Falcons fall in overtime to Sacred Heart, 5-4

Feb. 6, 2015

Feb. 6, 2015

MILFORD, Conn. - Jordan Minello's second goal of the game came 51 seconds into overtime as Sacred Heart beat Air Force, 5-4, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Friday, Feb. 6, at the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Conn. Air Force fell to 11-16-3 overall and 10-9-2 in the AHC. Sacred Heart improved to 8-15-6 overall and 7-10-6 in the league. Air Force is now in seventh place in the league while Sacred Heart is in eighth, two points behind Air Force.

In the first minute of the game, Air Force's Dylan Abood drew a penalty and the Falcons capitalized. Cole Gunner's shot from the right point beat Pioneer goalie Alex Vezzano at 1:43. Chad Demers and Scott Holm assisted on the play. Midway through the period, the Pioneers tied the game. After intercepting a Falcon pass on the half-boards, the Pioneers tied the game. Zach Luczyk's shot bounced through the five-hole at 11:15.

Air Force regained its lead in the first two minutes of the second period on the rush. Tyler Ledford found A.J. Reid coming down the slot and his shot was saved. Freshman Kyle Mackey cleaned up the rebound for his second goal of the season at 1:52. The Pioneers again tied the game when Minello scored at 10:07. Late in the period and on the power play, Air Force took a 3-2 lead. Tyler Ledford sent a pass through the slot and Erik Baskin scored his seventh of the season at 18:22.

The Falcons' top line scored at 11:47 of the third period as Chad Demers scored from Scott Holm for a 4-2 lead. The Falcons held the two-goal lead until late in the third when the Pioneers tied the game. With Air Force on the power play, SHU's Evan Jaspar had a short-handed breakaway when a penalty was called on Johnny Hrabovsky. A penalty shot was awarded and Jaspar scored with 3:45 left to make the score 3-2. With 2:23 left in the third, a slashing penalty was called on Cole Gunner. The Pioneers tied the game on the power play with when Drew George scored from Mitch Nylen and Jacob Brightbill to tie the game at 4-4 with 1:23 left in the third.

In overtime, Minello carried the puck in the zone and snapped a wrister from the right circle that found the back of the net 31 seconds into the extra period for the game-winner.

Air Force outshot Sacred Heart, 31-30. Connor Girard made 25 saves for the Falcons. Alex Vezzano made 27 saves for the Pioneers. Air Force was 2-for-6 on the power play while SHU was 1-for-2.

The same two teams conclude the two-game league series on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Milford, Conn.

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