Air Force Academy
Quinnipiac
Winless skid ends with 5-4 win over Quinnipiac
2/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Feb. 14, 2003
Air Force scored four goals in the second period and held on for a 5-4 win over Quinnipiac in a non-conference college hockey game Friday, Feb. 14, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
The Falcons ended their 11-game winless skid and improved to 9-18-2 overall. Quinnipiac fell to 17-8-1. Air Force scored more goals in the second period than it had in any game since Dec. 28. It was the Falcons first win since Dec. 28 and the first home win since Dec. 7.
The game got off to a dreadful start for the Falcons as the Bobcats scored 31 seconds into the game. Matt Froehlich scored on a wrister from the slot from Matt Craig and Tom Watkins. It was the 22nd goal this season that Air Force has allowed in the first or last minute of a period. It was the ninth time in the last 11 games that the opponent has scored first. Four minutes later, Quinnipiac took a 2-0 lead when Chris White scored his first of three goals on the evening. On the power play, White's shot from the faceoff dot hit an Air Force defenseman just outside the crease and went in the net.
Trailing 2-0 after one period, Air Force scored a season-high four goals in a period. Spanky Leonard got the Falcons going early with his sixth goal of the season. Leonard skated the puck to the top of the circle and took a slap shot that hit Bobcat goalie Justin Eddy in the arm and squirted into the goal. White's second goal of the game came at 4:06 on a wrap around shot from Brian Herbert and Ty Deinema.
A hard-working shift by Kyle Fransdal cut the Bobcat lead to 3-2. Fransdal's first two shots were saved, including a diving stick save by Eddy. But the senior chased the puck into the corner, brought it back in front of the net and scored his fifth of the season. Late in the second period, the Falcons scored two goals in a span of 27 seconds for a 4-3 lead. Leonard's second goal of the game came from Shane Saum and Justin Hamilton. Saum sent the pass from the corner and Leonard tied the score at 3-3. Scott Zwiers gave the Falcons its first lead when he blasted a slap shot that deflected off of Eddy and went in the net for his 11th of the season. Ryan Wiggins and Andy Berg assisted on the play.
Wiggins netted the eventual game-winner at 3:39 of the third period. His 12th of the season came from Zwiers on a breakaway. The Bobcats made the game interesting when White completed his hat trick with a power-play goal at 13:36. For the second time in the game, his shot from the faceoff dot hit the skate of a Falcon defenseman in the crease and got past Mike Polidor. Quinnipiac pulled Eddy from the net for the final 1:29 and got three shots on Polidor.
Polidor made 33 saves for the Falcons while Eddy made 38 for the Bobcats. Air Force tied its season high with five even-strength goals in the game, but was 0-for-5 on the power play. Quinnipiac was 2-for-4 on the power play. Air Force's 43 shots were the second most of the season as the Falcons out-shot QU, 43-37, in the game.
The same two teams complete the series Saturday, Feb. 15, at 7:05 p.m.
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