Sacred Heart foiled any hopes of an Air Force comeback Saturday with two third-period goals in a 3-1 Atlantic Hockey victory over the Falcons at Bridgeport, Conn.
Kieran Durgan scored for Air Force (11-9-3, 9-6-2 AHC) and Billy Christopoulos made 30 saves. The Pioneers (6-12-2, 6-8-1 AHC) outshot the Falcons, 33-23, and got two goals from Jordan Kaplan, including an empty-netter.
The loss continued the Falcons’ offensive struggles and kept them winless in their past four conference games (0-2-2), dating to a home loss to Mercyhurst on Dec. 8. The Falcons are 2-2-3 in the second half and have just six goals total in the past four games, when they are 0-2-2. It’s a far cry from Air Force’s usual second-half surge.
Kaplan gave Sacred Heart a lead it would hold for nearly two periods when he scored from just above the hash marks 10:56 into the first period. His empty-net goal came after he collected puck in his zone and scored from center ice just 12 seconds after Christopoulos had been pulled.
The Falcons tied it on a strong effort by Durgan about three and a half minutes into the third period. The freshman made a strong move to the net and hit Josh Benson (22 saves) with his first shot, but Durgan reached his rebound and backhanded it in for his ninth goal, tying him for the team lead with Evan Feno and Kyle Haak.
That was all the offense the Falcons could generate, and the score stayed tied for just 4 minutes. Freshman Austin Magera beat Christopoulos after a teammate bumped into the goalie.
Notes
Air Force won 56 percent of its face-offs, taking 29-23, with Haak winning 7 of 11 draws (64 percent). … Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Air Force’s three stars
- Kieran Durgan. The freshman gave the Falcons a chance, tying the score early in the third period.
- Billy Christopoulos. The senior no doubt would like the second Pioneers goal back, but he made 30 saves and kept Air Force in it while the offense was stuck in neutral.
- Alex Mehnert. The sophomore defenseman had three blocked shots and three shots.
Up next
The teams play again Sunday at 2:05 p.m. MST at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
©First Line Editorial 2017-19
