Why is the Atlantic Hockey rivalry between Air Force and Army West Point special?
There is no quit in either service academy, which was displayed during the Falcons’ nail-biting 7-6 victory on Saturday.
Brian Riley is the third member of his family to coach the Black Knights over the past 70 years, following his brother Rob and their father Jack. The Rileys have more than 1,000 victories at the helm of Army hockey.
For Air Force, Frank Serratore has guided the program to unprecedented heights during the past 27 seasons. His run includes seven NCAA Tournament appearances and multiple Elite Eight appearances. Serratore added another chapter on Saturday — his 500th career NCAA win, including 451 for the Falcons.
He is the 16th coach in NCAA history to reach that mark and the fourth active one.
This one will be hard to forget.
Game 2 Told A Different Story
This is the premier rivalry in the conference. The passion players in both programs show is unparalleled. All of it was on display Saturday.
One night after an 8-1 victory, Air Force came out and built a 6-2 lead through two periods. Clayton Cosentino had two goals, and he and Holt Oliphant scored on the power play. Austin Schwartz struck for the second game in a row, and two freshmen — defenseman Will Staring and wing Brendan Gibbons also tallied. Staring’s goal was his first NCAA marker, while Gibbons’ fourth was his second in two nights.
If we learned anything in the teams’ first meeting back in November when Army rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period, the Black Knights are every bit as resilient as the Falcons. And so it was Saturday.
Goals by Andrew Darby, Michael Sacco and Max Itagaki closed the deficit to 6-5 with 3:50 to play. Oliphant’s empty-net goal with 1:09 to go widened the margin to 7-5. But Ricky Lyle scored with an extra attacker on and 39 ticks remaining to heighten the drama before the Falcons escaped.
Oliphant also had two assists as part of a career-high four points.
Air Force forward Holt Oliphant. Photo courtesy of Justin R. Pacheco via Air Force Athletics
Falcons Take Charge of Rivalry
The win was Air Force’s fifth in sixth games and allowed it to sweep the four-game season series. The victory also pulled the Falcons into third place in the league.
That’s a massive positive coming off a season in which they finished 10th and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
The overarching theme, however, is the steady hand that Serratore and associate head coaches Joe Doyle and Andy Berg have kept. That’s been augmented by co-captains Luke Rowe and Luke Robinson, who also happen to be the Acadmey’s past two Captain of Captains.
Something about Army seems to bring out the best in the Falcons. They’re 53-27-9 (64.6 percent) against their service academy brethren, and Serratore has a 39-17-8 mark (67 percent) against the Black Knights.
Some of Air Force’s biggest playoff wins have come at the site of Saturday’s milestone victory, too. Two years ago, the Falcons swept a quarterfinal series. In 2018, Air Force won a Game 3 overtime thriller in the AHA quarterfinals to spark another Elite Eight run.
Notes: Guy Blessing made 31 saves for the Falcons. … Defenseman Chris Hedden had four assists and Luke Rowe added three. Forward Will Gavin added two, giving him five on the weekend. … Air Force will play host to Canisius on Friday and Saturday.
©First Line Editorial 2024
