” Serratore said. “This to me was a big as it gets, especially coming in with a makeshift team.
“In my career, this one will always be special. We needed everybody’s best effort individually.”
Service academy respect
After nine-plus periods and back-to-back 1-0 games, the second of which went to overtime, the teams took plenty of time going through the handshake line.
“It was such a battle. That team is such a class act,” Ledford said. “Their coach (Brian Riley) is a class act. He came in and talked to the team.
“For us to get that win, we’re very fortunate, but if they had won we would support them. … No it’s time to take care of business.”
Notable
Freshman wing Marshall Bowery (shoulder) joined senior wing Jordan Himley (ankle) in the press box because of injuries. The Falcons also sat sophomore center Erich Jaeger. Two defenseman played forward – Dan Bailey and Joe Tyran – on a line with freshman Walker Sommer. The trio was one of the Falcons’ strongest. Senior Ben Kucera moved into Himley’s spot with Kyle Haak and Matt Serratore, while sophomore Pierce Pluemer moved into Bowery’s spot with Brady Tomlak and Trevor Stone.
Air Force’s three stars
- Tyler Ledford. The senior’s fourth shot on goal was his biggest of the season, tallying the overtime winner in a Game 3.
- Billy Christopoulos. The junior posted his fourth shutout of the season at the most opportune time.
- Erik Baskin. The senior made a good defensive play to retrieve the puck and set up the winning goal.
Upcoming
The Falcons will play Canisius on Friday in an AHC semifinal at Rochester, N.Y. The start time will be determined Tuesday.
