Air Force rallied from an early two-goal deficit then picked up the extra Atlantic Hockey point when sophomore Parker Brown scored in the sixth round of a shootout against Niagara on Saturday at Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Overtime ended in a 3-3 tie thanks in large part to senior goaltender Alex Schilling, who made a handful of highlight reel saves to give the Falcons (2-5-1, 0-1-1 AHA) an opportunity to earn the extra conference point.
Freshman Lucas Coon and sophomore Sam Brennan scored their first NCAA goals for Air Force, and sophomore Brian Adams netted his first of the season to stake the Falcons to a 3-2 lead late in the second period.
Former Falcon Walker Sommer forced overtime when he scored from the right circle with 1:17 to go in the third period. That was reminiscent of Friday’s game, when the Purple Eagles (2-5-1, 2-1-1) scored what proved to be the winner with 1:11 left.
Falcons overcome sluggish start
Chasing the scoreboard has plagued Air Force early in the season, and Saturday’s game was no different.
Olivier Gauthier struck 5:31 into the game, and Ryan Cox scored a power-play goal with 4:31 left in the first.
The Falcons flipped the script in the second, scoring twice in the first 3:24 to tie the score. Coon’s unassisted goal came just 28 seconds in, and Brennen followed 2:56 later to even it.
Adams then gave the Falcons their first lead with 6:17 to go in the second, and that’s how it stood until Sommer struck.
Masked man’s moment
Schilling was solid all weekend, but his dazzling save with 1:15 left in overtime helped the Falcons gain an extra point. That gave him 25.
He added five more in the six-round shootout. Only Cox – in the first round – was able to dent him.
Freshman defenseman Mitchell Digby forced additional rounds with his strike, and three rounds later Brown ended it.
Notes
The Falcons were without four regulars – forwards Willie Reim (who missed his fourth consecutive game due to injury), Jacob Marti and Ty Pochipinski and defenseman Dalton Weigel. Defenseman Andrew Kruse skated on a wing, senior Billy Douma made his season debut on the opposite wing, and freshman Jasper Lester made his NCAA debut as the seventh blue liner. … The Falcons play their next eight games at Cadet Arena, starting with a series against Bentley next weekend. Bentley is 4-5 after splitting a series with Canisius.
©First Line Editorial 2021
