Air Force Academy
Denver
Denver beats Air Force, 2-1, in overtime
2/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 6, 2010
USAFA, Colo. - Kyle Ostrow scored with 57 seconds left in overtime as second-ranked Denver beat Air Force, 2-1, in a non-conference college hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Denver improved to 18-6-4 overall this season. Air Force fell to 12-12-6.
Neither team scored in the first period, but the Falcons outshot Denver, 14-7. Air Force was called for three penalties in the first five minutes of the second period. The Pioneers had a little more than five minutes of power play action, including 40 seconds of 5-on-3, but the Air Force penalty kill, ranked second in the nation, kept the game scoreless. Each team had several quality chances in a fast-paced period, but both goaltenders were rock solid. Then, at the 11:21 mark, Matt Donovan skated over the blue line and took a wrister that beat Andrew Volkening high glove side.
Air Force tied the game early in the third period on the power play. Stephen Carew took a shot from the point that Lamoureux redirected from the top of the crease for his 18th goal and 11th power-play marker of the season. Derrick Burnett picked up his 20th assist of the season.
Air Force had three shots on goal in overtime that were all saved by Marc Cheverie. Then, with less than a minute left. Brandon Vossberg chipped the puck off the wall and Ostrow picked it up on the right wing. As he skated in on a 2-on-1 with Anthony Maiani on his left, defenseman Brad Sellers hit the deck and took away the shooting and passing lanes. Ostrow tried to lift a saucer pass over Sellers, but it hit the defenseman in the helmet. Volkening was sliding to his right to take the soon-to-be shooter, but the puck bounced back to his left and went in to end the game.
The Falcons outshot the Pioneers, 46-35, in the game. The 46 shots allowed are the most DU has given up all season. AFA was 1-for-3 on the power play while DU was 0-for-4. Volkening made 33 saves while Cheverie had a season high 45.
"Our guys played really well tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We were much more assertive on offense tonight. The difference in the game was Marc Cheverie. We had some terrific shots and he was great. Sellers played that perfectly and I've never seen a puck take that type of bounce. It was just unfortunate. The bad part about it is that at this point in season there are no moral victories. They are the No 2 team in country and they found a way to get the job done. But I wouldn't switch teams based on what I saw tonight. I really feel bad for our kids because they really gave it everything tonight. We have to bottle this recipe, rest up and hit those last four games on the sprint."
Air Force is off next week. The Falcons return to action with a two-game series at RIT, Feb. 26-27, in Rochester, N.Y.
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