This is one roller coaster Air Force isn’t finding very amusing.
A depleted Falcons lineup was shut out for the second consecutive afternoon, this time 4-0 on Saturday by an AIC team that put itself squarely back in the Atlantic Hockey Conference race. The Yellowjackets (5-7-1, 5-4-1 AHC) swept an Air Force team that started the weekend in first place and previously had carried a five-game winning streak into Springfield, Mass.
““They were clearly the better team this weekend,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “We were better today, but they were better, too. It was all about them this weekend. I am very impressed with them.
“If they play like that, they will be a legit contender in our league.”
Forgettable milestones
Saturday’s loss marked the second time this season the Falcons have been blanked in back-to-back games, with the first coming in late October when they lost 2-0 at Canisius and 5-0 to Niagara at Cadet Arena.
One has to go back to the 2009-10 season to find a time when a Serratore-coached team was shut out twice in one season, and all the way back to 2002-03 to find a season when the Falcons were blanked in a series (vs. Bemidji State) and as many as four times (they were shut out five times). Air Force finished 10-24-3 that season.
It’s also the first time AIC has ever swept the Falcons in the 42-game history of the series.
No O
The lack of goals followed a lack of shots. For the second game in a row Air Force (6-6, 6-4 AHC) was held to 20 shots, after coming in averaging 29 per game.
On Saturday, the Yellowjackets generated 25 shots after getting 30 on Friday afternoon. Zackarias Skog (20 saves) again got the better of Zach LaRocque (21 saves) in a battle of backup goaltenders. LaRocque made his fourth consecutive start after not starting once in the first 51 games of his Air Force career. Senior Billy Christopoulos battled the flu last weekend and now is contending with a lower-body injury. There is no timetable for his return.
Part of the Falcons’ issue undoubtedly was the absence of top-six forwards Matt Serratore (concussion) and Evan Feno (lower body injury), as well as fellow forwards Joe Tyran (lower body) and Jensen Zerban (concussion). Serratore has missed nine games in a row, while Feno missed his third consecutive. Tyran has missed six games.
In addition, promising freshman defenseman Carter Ekberg (concussion) missed his fourth consecutive game.
Similar to last season, the Falcons had to play a defenseman, freshman Tyler Jutting, at forward just to ice a full lineup.
Notes
Patrik Demel‘s goal with 4:37 to go in the first and Tobias Fladeby‘s 30 seconds in to the second gave AIC all the scoring it would need. Fladeby’s goal was his third of the weekend. Darius Davidson added a tally late in the second, when Air Force managed just three shots on goal. AIC’s Shawn McBride completed the scoring in the third period. … AIC held a 31-30 edge in face-offs, but Kyle Haak won 13 of 20 (65 percent) for the Falcons. Each team took just one penalty and didn’t score on the ensuing power play in a game that took just 2:11 to play.
Up next
The Falcons have a week off before hitting the road for another AHC series, at RIT on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
©First Line Editorial 2017-18
