That Air Force would win on a Friday wasn’t a surprise.
After all, the Falcons have done that five times in seven tries this season.
It’s how they did it at Cadet Arena that was impressive. After spotting Canisius a 2-0 lead, Air Force scored the final five goals – the last two by Willie Reim – in a 5-2 Atlantic Hockey triumph.
Reim also had an assist, defenseman Sam Brennan had four assists, and Andrew Kruse, Andrew DeCarlo and Luke Rowe scored in a 5:02 span late in the second period to give Air Force its first lead.
Along the way the Falcons outshot Atlantic Hockey’s highest-scoring team 40-15 and killed off all six power plays by AHA’s top team with the man advantage. That ran Air Force’s run of successful kills to 28 in a row.
The five goals tied a season high, and were one more than Air Force scored combined in their final three games against Sacred Heart.
Alex Schilling made 13 saves – including a couple of timely saves in the first period – for the Falcons, while counterpart Jacob Barczewski, AHA’s goalie of the month for November, stopped 25 before leaving with an injury midway through the third period. Backup John Hawthorne stopped 10 of 11 shots he saw.
Reim time returns
Another positive development was Reim, who led the Falcons in scoring last season, getting his first goal since opening night at Michigan State. The tally from the right wing came during a five-minute power play midway through the third period.
The advantage resulted after Canisius’ Matt Vermaeten drilled Brian Adams in the head in the Falcons’ zone and was given a major penalty and a game misconduct.
Reim got his second in the final minute with the Golden Griffins’ net empty.
Falcons help themselves to seconds
The Falcons had put in a workman-like effort all game, so it was only fitting that the hard-working Kruse got the goal that started the second period rally.
About three minutes after Air Force had killed off consecutive penalties, the junior fought his way into the slot and tipped Luke Robinson‘s right point shot past Barczewski with 6:51 to go.
Kruse, a defenseman by trade, was playing on a wing on the fourth line. The goal was the second of his AFA career.
DeCarlo then got the first of his Falcons career when Reim took the puck and a Golden Griffins defenseman below the goal line, dropped a pass to his center that DeCarlo quickly put past Barczewski, who was looking to his right expecting Reim to circle behind the net.
Just 54 seconds later Rowe gave the Falcons their first lead of the game with a power-play blast from the high slot with 1:49 to play in the period. Fellow defenseman Brennan drew his second of four assists during the game on the tally.
Fast start with little to show
Air Force came out blazing, outshooting their guests by a 15-7 margin in the first period. But an unlucky bounce led to an opponent taking the initial lead for the 12th time in 15 games.
With only 3:17 to go in the first, Keaton Mastrodonato threw a puck into the slot from below the Air Force goal line. The puck hit off a skate of a Falcons player in the blue paint and just crossed the goal line.
Air Force again came out strong in the second, but Connor Zilish picked up a loose puck at the Falcons line, skated right down Main Street and wristed a shot over Schilling’s blocker-side shoulder to make it 2-0.
Notes
The Falcons’ dominance also extended to the face-off circle, where they won 41 of 63 draws. … DeCarlo and Robinson also had multi-point games. The former added an assist to his goal, while the latter had two helpers. … Forwards Nate Horn and Jake Marti returned to the lineup, but the Falcons remained without forwards Ty Pochipinski and Parker Brown due to injuries.
©First Line Editorial 2021
