The Seventh Period is a wrap-up of Air Force hockey’s weekend series on Oct. 11-13.
First period
Senior captain Matt Pulver might have given us part of the answer for who is going to score goals for the Falcons this season. The winger buried two in Friday’s 4-3 loss to No. 8 Notre Dame. The first came with 2:58 to play in the first period while riding shotgun with linemates Kieran Durgan and freshman Blake Bride. The second came with a second left in the game. It was Pulver’s first two-goal game in his NCAA career. Senior assistant captain Brady Tomlak had an assist on the latter goal to go with his game-opening strike.
Second period
The Falcons blew a 2-0 lead in Friday’s loss but held a shots on goal edge (36-29) and killed off all four Irish penalties. The penalty kill, which led the nation a season ago, met its match in the rematch, surrendering two goals on three chances in the latter two periods. Those were the same two periods Notre Dame used to blow open a 1-1 game and finish with a 6-1 victory. The Falcons were outshot, 32-23, in the second game.
Third period
Another first for the Falcons came when junior wing Max Harper with 2:13 to go in the first period of the second game. It was Harper’s first NCAA goal after two injury-racked seasons. He nicely redirected a shot from junior defenseman Zach Mirageas past Ryan Bischel. The assist gave Mirageas a point in each game, just as the secondary one did the same for senior wing Trevor Stone. Harper, incidentally, has looked like one of the most improved Falcons. He seems far quicker than I can remember, and he’s much more involved in all three zones.
Fourth period
What to do in net? Junior Zach LaRocque was pretty solid through four periods, allowing five goals. Things went south in a hurry after that, when the Irish scored on four of their next 13 shots against him. They then dented sophomore Alex Schilling for one with a second left in the rematch. Schilling, who made his NCAA debut in relief, faced six shots. Schilling also had mop-up duty in the exhibition win against Trinity Western, and I thought he looked pretty sharp on a few tough saves. That begs the question: will the duo each get a start vs. Arizona State this weekend?
Fifth period
I think it’s pretty fair to say six newcomers are going to play a lot for the Falcons this season. For now they’re defenseman Brandon Koch and Dalton Weigel and forwards Bride, Luke Manning, Willie Reim and Ty Pochipinski, who was the extra forward but moved around the lineup quite a bit on Sunday. Koch, who just as his older brother Matt was, is paired with Mirageas and playing the most minutes of any of them. Bride’s slotting with Pulver and Durgan should lead to him playing a bit more up front.
Sixth period
Further evidence that the Falcons tired as the series wore on. After periods of 11, 11 and 14 shots on goal Friday, those numbers fell to 10, 7 and 6 on Sunday. … A big area that falls under the needs improvement category: face-offs. Notre Dame dominated that area in both games, winning 37 of 59 (63 percent) on Friday and 38 of 59 (64 percent) on Sunday.
Seventh period
The Falcons open their home schedule with an alumni weekend matchup against Arizona State on Friday and Saturday (7 p.m. start both nights). The Sun Devils began the season ranked in the top 20, but have dropped three of their first four. They split with Atlantic Hockey foe Mercyhurst, then got routed two games in a row at No. 3 Minnesota State. The nation’s only independent Division I team, ASU can’t afford to get swept again and sit at 1-5 after one month of the season, so expect the Devils to come out breathing fire.
©First Line Editorial 2019
