Air Force coach Frank Serratore and his brother Tom, Bemidji State’s coach, have combined for 729 NCAA Division I victories. No. 730 will have to wait.

The Falcons and the Beavers skated to a 3-3 tie on Saturday night at Cadet Arena in a back-and-forth non-conference game. Neither team led by more than one goal with Bemidji State (8-8-3) twice tying the score in the final five minutes of a period. It also was the first time this season Air Force did not win when it scored three goals.

“We came from behind (early) then we played with the lead the rest of the way,” Frank Serratore said. “The shots were close (33-32). We could have won that game, we could have lost that game. Maybe it’s poetic justice.

“It’s period four tomorrow to see who wins the series. I don’t know if either team deserved to lose that game. It was a very evenly played game.”

The Falcons (9-7-1) caught a huge break in overtime when an apparent winning goal by the Beavers with 2:02 remaining was waved off after a lengthy video review. There was some confusion about the ensuing call, but Air Force at least gained a point as a result.

“We thought it was too many men on the ice,” Serratore added. “We didn’t really know either, that’s why I called the refs over during the timeout. (Assistant coach) Andy (Berg) said it was too many men. Right away our guys reacted and said, “Too many! Too many!” The officials look at everything. Bemidji didn’t complain.”

Goal for goal

Three players scored goals for each team, and both goaltenders had their moments in this one.

Owen Sillinger tied the score for Bemidji with 4:02 left in the third period after a Falcons D zone turnover. The left shot collected the puck on the inside of the right circle and outmaneuvered Billy Christopoulos (29 saves), who was at the top of the blue paint, to wrap the puck around the goalie’s right.

Freshman Kieran Durgan had given the Falcons their second lead of the game 12 minutes earlier, at 4:09 of the third when he corralled Matt Koch‘s clearing chip off the wall and dashed down the right wing, beating Henry Johnson (30 saves) upstairs on the short side with a snap shot from the right circle.

“We want to play fast, so when you get the puck you want to move it right away,” Durgan said. “Cookie made the play off the glass, it came to me, I just kind of went with it.”

Walker Sommer had given Air Force a 2-1 lead 3:58 into the second when he backhanded a rebound of his shot in close past Johnson. That stood as the only power-play goal of the game, and it came after senior Evan Giesler made a terrific play with the puck below the goal line to find Sommer zooming through the low slot.

That was the only power-play highlight for the Falcons, who managed just six shots on five man advantages.

Still killing it

The penalty kill, meanwhile, extended its run of success to 34 in a row, but it did it the hard way.

The Beavers fired 10 shots on goal and many more toward the net during their four chances. However, the Falcons clogged the lanes and absorbed many of their 18 blocked shots in those eight minutes.

“We kept ourselves in the zone a little too long today, but we were blocking shots,” senior co-captain Matt Koch said. “We need to get some more clears. Bill was good. We do need to do a better job limiting their in-zone time. There was one penalty kill I think I was out there the whole two minutes.”

Regaining momentum

Just three and a half minutes after the Beavers grabbed the lead halfway through the first period, the Falcons’ answered with their trademark two-man forecheck doing the yeoman’s work.

Joe Tyran, playing for the first time in eight games after recovering from a lower-body injury, was on the receiving end of a backhand feed from Pierce Pluemer below the Beavers goal line. Pluemer and center Erich Jaeger tracked down the puck on a forecheck, with Pluemer reaching it after Jaeger’s hit on a BSU defender.

Tyran was right on Johnson’s doorstep and elevated the puck over the goalie’s blocker for his first goal of the season and third of his Air Force career.

“We’re the energy line. Not a whole lot of skill, but a lot of heart, a lot of speed, a lot of grit,” Tyran said of the trio of juniors. “Coach puts us out during those times to give the team a little more energy and keep that momentum or gain momentum back.

“Piercey and Jags had good games today. I was really happy to be back with them because we’ve got some good chemistry.”

Tryan’s goal was a tangible payoff for the energy and physicality the group brought to the game, and they saw time at key junctures, whether after a power play or a Beavers goal and had a handful of defensive zone starts.

A dot test

Christopoulos faced at least three breakaways in the first half of the game due to defensive breakdowns near the Falcons’ blue line, but he was up to the task every time.

However, Bemidji’s first two goals came from virtually the same spot at opposite ends of the rink. Aaron Miller snapped an off-wing shot from the left dot that beat Christopoulos high and short with 9:36 to go in the first period.

Defenseman Justin Baudry walked into the left circle and again beat the Falcons senior cleanly with just 1:15 left in the second to tie it at 2.

“It will be good to get back at it (Sunday),” Koch said. “This was a game that had two really good teams coming off a break. It was a little sloppy at times, we traded chances both ways. I think both teams can – and will – be better.”

Notes

In addition to Tyran, the Falcons also welcomed back freshman defenseman Carter Ekberg to the lineup after the latter missed the past eight games while in concussion protocol. Tyran has missed a total of 10 games this season because of a lower-body injury after missing his entire freshman season because of a torn ACL. “I am very grateful to have the training staff here to help me along with all of the injuries and recoveries I’ve had to go through. I felt great out there tonight, my legs felt strong.”

Air Force’s three stars

1. Kieran Durgan. He scored the Falcons’ second go-ahead go off a beautiful coast-to-coast rush and led the team with seven shots on goal.
2. Matt Koch. His passing was sharp enough to give teammates some good opportunities, but he played one of his best defensive games, blocking a team-high six shots.
3. Joe Tyran. The junior brought the Falcons back from their only deficit, and he and linemates Erich Jaeger and Pierce Pluemer caused a lot of havoc.

Up next

The Falcons play St. Lawrence (3-12-1) in the first round of the Ice Vegas Invitational on Friday at 9:30 p.m. MDT.

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