Air Force Academy
Vermont
Air Force falls to No. 9 Vermont, 4-2
12/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Vermont scored two goals in the third period as the ninth-ranked Catamounts beat Air Force, 4-2, in the first round of the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup, hosted by the University of Vermont, Sunday, Dec. 28, at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vermont.
After getting outshot 6-0 in the first six minutes, the Falcons took the early lead. Junior Max Hartner tipped in a centering pass from freshman Erik Baskin at the 7:58 mark. In the final seven minutes of the period, Vermont outshot Air Force 8-1 and tied the game at the 13:10 mark. Mario Puskarich's wrister from the left circle whistled past Chris Truehl to tie the game. Vermont outshot Air Force, 14-6, in the first period.
Air Force, 5-11-2 overall, regained the lead early in the second period as Scott Holm scored from Cole Gunner and Alex Halloran at 3:29. Holm's first shot from the high slot hit a defenseman, but his put back found the back of the net for his team-leading eighth of the season. Late in the period, Vermont again tied the game on the rush. Jake Fallon scored with a back-hander from Kyle Reynolds and Jarrid Privitera at 13:51.
Early in the third period, Vermont took its first lead of the game as Brady Shaw scored on the power play with a wrap-around goal at 3:04. With 1:50 left in the third, Air Force pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker, but the Catamounts sealed the win as Jonathan Turk scored an empty-net goal with 60 seconds remaining.
Vermont, 14-3-1 overall, outshot Air Force, 33-15, in the game. AFA was 0-for-2 on the power play while Vermont was 1-for-3. Truehl made 29 saves for the Falcons while Brody Hoffman made 13 for the Catamounts.
"We played about as well as we could have coming off of break," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Vermont is a deep, strong team. We had trouble generating shots. Our senior line matched up well with them. I thought Gunner, Demers and Holm were very good tonight. Give them the credit, the better team won tonight."
In the second round of the pre-set tournament, Monday, Dec. 29, Air Force will face UMass-Amherst at 4:05 pm ET in Burlington, Vermont.
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