Air Force Academy
Holy Cross
Holy Cross beats Air Force, 8-4
2/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Feb. 13, 2004
Holy Cross scored five unanswered and held on for an 8-4 win over Air Force in a non-conference hockey game Friday night, Feb. 13, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Holy Cross, ranked 18th in the nation by USA Today, improved to 16-6-3 overall. Air Force fell to 11-16-2 overall this season.
Air Force drew first blood when Andrew Ramsey scored at 13:39 of the first period. Theo Zacour and Matt Bader assisted on the play as Ramsey put back a rebound for his sixth of the season. The Crusaders scored the next five goals of the game. James Sixsmith scored at 15:41 to tie the game and then took a lead at 16:15 on Pierre Napert-Frenette's goal. Jonas Tomiuck scored at 4:07 of the second period for a 3-1 lead. After the goal, Falcon goaltender Peter Foster was pulled from the game and replaced by Mike Polidor. Andrew McKay then scored the next two goals for a 5-1 advantage. The Falcons answered with 35 seconds left in the second period as Seth Pelletier scored to make the score 5-2. The junior created a turnover in the neutral zone and scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway.
The Falcons cut the lead to two goals twice in the third period, but the Crusaders answered both times. Tom Starkey scored from Brooks Turnquist at 1:58 of the third period to make the score 5-3. Four minutes later, Tyler McGregor scored to take a three-goal advantage. Senior Shane Saum got the Falcons back in the game with his ninth of the season. Saum's goal, from Steve Mead and Pelletier, came at the 12:13 mark. Twenty-seven seconds later, Blair Bartlett scored from McKay and Napert-Frenette for a 7-4 lead. After the goal, Polidor was pulled from the net and replaced by Foster who finished the game. Greg Kealey's short-handed, empty-net goal made up the final margin.
The Crusader line of McKay, Napert-Frenette and McGregor dominated the game. The trio scored four goals and had eight assists.
Holy Cross outshot Air Force, 39-31, in the game. Air Force was 0-for-4 on the power play while Holy Cross was 0-for-1. Crusader Tony Quesada made 27 saves in the game and earned his 12th win of the season. Foster made 12 saves in the first period and 14 in the game. Polidor, who was tagged with the loss, made 17 saves.
"They were a much better team tonight than we were," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They are a polished, mature, opportunistic team. They proved why they have the record and the ranking they have. It was disappointing because we got close and then we gave up the next goal. That was frustrating. It doesn't get any easier for us down the stretch and we need to play better."
Air Force and Holy Cross conclude the two-game series, Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
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