Air Force fired the first strikes but it lost the war to Army West Point on Friday night at Cadet Arena.
The Black Knights scored eight of the game’s final nine goals, aided by a couple of Air Force meltdowns, to win 8-3 and end the Falcons’ four-game winning streak.
The Falcons (9-12-2, 7-8-2 AHA) came out flying, sustaining offensive-zone pressure, scoring the game’s first two goals, and setting a physical tone. But the Black Knights (10-11-3, 8-6-2) patiently weathered that storm then returned fire to seize control and hand Air Force its most lopsided Atlantic Hockey loss of the season. It also was the Falcons’ most lopsided loss to their service academy rivals since 1996.
Air Force managed just 15 shots on goal, a season low, and about half of its average.
Major issue derails Falcons
The game turned in the final five minutes of the first period when Army struck for two goals in a 42-second span. The Black Knights then got the first of two 5-minute power plays. The first was courtesy of Will Gavin‘s spearing penalty with 55 seconds to go in the period. That was meltdown No. 1.
“It would be nice to say it wasn’t our night, let’s flush this one,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “We can’t. Not only did they impose their will on us, but we beat ourselves. You can’t take two five-minute majors. What area were we better than them at?
“Gavin will not play (Saturday night. I don’t know if the league will suspend him or not. That was a selfish spearing penalty.”
The major and ejection were the sophomore’s third of the season. Gavin leads the team with 11 goals.
“He might not play next week,” Serratore added. “We have to get this cleaned up.”
Army got another power-play buffet with 7:32 to play in the second period when Parker Brown was called for hitting from behind while in the offensive zone and also ejected. Those infractions gave the Black Knights nine minutes of power-play time in the second period, and they tallied two of their three goals of the frame as a result.
“We’re going to take penalties, we play aggressively,” Serratore added. “But we have to be smarter.”
Bad things came in threes
Daniel Haider scored the first of his three goals 2:21 into the second to give Army a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Top-line center John Keranen made it 4-2 with 9:14 to play in the second, and Haider struck again on the power play 1:58 later.
Air Force freshman Clayton Cosentino drew the Falcons to 5-3 when he scored off a nice pass from Nate Horn, who had controlled the puck below the Army goal line. Cosentino had jumped on the ice on a line change and made a beeline for the slot. It was the type of play Army made a living off of Friday night.
That joined a long list of items the Falcons need to clean up, Falcons captain Luke Rowe said.
“Everything (could be improved),” Rowe said. “We were turning over pucks in the neutral zone non-stop. Our penalty kill wasn’t good. Taking bad penalties, not covering guys in front of the net. I mean besides their power-play goals, how many goals did they have from below the goal line to the slot one-timers? Almost all of them. Losing guys, not communicating. We could do everything different.”
At that point, the teams each had three even-strength goals and Army’s 18-11 shots-on-goal edge was due in part to its seven power-play shots.
So as sideways as things had gone in the previous 25 minutes, the Falcons still had a chance to climb back as the third period began. But the losses of Gavin and Brown – two thirds of the second line – began to add up, and the Black Knights closed out the game with three more goals – from Ricky Lyle, Haider again and Coby Mack – in a 9-minute stretch.
The first of those three ended Alex Schilling‘s night. The next two finished Guy Blessing‘s relief appearance after 9 minutes. Austin Park played the final 4:01. The trio combined for 17 saves, 13 by Schilling.
Air Force’s strong start vanishes quickly
Buoyed by an overflow crowd that included an abundance of cadets and the Air Force band, the Falcons played well to start the game.
Defenseman Sam Brennan went to the net and scored on a rebound of Willie Reim‘s shot just 3:05 into the game. The tally was the sophomore’s fifth of the season.
Gavin made it 2-0 when he struck with 4:52 to go in the first. In initial pass toward him in the right circle was broken up by an Army defender’s diving block. But Cosentino alertly pounced on the loose puck and found his left wing open and Gavin beat Gavin Abric (12 saves) for the 2-0 lead.
“We were playing our five-man game,” Rowe said. “I think our five-man game is a team that does not lose 5-3 to Army. Our five-man game wins that game. We were hot, we let them get two goals and kind of fell apart.
“Energy was good. Morale was high. We were up for it. And some mistakes started an avalanche.”
Defenseman John Farrell‘s shot from the high slot got the Black Knights on the board with 3:30 to play, and Michael Sacco scored from the slot after jumping into the play off a line chance. Sacco’s goal came off the first of defenseman Anthony Firriolo‘s three primary assists.
The outcome sets up what promises to be an interesting rematch Saturday, one the Falcons will come into with eyes wide open.
“We didn’t do enough things tonight to deserve to win,” Serratore said. “They put themselves in position to impose their will on us, and they did.
“We learned a hard lesson.”
©First Line Editorial 2022
