It just took one.
For the first time this season Air Force scored the first goal in a game, and that foreshadowed the Falcons’ first home victory, 2-1, against Niagara in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game at Cadet Arena.
Sophomore Walker Sommer scored on a breakaway 2:09 into the second period, ending a scoreless streak of 142 minutes and 32 seconds, freshman linemate Kieran Durgan added his third goal of the season and Billy Christopoulos made 35 saves for Air Force (2-4, 2-2 AHC).
Justin Kendall scored off a cross-ice pass after Niagara (2-4, 2-2) pulled goalie Brian Wilson with 5 minutes left to keep things tight until the end.
The spark returned
One night after a somewhat listless performance, the Falcons, who dressed 11 underclassmen, showed plenty of jump from the opening face-off forward. They won races to loose pucks, finished checks and generally made the Purple Eagles work far harder than they had to on Thursday.
“It was night and day from last night (when) we were getting hemmed in our zone a lot,” Christopoulos said. “Tonight a lot of young guys stepped up. We were making clean plays out of our zone. That was huge. We were making clean breakouts, reverses.
“It was an incredible turnaround from last night.”
Some of that had to do with some corrections Air Force made to its game one night after a 5-0 loss, its second game in a row it didn’t score. But the energy level across the board got an upgrade, and it showed.
“We gave it to them pretty good this morning (during a video session) and exposed a lot of lackluster play, a lot of poor effort, a lack of compete,” coach Frank Serratore said. “We didn’t berate them, (but told them) you can’t skate by the net, you can’t not finish checks, you can’t go offsides seven times in a game.
“They answered the bell. We played hard but we played with great spirit.”
Offensive breakthrough
With three of their top six scorers sidelined due to injury, the Falcons needed someone to step up. Enter the line of Sommer, Durgan and Shawn Knowlton, which accounted for both goals.
Sommer’s strike came at the end of a play initiated by an excellent breakout pass by freshman defenseman Carter Ekberg. Sommer’s speed gave him room to snap a shot from low in the left circle that beat Wilson (32 saves) high on the short side.
A lot of steam came out of the pressure cooker on that play.
“We really built off that,” Christopoulos said. “Any time you can play with a lead you’re more free, you’re not as tense. You’re not forcing things. We were getting more chances. We were coming out of the zone easier because they’re taking chances trying to get back at us.”
The assist was Ekberg’s first college point, and Sommer’s goal was his first point of the season and his second career goal.
“He just saw me coming up the left-hand side and made a beautiful pass and I was able to finish,” Sommer said. “It was awesome getting the first goal, but getting the crowd going was the big part. It really boosted morale on the bench.”
Finishing move
Christopoulos turned in his best game of the season, making big saves at key junctures, especially in the third period, when Niagara fired 16 of its 36 shots on goal.
He made a couple of big ones on a Falcons penalty kill midway through the third period, after previously stopping a handful more when the Purple Eagles had their first sustained surge after Air Force had the game’s first power play midway through the second.
Durgan scored from the slot with 5:20 to play after knocking the puck down, a bang-bang play that might have caught Wilson off guard.
“We’ve had plenty of shots we didn’t get a bounce on, ultimately we had to get one sometime,” Serratore said.
Getting to know you
Injuries to several players – including seniors Kyle Haak (upper body), Matt Koch (undisclosed) and Matt Serratore (concussion protocol), plus junior Erich Jaeger (upper body) and sophomore Max Harper (abdominal surgery) – meant the Falcons iced a lineup with 11 players in their first or second season. Freshman defenseman Tyler Jutting made his NCAA debut. … The Falcons’ blue line was particularly inexperienced. Senior Dan Bailey played in his 97th career game. The other six defensemen (three sophomores and three freshmen)? 108 games … combined.
Air Force’s three stars
- Billy Christopoulos. The senior had his best night in net thus far this season, stopping 35 shots and making a handful of saves through traffic and at point-blank range.
- Walker Sommer. The sophomore picked a great time to score his first goal – and the Falcons’ first goal – of the season.
- Kieran Durgan. The freshman brought energy all game and was rewarded with what proved to be the winning goal.
Frankly speaking
“Our bench was electric,” Serratore said. “A couple of times I had to bring guys down because they were starting to lose control of their emotions, but I’d rather have to tame a tiger than paint stripes on a pussycat.”
Up next
The Falcons head to Army West Point next weekend for games Friday (5:05 p.m. MDT) and Saturday (6:05 p.m. MDT).
©First Line Editorial 2017-18
