Air Force Academy
Canisius
Canisius beats Air Force, 4-1
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 27, 2015
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cody Freeman scored two goals to lead Canisius to a 4-1 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game, Friday, Feb. 27, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 13-19-4 overall and 12-12-3 in the league. The Falcons will finish either sixth or seventh in the AHC and will host a first-round playoff series, March 6-8, at the Cadet Ice Arena against either AIC or Niagara. Canisius improved to 16-10-7 overall and 15-6-6 in the conference. The Griffs are in second place and have clinched a first-round bye and home ice in the quarterfinals.
Midway through the first period with the Falcons on the power play, Canisius goalie Keegan Asmundson made a lunging glove save on a point-blank shot by Chad Demers. After another save on a shot by A.J. Reid the penalty expired and Tyler Wiseman collected the puck in his own end. Wiseman skated coast-to-coast on a two-on-two and scored with a backhander high to the short side for a 1-0 lead at 13:34.
In the final eight minutes of the second period, Canisius outshot Air Force, 13-1, including 13 straight shots on goal. The Griffs took a 2-0 lead at 13:05 of the second period on a 2-on-1 rush. Mitch McCrank chipped a puck in the zone and Wiseman skated down the left side. His centering pass was tipped by Freeman and initially saved by Chris Truehl. However, as Freeman skated across the top of the crease, he batted the puck out of the air and into the net at 13:05. His eighth of the season gave the Griffs a 2-0 lead.
Air Force got on the board 45 seconds into the third period when senior Chad Demers scored his 13th of the season. Cole Gunner took a shot from the point that was tipped by Scott Holm. Demers corralled the loose puck at the top of the crease and cut the Griffs' lead to 2-1. Canisius answered quickly with a power play goal. After the Griffs won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Chris Rumble's point shot was redirected by Freeman at the top of the crease at 3:32 of the third period. With 3:41 left in the game, the Falcons pulled the goaltender in favor of the extra skater. With 3:07 left, Griff forward Mitch McCrank forced a turnover at the blue line, skated in uncontested and scored an empty-netter to make the final score, 4-1.
Canisius outshot Air Force, 30-22, in the game and had a 23-8 advantage in the final 30 minutes. AFA was 0-for-2 on the power play while Canisius was 1-for-3. Keegan Asmundson made 21 saves while Chris Truehl made 23 for the Falcons.
"They play a very, very methodical game," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We continued to try to skate through the trap and that doesn't work. The way to beat a trap is to not try to beat the trap. But we were impatient and had too many turnovers. You have to have competitive patience against a team like Canisius and we didn't at times. We died a slow death tonight. With the way they play, they are very well coached."
The same two teams conclude the two-game series Saturday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. at the Cadet Ice Arena.
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