Air Force Academy
Bentley
Late goal by Bentley forces 4-4 overtime tie
2/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 1, 2008
Air Force is now 12-10-5 overall and 9-8-4 in the AHA. Bentley is now 6-13-6 overall and 6-7-6 in the league. Earlier this season, Air Force and Bentley split the series in Waltham, Mass. Air Force and Army are now tied for third in the league with 22 points, two points behind RIT and one point behind Sacred Heart.
Air Force opened the scoring at the 15:19 mark of the first period on a power-play goal by Josh Frider. Greg Flynn took a shot from the point and Frider tipped it past Bentley goalie Joe Calvi. Brent Olson also assisted on the play. With 14 seconds left in the first period, Bentley tied the game. After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, Bentley's Bobby Preece tipped in a point shot by Jaye Judd.
Bentley took a 2-1 lead early in the second period on the power play. AFA tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but Hamilton kept it in and kicked the puck to Peterson who wristed it past Andrew Volkening from the left circle. With 6:12 left in the second period, Air Force tied the game at 2-2 on Greg Flynn's fourth of the season. Josh Schaffer and Frider led an odd-man rush into the zone. Schaffer's shot from the slot was saved, but Frider got the puck back to Flynn at the left point for a slap shot to tie the game.
Each team scored twice in the third period, including two goals in the final 77 seconds. Bentley took a 3-2 lead at the 6:51 mark when Dain Prewitt tipped in a centering pass by Peterson. Air Force answered eight seconds later on a goal by Matt Fairchild, his seventh of the season. After winning the ensuing faceoff, Derrick Burnett made a pass from the left corner to Fairchild right in front of the net. Air Force took a 4-3 lead with 1:17 remaining. After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, Frider dug the puck out of the left corner and found Olson at the top of the crease. The junior from Baudette, Minn., buried his team-leading 12th of the season for a one-goal lead.
However, Bentley pulled its goalie with 52 seconds remaining and capitalized with the extra attacker on the ice with nine ticks left on the clock. Casey Russell made a pass from the left point to the right post. Peterson snuck around the back of the net and was open on the weak side for his second goal of the game and team-leading 14th of the season.
Each team had some quality scoring chances in overtime but was unable to break the tie. Bentley had three shots on net in the extra period while Air Force had two.
Air Force out-shot Bentley, 34-13, in the final 45 minutes of the game and 40-24 in the contest. Calvi made 36 saves for Bentley while Volkening made 20 for AFA. Air Force was 1-for-5 on the power play while Bentley was 1-for-4.
"Right now we are struggling, we are fighting it," said head coach Frank Serratore. "But I want to focus on what we did rather than what we didn't do. We played pretty darn well in the second and third period. We got 40 shots on goal against a good team. We came from behind and then scored with just over a minute left. Now, what we need to do is find a way to get three points from this series tomorrow night. We took a good step in the right direction tonight."
The same two teams conclude the series Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Cadet Ice Arena. The Falcons will not play at home again until the Feb. 29-March 1 series vs. AIC.
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