Air Force Academy
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst beats Air Force, 3-2 in overtime
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 3, 2007
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U.S.A.F. ACADEMY, Colo. - Chris Trafford's goal in overtime lifted Mercyhurst to a 3-2 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Association game, Saturday night, Feb. 3, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.
Mercyhurst swept the series and improved to 8-16-5 overall and 8-12-3 in the league. Air Force fell to 13-12-5 overall and 10-7-5 in the AHA.
The only lead of the game that Mercyhurst had came in overtime when Matt Pierce skated the puck around the net and looked for a wrap-around try. Instead, he fed Trafford in the slot for the game-winner at the 1:01 mark.
Air Force opened the scoring at 3:47 of the first period when Brett Nylander scored his first career goal. Greg Flynn skated the puck down the right wing and fed Nylander in the high slot for a 1-0 lead. Jay Medenwaldt also assisted on the play. Mercyhurst tied the game in the second period on a power-play goal by Cullen Eddy. With Mercyhurst pressuring Falcon goalie Ben Worker, Scott Champagne found Eddy at the left point for his third goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1 at 7:38 mark.
The Falcons quickly answered when Mike Phillipich scored on the power play from Andrew Ramsey and Matt Charbonneau. Ramsey skated the puck below the right circle and fed Phillipich through the crease at the 13:57 mark for a 2-1 lead.
With 3:42 remaining in the third peirod, Eddy tied the game with a power-play goal from Matt Fennell and Kyle Gourgon. Eddy tried to make a cross ice pass that was broken up by Theo Zacour and ended up back on Eddy's stick. The freshman defenseman slid a wrister toward the net that got through traffic and past Worker to tie the game at 2-2.
In overtime, Air Force had the first two shots on goal that were both stopped by Jordan Wakefield. The second came off the stick of Eric Ehn from right in front of the net. However, that save is what started the rush up ice that led to the game-winning goal.
Air Force out-shot Mercyhurst, 42-19, in the game. The Falcons outshot the Lakers, 97-43, in the series, but Wakefield made 90 saves in the two games. Worker stopped 16 of the 19 shots he faced. AFA was 1-for-7 on the power play while MC was 2-for-5.
"This was a gut-wrenching loss," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We played a lot better tonight than we did on Friday, especially defensively. It was a darn shame that we didn't get at least one point tonight. Mercyhurst is very opportunistic and they made the big play in overtime. This game is about putting the puck in the net and keeping it out and they did a better job of that then we did."
Air Force, in fourth place in the AHA, travels to first-place RIT for a two-game conference series, Feb. 9-10, in Rochester, N.Y.
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