Something had to give.

Two Atlantic Hockey Conference teams that entered the game on a combined 19-game winless streak tried to right the ship on Saturday night. In the end, Air Force snapped its nine-game span (0-7-2) without a W on senior night when junior forward Marshall Bowery scored with 3:07 remaining in regulation, leading to a crucial 2-1 victory.

The victory – the Falcons’ first in 36 days – gave Air Force, which also got an earlier goal from freshman Blake Bride and 20 saves from Alex Schilling, five of six points on the weekend. That, in turn, lifted Air Force (9-17-6, 9-11-6 AHC) into sole possession of sixth place in the conference, two points ahead of Niagara, three north of Bentley and six up on ninth-place Holy Cross.

“We needed to get five of six or six of six (points), we had to,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “Last series at home and we hadn’t won outright for a month. We’ve had ties, we’ve won in overtime and we’ve lost some tough one-goal games, but we hadn’t won outright for a month.

“We needed to taste that, and we needed to taste that here. We go on the road next week and we needed to get the points right now.”

If the Falcons gain one or more points next weekend at RIT, they will clinch home ice in the first round of the AHC playoffs. Air Force could conceivably earn a first-round bye with a big weekend in upstate New York. The Falcons trail fifth-place Robert Morris by three points but hold a head-to-head tiebreaker.

“We needed to have this happen,” Serratore added. “To keep our dream alive, and all the respect in the world to Mercyhurst, you can’t have the last-place team come into your building at this time of year and take the majority of points.

“Our goal is to keep trucking and get a playoff bye if we can, and make sure at the very least that in that first round we’re playing the friendly confines here. Getting five of the six points helps that cause a lot.”

Twin turning points

Freshman Luke Rowe was involved in two turning points in the game, neither of which the defenseman could be faulted for.

First, he was assessed a questionable checking from behind penalty 9:14 into the second period. One minute, 31 seconds into the ensuing power play, Mercyhurst forward Justin Cmunt leaned into a shot from the top of the right circle that picked the corner over Schilling’s stick side.

“The official apologized for the penalty. He said he blew it,” Serratore said. “Andy O’Brien is a stand-up guy. He came in at the end and said, ‘Thank god that wasn’t the difference in the game.’ That wasn’t a penalty, the kid turned his back.”

Cmunt’s goal came just 3:24 after the Falcons had taken their first lead in two weeks.

Bride was the recipient of a nice pass from behind the Lakers net from Ty Pochipinski that he sent past Garrett Metcalf, whose 40 saves gave him 84 on the weekend. Senior captain Matt Pulver had a secondary assist as the newly formed line mounted sustained pressure much of the game.

“We were thrown together this past week. I thought we had two really good games,” Pulver said. “Our identity is to get it down low and out grind them, puck possession and get to the front of the net. That’s how we scored. A good dump in, we were able to get pressure and Poch made a really good pass to Brider, who was able to bury it.”

The second turning point came with 5:39 to go in the game. A tipped puck out of the Lakers zone ended up on the stick of a Mercyhurst skater. Rowe got on his horse in pursuit and dove to try to knock the puck away on the breakaway.The freshman was whistled for a trip.

“(That) maybe could have been a penalty shot,” Serratore said. “That wasn’t Rowe’s fault. He was just trying to recover back and he did the best he could. Luke Rowe’s been fantastic.”

The Falcons responded, killing off the ensuing minor, and then Rowe played a key role in a sequence that just 32 seconds later resulted in Bowery’s team-high ninth goal.

“That (penalty) was kind of my fault,” Pulver said. “I curled up and I had to poke it and their guy went on a breakaway. That was a huge kill. We didn’t feel any pressure when we were on it. I think that ultimately led to us scoring.”

Tomlak said the support from fellow senior Trevor Stone after a zone entry allowed the puck to reach Rowe at the blue line.

“Rower pushed it down and I just tried to find a soft spot and he found me,” Tomlak said. “I just tried to put it on net and the goalie made a good save. (Rowe) puck recovered and rimmed it around.

“Our philosophy is try to change sides and go to that scoring square, and Bowery found a nice little soft spot. I put it there, and he did a great job coming around on it and putting it toward the net. He didn’t score on the first shot, but he stayed with it and had a great rebound.”

Who was that masked man?

Then there was Schilling, who made a show-stopping save off the blade of his goalie stick early in the first period. Mercyhurst gained the Air Force zone with speed and a 2-on-1 developed down low.

But the sophomore reacted quickly to Ethan Johnson’s forehand shot from the lower left circle, reaching back to his right with his stick and knocking the puck down in the paint before covering it. No damage done.

“They were not easy to play against,” Serratore said. “We managed our game better after the first 10 minutes, after Schilling made what might be the ESPN save of the year.

“We settled down and managed the game better than we did last night. We gave them five, six, seven big-time chances, and we only gave them a couple today.”

Schilling had a few more highlight-reel stops, including one in the third as Johnson crashed the net.

The clutch plays in net and by the Falcons’ offense made senior night a roaring success.

Notes

Air Force honored its six seniors before the game – Erich Jaeger, Pierce Pluemer, Pulver, Trevor Stone, Tomlak and Joe Tyran. The half dozen was a part of 74 victories (heading into Saturday) and were part of Atlantic Hockey championships in 2017 and 2018. The Falcons reached the NCAA Tournament’s elite eight in each of those seasons, too. They’ve combined to play 637 games and scored 199 points (78 goals). Jaeger, who has not played since Nov. 2 was able to take the pregame skate and take part in the ceremonies. “That’s a tough situation,” Pulver said. “It was great to see him out there. It was pretty emotional. He’s sticking by the locker room and coming by whenever he can. We picked him as a leader for a reason. It was good to see him out there. I wish we could see him out there playing.”

©First Line Editorial 2020