Maybe there was a small clue on Saturday that foreshadowed Air Force’s 5-1 loss at Mercyhurst on Sunday.
Amid Air Force’s solid start in Game 1 of the Atlantic Hockey series, the Lakers scored two quick goals midway through the first period before the Falcons regained control and won that game 5-2. On Sunday, the hosts blitzed the Falcons with four first-period goals, chasing starting goalie Guy Blessing 11:19 into the game.
Allow the first goal, which Air Force has in nine of 14 starts, and you expend a lot of energy to catch — and hopefully surpass — your opponent. Allow the first four and it’s an almost insurmountable task.
Here are some takeaways from Air Force’s split at Erie, Pa.
Falcons Jekyll and Hyde Defense
The Falcons’ defense often is the driver of its offense. Two of its top three scorers and four of its top 10 are blue liners.
Mercyhurst’s goals came on a 2-on-1, a power-play one-timer, a rebound and a rebound of the end boards. It appeared Blessing didn’t have much chance on the first two. Tighten up and maybe a couple of those opportunities aren’t there and the comeback assignment isn’t as difficult.
Credit Mercyhurst for having an aggressive, skilled lineup and playing to its attacking DNA. This is how it wins.
Credit Air Force for clamping down after that and doubling the Lakers in shots on goal (28-15) after the first period.
AFA Getting Scoring Balance
In addition to defensemen Chris Hedden, Luke Rowe and Sam Brennan having multiple goals, the Falcons are getting goal-scoring from several other sources.
Sophomore Holt Oliphant scored in each game and has a career-high five. Austin Schwartz has four goals, Lucas Coon has three. Three more have two.
And the top line is playing like a top line. Will Gavin (7 goals), Clayton Cosentino (5) and Parker Brown (3) can drive the bus on any given night and often have.
Earning a 100
For years (decades, actually) coaches have told me the desired special teams outcome is exceeding 100 percent when combining power-play and penalty-kill percentages. The Falcons are passing this mid-term.
Their PK is 83.9 and it’s scored four goals — two on Saturday night, which were the difference in that win. That puts the Falcons on the cusp of top 20. Typically AFA’s PK improves as the season goes on.
The power play hits at 19.6 percent (26th). Add it up and Air Force’s combined number is 103.5.
These numbers are a big improvement over last season, when the Falcons were at 97.3 overall (15.8 PP plus 81.5 PK). Special teams are a big reason AFA finds itself squarely in the AHA race one-third of the way through the conference slate.
Next
The Falcons play a pair of AHA matinees at Canisius on Friday and Saturday. Both games start at 11 a.m. MST
©First Line Editorial 2023
