Some good work late in each period sparked Air Force to its first victory in six games on Friday night.
The Falcons got goals from Kieran Durgan, Evan Feno and Kyle Haak – the 10th of the season for each – in a 3-1 Atlantic Hockey Conference victory against Robert Morris on Friday night at Cadet Arena.
“Not much not to like about the game,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “We were a little bit slow coming out of the blocks but we played a darn good three periods.”
The triumph gave the Falcons second place in the conference all to themselves, just two points behind first-place AIC. Three teams lurk just two points behind Air Force (12-9-4, 10-6-2 AHC) in the race for a first-round playoff bye.
Air Force had gone 0-2-3 since beating St. Lawrence on Jan. 4.
Better late than never
Air Force scored all three of its goals 1:16 remaining in a period or less, starting with Durgan’s strike with 17 seconds left in the first period.
Feno put the Falcons up 2-0 with 1:16 to go in the second after Evan Giesler separated a Robert Morris defender from the puck behind the Colonials goal and fed Feno on the left dot.
Haak finished things with an empty-net strike with 48 seconds to go. Seconds after Francis Marotte (23 saves) left the ice for an extra attacker, Haak lifted a backhander out of the Falcons’ zone that found the opposing net.
“You’re in a tight game late and everyone wants it bad,” Serratore said. “Things got a little bit hyper on our part. I’m very happy with our team.
“We played with the lead the entire game.”
Not so clear
In between, there was plenty of intrigue midway through the third period.
The Colonials (9-15-1, 8-10-1 AHC) got back to 2-1 when Alex Tonge buried a rebound on a power play after a tic-tac-toe sequence set up the initial shot. Tonge’s goal came with 12:13 to play.
A little more than 2 minutes later it appeared Giesler had restored the Falcons’ two-goal lead on a rush down the right wing.
However, the goal was disallowed after a lengthy review. The officials ruled there was no possession after an Air Force player had made a hand pass in the Falcons zone, a situation that should have been blown dead when Giesler touched the puck.
“The way the game was called was frustrating,” Serratore said. “(Our guys) had to persevere.”
Notes
Senior co-captain Matt Koch had two more assists, giving him a team-high 21 points and 19 assists. … The Falcons dominated the face-off circle, winning 37 of 64 draws (58 percent).
Air Force’s three stars
- Evan Giesler. The wing had one goal disallowed after earlier setting up the game winner.
- Evan Feno. The center was positive on the dot as well and scored the game-winning goal.
- Kyle Haak. The senior won 14 of 22 face-offs (64 percent) and added a clinching goal.
Up next
The games play again Saturday at 5:05 p.m. at Cadet Arena.
©First Line Editorial 2017-19
