Air Force Academy
Holy Cross
Falcons and Crusaders tie, 2-2
10/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Oct. 29, 2004
Holy Cross scored two goals in the final two minutes of the third period to force a 2-2 overtime tie with Air Force in a non-conference college hockey game Friday, Oct. 29, at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross is ranked 25th in the U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV national poll.
Air Force is now 2-1-2 overall this season while Holy Cross is 1-1-1.
The Falcons scored first as sophomore Andrew Ramsey scored his fourth goal of the season on a 5-on-3 power play. After back-to-back Crusader penalties, the Falcons had 1:49 of 5-on-3 advantage. Brian Gineo made a pass across to Brooks Turnquist at the point and his shot was saved by Tony Quesada. Ramsey was on the right post and flipped the puck over Quesada's pad for a 1-0 Falcon lead. Ramsey has now scored in all five of Air Force's games this season.
The Falcon penalty kill held the one-goal advantage in the second period as Holy Cross had five power-plays in the second period, including 1:14 of a 5-on-3 advantage. As a result of the power plays, Holy Cross outshot Air Force, 13-12, in the period but sophomore Peter Foster made 13 saves for AFA. Through the first two periods, each team had nine power-plays.
After a penalty-filled first two periods, a penalty was not called for the first eight minutes of the third period. However, once the whistle blew, the Falcons took advantage. Sophomore Brandon Merkosky skated the puck into the offensive zone and drew a holding penalty on Crusader winger Tyler McGregor. Air Force capitalized as Matt Bader scored his first goal of the season at the 9:07 mark. With the Falcons on the power play, Holy Cross attempted to clear the puck from the zone, but freshman Matt Charbonneau kept it in and found Bader in the high slot. Bader went high over Quesada's shoulder for a 2-0 lead.
Holy Cross scored two goals in the final 1:24 of the third period to send the game into overtime. Brian Gineo was called for holding with 2:03 remaining and the Crusaders pulled their goaltender to have a two-man advantage. With 1:24 remaining, Crusader Pierre Napert-Frenette scored on a slap shot from the top of the circle to make the score 2-1. Holy Cross again pulled its goalie with 1:05 left and scored on the man advantage. With 21 seconds remaining, Blair Bartlett's wrister from the left faceoff dot went over Foster's glove hand to tie the score at 2-2.
In overtime, the Crusaders had one power-play opportunity, but the Falcons killed the man-advantage. Air Force had three shots in overtime while Holy Cross had one
Air Force outshot Holy Cross, 34-30. Foster made 28 saves for Air Force while Quesada made 32 for the Crusaders. AFA was 2-for-11 on the power play. Holy Cross was 1-for-13. . The two teams combined for 26 penalties for 52 minutes in the game.
After shutting out Quinnipiac last week, Foster came with two minutes of posting back-to-back shutouts. His scoreless streak ended at 125 consecutive minutes, the second longest of his career and the second longest ever against a Division I team. The Falcons had also killed 17 straight opponent power plays before the Crusader goal at 1:24 of the third period.
"I am so proud of our effort," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We continue to work so hard and our work ethic has been great in all five games this season. But there are good ties and there are bad ties and this was a bad tie. We gave up a two-goal lead late in the game so it feels like a loss. We are working hard enough to win games, but we can't seem to put the nail in the coffin. We did step up in overtime when they had all the momentum and killed a penalty. Peter Foster played a great game tonight. It was a pretty even game all night."
Air Force and Holy Cross conclude the series Saturday, Oct. 30 at 7:35 EST at the Hart Center in Worcester. Following Saturday's game, the Falcons are idle until Nov. 12 against Alabama-Huntsville at the Cadet Ice Arena.
--30--
