Air Force Academy
Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart beats Air Force, 3-2
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
MILFORD, Conn. - Sacred Heart scored two short-handed goals, including the game-winner in the third, as the Pioneers defeated Air Force, 3-2, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Conn. Air Force fell to 11-17-3 overall and 10-10-2 in the league. Sacred Heart swept the two-game series and improved to 9-15-6 overall and 8-10-6 in the league. Air Force and Sacred Heart are now tied for seventh in the AHC with 22 points.
Air Force took a 1-0 lead on the power play as Johnny Hrabovsky scored his third of the season. A.J. Reid and Tyler Ledford worked the puck on the side boards and Hrabovsky's blast from the center point came at 7:42. The lead was short-lived as the Pioneers tied the game 16 seconds later. On the ensuing faceoff, the Pioneers sent the puck deep into the Falcons' end and Justin Danforth tied the game from the slot at 7:58.
The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead as Connor Doherty scored short-handed at 4:10. SHU had a 2-on-1 breakaway and Doherty gave the Pioneers a one-goal lead. Air Force answered with its second power-play goal of the night as Alex Halloran scored with a shot from the left point at 9:57. Reid and Hrabovsky assisted on that goal.
Midway through the third period, the Falcons were on the power play when the Pioneers cleared the zone and had a 2-on-1 short-handed rush. Jordan Minello skated down the center of the ice and his wrister whistled over the net and hit hard off the back wall. The puck caromed high into the air and back in front of the goal. Kory Kennedy batted the puck out of the air and into the net at 13:19. The call on the ice was a goal and, after a video review, the call on the ice stood as the Pioneers took a 3-2 lead. With 1:18 left in the third, Air Force pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker. After a penalty on each team, the Falcons pulled the goalie again with 47 seconds left for a 5-on-4 advantage. The Pioneers kept play along the wall and in the corner until the final seconds. With less than 10 seconds left, the Falcons created a flurry in front, but were unable to find the equalizer as the game ended with puck underneath goaltender Alex Vazzano.
Sacred Heart outshot Air Force, 13-8, in the third period and 35-28 in the game. AFA was 2-for-7 on the power play. SHU was 0-for-4, but scored two shorties in the game. Vazzano had 26 saves for the Pioneers. After missing six games due to injury, Chris Truehl returned to the starting lineup and made 32 saves.
"We were better tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Our battle level was better, but Sacred Heart was better tonight too. Sacred Heart played hard right from the start and really went after it. You just can't overcome two short-handed goals. You can't. We let our guard down a little on the power play and they jumped on us. We still need to get better in a lot of areas."
Air Force hosts AIC for a two-game conference series, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 6-7, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena. Friday's games starts at 7:05 pm MT while Saturday's faceoff is at 4:05 pm MT.
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