Niagara scored three consecutive goals in the second period on Saturday night to take a 4-3 victory against Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey game.
The Falcons (4-6-0, 1-1-0 AHA), who won in overtime on Friday, took two of six possible points in their league-opening series. Will Gavin, Lucas Coon and Sam Brennan scored for Air Force, and Guy Blessing made xx saves.
Here are three takeaways from the weekend:
Falcons (Again) Chase Scoreboard
For the eighth time in 10 games, Air Force gave up the first goal. The Falcons are just 2-6 when that happens, and it’s becoming an alarming trend.
On Saturday, Luke Mylymok scored just 2:36 into the game for Niagara (2-4-1, 2-2-1). Senior defenseman Sam Brennan countered less than two minutes later for the Falcons, and junior wing Lucas Coon actually gave them the lead with 6:47 to go in the first period.
Could the Falcons build on that? The answer came 8:39 into the second when Ethan Lund tied it for Niagara. Captain Jay Ahearn gave the Purple Eagles another lead 56 seconds later when he struck on the power play. They capped the period by getting the dreaded (if you’re an Air Force fan) last-minute goal from Carter Randklev with 22 seconds to play.
Will Gavin Heating Up
Down 4-2 entering the third, the Falcons had a chance to at least pick up a point if they could have forced a second overtime. That’s because senior left wing Will Gavin scored for the third time in two games 4:37 in.
Gavin tends to score in bunches, and that bodes well for Air Force, which has had various players contribute – few consistently – on the scoresheet. Austin Schwartz had four goals in the first six games but hasn’t scored since. The freshman forward group had a five-goal series against No. 8 Michigan State but hasn’t scored since. Only sophomore Holt Oliphant (three goals) has chipped in semi-consistently aside from Gavin, who has six goals. Gavin’s nine points trail only sophomore defenseman Chris Hedden’s 10.
Brennan continued the trend of defensemen scoring. That’s happened five times in 10 games.
Suddenly Powerless
Air Force had power-play goals in six of its first seven games but now has gone three in a row without one. For a team that needs offense from a variety of sources to be successful, that’s not good news.
Saturday’s game also marked the fifth one in a row they’ve been outshot, which is highly unusual for the Falcons. They were just minus-4 combined in two games against Colorado College and No. 2 Denver last weekend.
That stat makes this weekend’s numbers in that category more baffling. After Niagara outshot Air Force by five on Friday, it outshot the Falcons by 14 on Saturday.
If there is a silver lining, Blessing was pretty solid all weekend. He made 58 saves and a couple of the goals against him were ones he had little to no chance on.
Notes: The Falcons play host to Army West Point on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.). The Black Knights, who have one of their youngest teams in years, are 0-6-0 after losing, 5-3, to RIT on Saturday. … Senior defenseman Luke Rowe played in his 100th game for Air Force. He has 53 points, including eight through 10 games this season.
©First Line Editorial 2023
