Air Force Academy
RIT
RIT beats Air Force, 4-3, in overtime
1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 12, 2008
U.S.A.F. ACADEMY, Colo. - RIT senior Matt Smith scored at 1:48 of overtime to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Association game Saturday, Jan. 12, in front of a season-high crowd of 2,312 at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Despite losing, Air Force remains in first place in the league with 21 points. RIT and Sacred Heart are tied for second with 19, but both teams have games in hand on the Falcons.
Air Force fell to 11-7-4 overall and 9-6-3 in the AHA. RIT improved to 10-8-3 overall and 8-6-3 in the league. The two teams split the four-game season series as each team won once at home and once in overtime on the road. Ten of the last 12 games in the series have been decided by one goal and ended in a tie.
RIT jumped on the board first with two goals in the first seven minutes. Andrew Favot scored on a rebound at 3:14 of the first period. Matt Crowell took a shot from the slot that was wide and hit off the back wall. Favot collected the rebound and scored from a tough angle on the left goalline for his second of the season. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead at the 6:29 mark on Matt Smith's 12th of the season. On the power play, the Tigers made a pass from the left point to the weak side for a 2-0 lead.
Air Force answered at the 11:55 mark when freshman Derrick Burnett scored his first career goal. Freshman Brad Sellers took a shot from the point and Burnett tipped it in from the top of the crease. Eric Ehn also assisted on the play.
In a penalty-filled second period, each team scored once. The Falcons tied the game at the 10:46 mark on Burnett's second of the game. On the power play, Jeff Hajner fed the point to Greg Flynn. Flynn faked the slap slot and then slid the puck to the left circle. Burnett's one-timer beat Louis Menard to tie the game. The Tigers regained the lead with 4:24 remaining in the second period when Al Mazur scored from Dan Ringwald and Simon Lambert on the power play. Lambert won the faceoff and Mazur's one-timer beat Andrew Volkening for a 3-2 lead.
Falcon captain Mike Phillipich tied the game early in the third period on a 5-on-3 advantage. Ehn made a pass from the boards to Flynn at the right point. Phillipich's one-timer from the left point beat Menard high, glove side to tie the game.
Late in the third period, Smith was called for delaying the game when he threw the puck out of his own zone giving the Falcons a power play with less than three minutes remaining. Then with 59 seconds left, Justin Hofstetter was called for cross-checking and the Falcons had 18 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage. The Tigers killed off the 5-on-3 and the third period ended in a 3-3 tie.
Air Force started the overtime session on the power play for 61 seconds, but did not get a shot on goal. Shortly after the power play ended, RIT wrapped the puck around the Air Force net. Volkening stopped the puck and swept it to the far corner for his defensemen. However, RIT's Sean Murphy was the first one there and pushed the puck back behind the net to Brent Alexin. Alexin centered the puck to Smith in the slot who was initially tied up. Smith spun around and shot the puck past the left pad of Volkening to the far post. The puck hit the inside of the post and slid across the goal line to give RIT the win and a series split.
Air Force out-shot RIT, 29-19, in the game. The Tigers had 10 shots in the first 20 minutes and then just nine shots for the remaining 42 minutes. There were a combined 22 penalties called in the game, 14 on RIT and eight on Air Force. The Falcons were 2-for-12 on the power play while RIT was 2-for-5.
"We have had too many missed opportunities at home this season," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We got down, dug out of the hole and we put ourselves in position to get at least one point, but we didn't get it done."
Air Force steps out of conference next week to face two of the top five teams in the nation. The Falcons host third-ranked Denver, Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:05 at the Cadet Ice Arena. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. Air Force then travels down I-25 to face fourth-ranked Colorado College, Saturday, Jan. 19, at 7:07 p.m. at the Colorado Springs World Arena.
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