Air Force falls to UMass, 5-1

Dec. 29, 2014

BURLINGTON, Vt. - UMass forward Frank Vetrano had a goal and two assists as the Minutemen beat Air Force, 5-1, in the second round of the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup, hosted by the University of Vermont, Monday, Dec. 29, at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vermont.

UMass (5-13-0 overall) drew first blood with a power-play goal at 3:56 in the first period. The Minutemen had several chances that were turned away by Falcon goalie, Chris Truehl. However, the puck came out to the left point and Ben Gallacher scored with a wrister from the left circle. Air Force's top line came through once again as Cole Gunner scored his seventh of the season with 6.5 seconds left in the period. Chad Demers won the puck on the wall and sent it in to Gunner. Gunner's first shot was saved, but his rebound shot flipped over the pad of Henry Dill and slid into the net to tie the game.

In the second period, the Falcons (5-12-2 overall) put together a solid power-play, getting two shots on goal and having much in-zone time. However, just after the power play ended, UMass took a 2-1 lead on an odd-man rush. Ray Pigozzi's fourth of the season gave the Minutemen a 2-1 lead with 5:27 remaining in the period.

Early in the third period, the Minutemen took a 3-1 lead as Frank Vetrano skated down the center of the ice and fired a wrister for his team-leading 11^th of the season at 1:33 of the third period. With 3:51 left in the game, Air Force pulled its goaltender for the extra skater. The Falcons had one shot on goal, but had trouble getting set up in the zone. With 30 seconds left in the game, Dennis Kravchenko scored an empty-netter from the blue line. Then with eight seconds remaining, Dominic Trento scored from a sharp angle on the left side to make the final score 5-1.

UMass outshot Air Force, 28-22, in the game. Truehl made 23 saves while Dill made 21 for the Minutemen. AFA was 0-for-2 on the power play. UMass was 1-for-2.

"The better team won tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We didn't win very many, if any, of the big faceoffs and that is possession. We gave away too many possessions. We tried hard, but we passed up a lot of shots tonight. Our confidence is rattled right now. The guys all have a good attitude, but we have a long way to go."

Air Force returns to Atlantic Hockey play with a two-game series at Holy Cross, Friday-Saturday, Jan. 2-3, in Worcester, Mass.

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