There’s no place like the road for Air Force.
The Falcons beat Army West Point, 4-2, for the second night in a row to sweep the series against their service academy rival, and won for the third consecutive game. Saturday’s victory also marked the third win in four Atlantic Hockey Conference road games for the Falcons (4-4, 4-2 AHC).
“We’ve won four games in the league, and three of them came on the road. That tells you something about the mettle of our team,” coach Frank Serratore said.
Four players scored goals, including Kyle Haak and Brady Tomlak, each of whom added an assist and strong play in the face-off circle, and Billy Christopoulos made 28 saves against a determined Black Knights (4-4-1, 3-2-1).
Leading role
As much as anything, scoring first gave Air Force the lift it needed. This marked the third game in a row it managed to do that, and you know what happened as a result.
“We didn’t play from behind all weekend,” Serratore said. “We got the first goal. When they’d get within one goal, we’d get the next one.”
Trevor Stone‘s power-play goal 2:04 in the second period put the Falcons on the board first. Haak made it 2-0 with 5:40 to go in the period, but the Black Knights answered 11 seconds later on freshman Marshal Plunkett‘s goal.
Turning point
The Falcons killed off all four Army power plays, none bigger than at the start of the third period. Air Force killed 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 Army power play, then finished off the 5-on-4 portion of the disadvantage. Shortly after that, freshman Kieran Durgan scored his team-high fourth goal off a pass from Tomlak behind the net.
Tomlak added an empty-net goal.
“I’m very proud of the guys,” Serratore said. “They found a way to win when it could have gotten away.”
Notes
Evan Feno returned after his one-game suspension for an uncalled penalty during last Friday’s game vs. Niagara. He centered a line with fellow senior Evan Giesler and freshman Kieran Durgan, who played in Feno’s center spot on Friday vs. Army. … Freshman defenseman Carter Ekberg was injured in the first period and did not return. Junior forward Joe Tryan also sustained an injury and did not return. … Sophomore defenseman Alex Mehnert added an assist, giving him three on the weekend. Stone and Tomlak had a goal in each game.
Air Force’s three stars
- Brady Tomlak. The junior had the clinching goal, set up the winning goal and won 11 of 14 face-offs.
- Billy Christopoulos. The senior stopped 28 of 30 shots, many of them at close range.
- Kyle Haak. The senior scored the Falcons’ second goal, added an assist and led a strong night on the dot.
Frankly speaking
“I don’t think either team could play much harder,” Serratore said. “It was an even series with the edge going to The Greek (Christopoulos).
“(Army is) a good team. They could win the league. I can tell you not many people are going to come in here and sweep.”
Up next
The Falcons play host to Bentley College in an Atlantic Hockey series on Friday (7:05 p.m. MST) and Saturday (7:35 p.m. MST) at Cadet Arena.
©First Line Editorial 2016-18
