Army West Point didn’t need any good bounces Saturday night.
One night after tying Air Force in the final minute of regulation, the Black Knights left little doubt about the outcome of Saturday’s game at Tate Rink, scoring three times in a span of 2:46 of the second period en route to defeating the Falcons, 5-2.
Sophomore center Kieran Durgan scored both goals for Air Force (6-10-4, 6-6-4-2 Atlantic Hockey). Alex Schilling made 15 saves for the Falcons, who were outshot 20-19.
After going into the holiday break with a 6-1-3 run, the Falcons have gone 1-2-1 since, surrendering five goals in both Saturday games in 2020.
Army took an early lead when senior Michael Wilson scored a shorthanded breakaway goal with 12:44 to go in the first, his team-high ninth goal. Durgan evened it up 1:41 into the second when he beat Trevin Kozlowski (17 saves) high.
Three and a half minutes later the Black Knights began their run with Alex Wilkinson‘s tally at 5:19. Patrick Smythe then scored his first NCAA goal at 6:31, and John Keranen cashed in during a 5-on-3 power play at 8:05.
Durgan scored his sixth of the season midway through the third before Colin Bilek hit the empty net with just under 3 minutes to play.
Army (14-7-2, 11- 5-2-2 AHC) sits in second in Atlantic Hockey, two points behind Sacred Heart, while Air Force is in a three-way tie for fourth 12 points behind the Black Knights.
Friday night tie
Army scored with 51 seconds remaining in regulation when Eric Butte knocked a rebound in off the back of Schilling’s skate to tie the score at 3, and neither team could score in the first or second overtime. The Black Knights scored in the ninth round of the ensuing shooting to get the extra conference point.
Air Force took 2-1 and 3-2 leads on goals by freshmen Brandon Koch and Willie Reim midway through the second and third periods, respectively. A third freshman, Luke Manning, also scored for the Falcons, and Schilling made a career-high 33 saves. Manning added an assist and junior Zach Mirageas set up the Falcons’ final two goals.
The Falcons also jump started their power play, scoring on 2 of 3 chances after coming into the game with only eight power-play goals all season.
Wilson had a power-play goal for Army, which got 32 saves from Kozlowski.
©First Line Editorial 2020
