Air Force had a senior moment on Friday. In fact, it had five of them.
All five Falcons goals came courtesy of seniors in a 5-1 victory against Canisius that was more dominant than the score indicated. Will Gavin scored three of them in the game’s first 24:47, Luke Rowe added a power-play marker and Nate Horn tallied late in the second period.
“We controlled the entire game,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “The only dicey part was when we took a penalty at the end of the first period, it was avoidable, and we had a 2-0 lead. (Mason) McCormick came back strong after that and arguably might have been our best forward the rest of the way.”
Falcons Continue Torrid January
The victory was the Falcons’ sixth in seven games since the calendar flipped, and it helped them to their best record through 27 games since the 2018-19 team was 13-10-4. That team finished 16-15-5 and was knocked out at home in the AHA quarterfinals by Niagara.
“It’s confidence in what we have in (the locker room), we’ve figured it out,” Rowe said. “The tournament in Wisconsin was very eye-opening to how good we can play against Wisconsin, which was No. 3 at the time, and Duluth, which always has a good team. When we played there (we realized) we have something special.”Offensively challenged the past few seasons, these Falcons have outscored foes 37-18 during the streak.
“We’ve been working on execution,” Rowe said. “Mondays are a skill day and high-paced. That’s why we’re scoring so many goals. We’re feeling the puck during the week and we’re getting a lot of reps at executing when we have opportunities.”
And time and again on Friday they thwarted a usually dangerous Canisius attack.
“Our game plan was simple,” Serratore said. “Make sure we kept numbers back and took away their rush offense and then out special team them. The boys did a good job executing that.”
Gavin Sparks Air Force’s Offense
Gavin’s hat trick was the third of his Air Force career and second since the start of 2024. He also tallied three goals on Jan. 6 at Bentley, part of a career-high four-point game. He also tallied three against Colorado College on Oct. 29, 2021, part of his 16-goal sophomore season. The trio of tallies gave Gavin an AHA-leading 16.
Will Gavin nets a hat-trick!!! 🧢 pic.twitter.com/AkmXtcOQL2
— Air Force Hockey (@AF_HKY) January 27, 2024
“I’m so blessed to play with the four guys I’m playing with right now,” Gavin said. “They make it so easy for me. I really don’t have to do much. I just have to get open and they find me.”
Gavin’s first goal came off a pass from freshman Nick Remissong. Gavin gathered the puck inside the Canisius line, was inexplicably left alone on a 2-on-1 and beat Ethan Robertson (33 saves) short side from the left circle. Gavin’s second goal was a tip of a shot from Luke Robinson in the high slot that made it 2-0 with 2:48 to go in the first.
His third was a power-play marker from the high slot with teammates blocking Robertson’s view to make it 4-0.
In between Rowe scored his sixth goal of the season, 3:15 into the second. Horn drew a penalty while the Falcons were killing McCormick’s penalty.
Horn tallied for the third time this month (and this season) after a fantastic play by McCormick. The sophomore separated the puck from a Golden Griffins defenseman below the goal line and alertly found Horn alone by the left inside hash marks.
Friday’s outburst gave the seniors 35 goals this season.
“The seniors got the goals, but it’s been our upperclassmen,” Serratore said. “Those top three lines are all upperclassmen and they’re playing like men. Back on defense, it’s been our upperclassmen and now (freshman Will Staring) has drifted into that. … (Guy) Blessing is a junior in goal.
“We need to be old to be successful and contend. This is no different than any other Air Force team, we need to be deep and we need to be old and we’ve been young the last few years. This year, we’re not.”
Falcons Control Their Destiny
Friday’s win helped erase some of the bad taste from a series in Buffalo just after Thanksgiving when the Falcons took just two of six points.
“We weren’t happy with the result the last time we played them up in Buffalo,” Gavin said. “We wanted to get back at them and we were able to.”
The January jaunt through Atlantic Hockey leaves the Falcons in third place and in control of their playoff positioning one season after they failed to finish in the top eight and missed the AHA postseason.
Next weekend, Holy Cross, which is one point back of AFA awaits. The Crusaders were kryptonite for the Falcons last season, taking all four games and effectively ending their playoff hopes. After that, second-place Sacred Heart and first-place RIT are on the docket.
Given that higher seeds host all rounds of the playoffs, finishing at the top of the AHA heap is especially vital.
One has to like the Falcons’ chances at this juncture.
“All four classes can produce, tonight it just happened to be the senior class,” Rowe said. “I think that’s why we’re playing so well because we’re so deep. Everyone can contribute.”
Added Serratore, “You’re older players need to be your best players and your best players need to be your best players if you want to win with consistency. Our older group has been just that.”
Notes: Rowe is on the ballot for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the NCAA’s top player. Rowe has 28 points — fifth-most among defensemen — in 27 games after Friday. He has been selected AHA’s top defenseman a league-high four times this season, including this past week.  The team’s official website has more details on how fans can vote for Rowe. … Chris Hedden added two assists, giving him a team-high 31 points. The sophomore is the No. 3 in scoring among defensemen. … Air Force went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed off 2 of 3 Canisius power plays, Oliver Tarr’s PPG with 7:12 to go in the second was the lone dent on Blessing (12 saves). … The Golden Griffins were without starting goaltender David Fessenden, who held Air Force to two goals total in the teams’ previous series.
©First Line Editorial 2024
