Alex Schilling made 19 saves for his first NCAA shutout, lifting Air Force to its fourth consecutive victory, 2-0, over Atlantic Hockey leader Robert Morris at Pittsburgh.
Schilling had to make five saves and his teammates blocked four shots in the final 94 seconds, when the Falcons (4-7, 4-3 AHC) had to kill off the second Colonials 5-on-3 power play of the game. RMU emptied its net to make it a 6-on-3 advantage but could not dent the sophomore, who ran his personal winning streak to four as well.
Trevor Stone and Max Harper scored goals for Air Force, which killed off all seven RMU power plays.
“I think we played a great 60-minute game tonight,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “You never want to go down 6-on-3 at the end, but we had guys making sacrifices, blocking shots and our goalie made some big saves.
“I am so proud of the guys. They were dialed in. We were good tonight. That is what winning hockey looks like.”
The first-place Colonials (7-4, 7-2) saw their four-game win streak end. Senior Justin Kapelmaster made 34 saves.
Harper made it 2-0 when he took a stretch pass from Zach Mirageas, stationed deep in the Falcons zone, at the Colonials line. Harper skated in alone and beat Kapelmaster at 8:54. The tally was Harper’s team-high fourth of the season.
Shortly thereafter the Falcons killed off the first RMU 5-on-3 when Matt Pulver and Mirageas took penalties within 30 seconds of each other.
Stone gave the Falcons a lead midway through the first period, burying a feed from fellow senior Brady Tomlak at 9:27.
The teams finish the series Saturday at 5 p.m. MST.
©First Line Editorial 2019
