Sophomore Alex Schilling made 30 saves, but Air Force could not dent his Canisius counterpart, Jacob Barczewski, in a 1-0 Atlantic Hockey loss on Saturday at Buffalo, N.Y.
Lee Lapid‘s first-period goal off a rush was the only tally, and it came during a period in which the Golden Griffins (8-15-5, 7-10-5 AHC) rattled off 17 of their 31 shots on goal.
“They could have scored a couple more,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “We were fortunate to be down only 1-0 after the first.
“Alex Schilling gave us a chance.”
It was the third time this season Air Force has been shut out, but just the first since a 1-0 loss to RIT at Cadet Arena on Oct. 25. In that game, the Falcons fell despite a 36-11 shots on goal advantage. On Saturday, they generated 23 shots.
After the first, Air Force (8-15-5, 8-11-5 AHC) outshot the hosts 16-14, but went 0 for 4 on the power play and created just four shots on goal during those man advantages.
“It’s frustrating,” Serratore said. “This was a game we could have stolen.”
The Falcons emerged from the weekend with two of the six points on the table after taking the extra AHC point in Friday’s game on Luke Manning‘s shootout goal.
The Falcons’ penalty kill went 4 for 4 on the weekend.
Air Force, which has a home-and-home series against Colorado College next weekend – including an outdoor game at Falcon Stadium on President’s Day, is tied for sixth in AHC, one point above eighth-place Niagara and four above Canisius and Holy Cross. The Falcons are two points behind Bentley for a fifth place and a first-round bye in the AHC playoffs, which begin March 6.
Notable
The Falcons were without six players due to injury (forwards Matt Pulver and Erich Jaeger and defenseman Andrew Kruse) and suspension (forward Kieran Durgan and defensemen Carter Ekberg and Keegan Mantaro). There is a chance Pulver could return to the lineup soon.
©First Line Editorial 2020
