Air Force Academy
Army
Falcons beat Army, 1-0, in game one
1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Freshman goalie Shane Starrett earned his first career shutout as Air Force beat Army, 1-0, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Friday, Jan. 15, at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. Air Force has won three straight and improved to 10-9-2 overall and 8-5-2 in the league. Army fell to 5-11-5 overall and 3-9-5 in the AHC. The game was the first 1-0 game in the 62-game history of the series that dates back to 1976.
In a fast-paced and physical first period, Air Force scored the only goal on the power play. At 11:12 of the first period, Army winger Brendan McGuire was called for a major checking from behind penalty and the Falcons went on the power play. With 5:33 left in the first period, freshman Zach Yoder's shot was knocked down in front, but senior team captain Max Hartner put back the rebound for his fourth goal of the season. Phil Boje, who drew the major penalty, also assisted on the play.
Army outshot Air Force in the second period, 12-8, but neither team was able to score. In the third period, Air Force outshot Army, 9-5, but the Black Knights had several chances to tie the game. With just over 10 minutes left, C.J. Reuschlein's shot hit the post. Then in the final three minutes, Army's top line center, Tyler Pham had two chances that were turned away by Starrett. Army pulled its goalie with 1:25 remaining and had about 45 seconds of in-zone time, getting one shot on goal. In the final 30 seconds, the Falcons were able to get pucks out of the zone and hold on for their fifth straight win over the Black Knights.
"The closer you get to playoffs, the lower the scores are going to be," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Sometimes you have to be able to win a 1-0 game if you aspire to be a champion. I thought we played okay, but I didn't think we had a lot of jump. Some of that has to do with Army, they play so hard. We had a lot of power play minutes, but didn't get many shots and that is something we have to look at. I really think we can play better, but we played a sound game tonight. I thought Shane Starrett was great when he had to be. He made some big saves. We need to see if we can close out the series and get a sweep on the road. We know it will not be easy."
Air Force and Army conclude the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 6:05 pm from Tate Rink at West Point. The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on AM 740 KVOR.
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