One might be the loneliest number, but it’s finding some company with Air Force’s hockey team so far this season. The Falcons were limited to one goal for the third game in a row, falling to Atlantic Hockey foe Robert Morris, 4-1, at Cadet Ice Arena on Friday night.
The Colonials (4-2, 2-1 AHA) doubled their 2-0 lead in the first minute of the third period to effectively leave no doubt about the outcome. Noah West made 27 saves for RMU, which received goals from four players.
Zach Mirageas scored for the Falcons (0-3), who also had 28 shots on goal but lost to the Colonials for the first time in nine games.
Here are three observations from the game:
Rocky Mountain low to high
A hallmark of Air Force’s offense has been getting the puck from down low back up to the defense to fire away. Mirageas’ goal came off a face-off to West’s left, when freshman Thomas Daskas won a draw and Mirageas blasted a snapshot. It’s pretty clear the Falcons’ depleted forward group needs some help generating offense, and the blue line has no shortage of candidates who can do that, be it Mirageas, Alex Mehnert, Jake Levin (who returned after sitting out last weekend due to contact tracing) or freshman Sam Brennan. In order for that to happen, Air Force will have to sustain some more attack time in the offensive zone. But if the Falcons are to get off the schneid their defense is going to play a big role in that.
Off night
Goaltender Alex Schilling was great last weekend at AIC, allowing only four goals on 49 shots. Friday night the dam burst as RMU generated quality chance after chance. Schilling made quite a few excellent saves among his 20, but the Colonials’ early third period scoring spree ended his night with nearly a period to play. Senior Zach LaRocque came on in relief and stopped all four shots he faced. It marked just the third time in the past 32 games that Schilling had his night end early.
Game on!
Last Saturday recruit turned video manager Billy Duma dressed as an extra forward at American International. Friday night, he took a regular shift on the fourth line with defenseman Andrew Kruse and freshman center Jake Marti. Duma had one shot. … Daskas and another freshman, Nate Horn, were strong on the face-off circle. Daskas won 11 of 19 draws, while Horn took 6 of 9. … The Falcons were without forwards Shawn Knowlton, Keenan Lund and Brian Adams.
©First Line Editorial 2020
