Air Force Academy
Quinnipiac
Falcons sweep Quinnipiac with 6-2 victory
2/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Feb. 15, 2003
After a scoring drought that has mirrored the water shortage in Colorado, Air Force scored six goals in a 6-2 win over Quinnipiac, Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Cadet Ice Arena. A crowd of 2,166 watched the Falcons sweep a team that entered the weekend with a 17-7-1 record and a team that had been among the top 20 in the country for part of the season.
Prior to this series, Air Force had scored just 18 goals in the past 11 games, but netted 11 against the Bobcats, ranked 10th in the nation in scoring defense. In 25 games before facing the Falcons, the Bobcats had given up five goals just once. Air Force lit the lamp five times on Friday and six on Saturday. The 11 goals in a series tied the season-high set vs. Bentley in late October.
The Falcons improved to 10-18-2 overall and earned its first series sweep since beating Bentley, Oct. 25-26. Quinnpiac, a Division I member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and a 2002 NCAA qualifier, fell to 17-9-1 overall. The Bobcats are one of just five teams in Division I that has won 20 games in each of the past five seasons.
Air Force again fell behind early but quickly answered. Quinnipiac's Dan Rossi scored on a slap shot from the point on the power play at 16:41. With three seconds left in the period, Ryan Wiggins tied the game from Tom Starkey and Justin Hamilton. On a delayed penalty, Wiggins scored on a wrister from the slot for his 13th of the season.
In the second period, Air Force scored two goals in a span of 37 seconds for a 3-1 lead. Scott Zwiers tipped in a pass from Brian Reaney for a power-play goal at 3:07. Wiggins also assisted on the play. Freshman Carson Strang scored his fifth goal of the season at 3:44. Fellow freshman Steve Cook took a shot that was saved and Strang scored on the rebound from the bottom of the circle. Midway through the period, QU's Matt Froehlich scored on a flurry in front of the net to make the score 3-2. With 2:12 remaining, Cook scored his second of the season. His wrister from the faceoff dot came from Brooks Turnquist and Matt Bader.
Starkey gave the Falcons a three-goal lead early in the third period from Cook and Mike Knaeble. Cook dumped the puck around the boards and Knaeble beat two Bobcats to the puck in the corner. Knaeble found Starkey in the slot and the junior center found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season. Reaney rounded out the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:27. His wrister from the high slot came from Zwiers and Andy Berg.
Air Force outshot the visitors from Connecticut, 29-22. Mike Polidor made 20 saves for the Falcons while Bobcat Jamie Holden made 23. Air Force was 2-for-8 on the power play while QU was 2-for-3. The two teams combined for 22 penalties in the game.
The Falcons now play four straight conference games on the road. Air Force travels to Findlay (Ohio) for a two-game series with the Oilers, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 21-22 at Clauss Ice Arena.
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