A handful of things are becoming clear if you watch Air Force hockey this season. First, the Falcons must score first. Second, they need to help goaltender Guy Blessing. And third, they have little margin for error.
All of those were reinforced Friday night when Air Force fell 6-2 to Colorado College, enabling the Tigers (5-0) to retain the Pike’s Peak Trophy for a sixth season in a row.
Will Gavin and Chris Hedden scored power-play goals for the Falcons (3-4), while Gleb Veremyev netted two goals for CC, which had 11 players (four with multiple points) hit the scoresheet.
Falcons’ Fast Start Fades Faster
The Falcons came out firing, drawing a CC penalty and registering the game’s first seven shots, but the Tigers converted their first shot on a play that told the story of the night.
Air Force couldn’t clear the puck and Veremyev picked it up on the goal line, walked around a defender and lifted a beautiful shot over Blessing’s pad that the netminder had little chance to stop 5:21 in.
The guests made it 2-0 on Evan Werner’s power-play strike 9 seconds into their first power play, 9:37 in. The Tigers made it 3-0 about 5 minutes later when an attempted reversal by an AFA player hit a ref’s skate below the goal line, and bounced to Ray Christy alone between the circles.
“We got off to a terrific start, we had a pile of shots, a pile of momentum then we made some mistakes, we didn’t get a puck out at our blue line, that ended up in our net,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “Then we took an avoidable penalty, that ended up in our net seconds into it.
“They get a third. Then our game kind of fell apart. After that good start where we came out and took the play to them, they were very good, and we were very bad. They executed, and we did not.”
The Falcons, who are 1-4 when an opponent scores first this season, faced the same deficit they did six nights previous at Anchorage, Alaska, where they rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory. But there would be no scoreboard flipping this time.
Friday also marked the third time in four games that not only has Air Force trailed early, but it’s faced a three-goal deficit.
Air Force’s Momentary Hopes Are Quickly Dashed
Gavin got the Falcons back in it, briefly, when he scored his third of the season from the right circle on a power play with 3:40 remaining in the first. Center Clayton Cosentino, who won 16 more faceoffs and leads the nation in faceoff wins, got the first of his two primary assists on the play.
🚨Powerplay Goal 🚨 Scored by Will Gavin! pic.twitter.com/Tk0mRwfEQe
— Air Force Hockey (@AF_HKY) October 28, 2023
Any momentum the Falcons might have built was dashed less than two minutes into the second period. The Tigers restored their three-goal edge just 1:52 into the period.
“We needed to get the next goal, and we didn’t get it,” Serratore said.
Blessing (18 saves) made a difficult save on a shot from in close (one of several he had to make in the second) but the rebound died on the right doorstep. Veremyev beat a defender to the loose puck and tapped it past Blessing’s outstretched right pad.
The junior goalie’s night ended 4:14 into the third when CC extended its lead to 5-1 on a line rush. Drew Montgomery’s pass from the left wing found Stanley Cooley in position to one-time a shot from the slot. It was a well-executed, but preventable play.
Hedden again drew the Falcons to three when he took a Consentino faceoff win and fired it past Kaidan Mbereko seconds into a power play. Logan Will removed all doubt with an empty-net goal in the final five minutes.
“Other than that good start, I didn’t think we were very connected,” Serratore said. “Give them credit. They took what we gave them and they hurt us with it. This is an important game to me but I have a hard time feeling back about it because after the first five or six minutes we weren’t close. ”
AFA Next Faces A Motivated DU
While the Falcons were left seeking answers, the Tigers continued to show signs that their rebuild was on course. Last season’s trip to the NCHC final was no fluke. Goaltender Kaidan Mbereko (27 saves) is a big part of that, but CC’s overall skill level continues to incrementally increase.
The Tigers’ series next weekend against No. 2 Denver should be plenty interesting, particularly after the Pioneers were tied 5-5 at home by upstart Augustana on Friday. That’s also not good news for the Falcons, who will head north to play what surely will be an agitated DU squad on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Serratore said. “We better get better in a hurry.”
Notes: Air Force senior forward Brian Adams missed his third consecutive game due to injury. Junior Lucas Coon took his place. Coon, who had knee surgery last season, played in his second game this season.
©First Line Editorial 2023
