Air Force Academy
Canisius
Falcons and Griffs skate to 1-1 overtime tie
1/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Air Force and Canisius skated to a 1-1 overtime tie in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Saturday, Jan. 30, at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, N.Y. Air Force took three points in the series and extended its unbeaten streak to eight games, the longest since the end of the 2010-11 season.
Air Force, 13-9-4 overall and 11-5-4 in AHC, opened the scoring at 11:28 of the first period when freshman Matt Serratore scored his second of the weekend and seventh of the season. Dylan Abood fed Jonathan Kopacka at the center point and his shot was redirected by Serratore for a 1-0 lead.
In the second period, Canisius (8-15-5, 8-9-5 AHC) outshot Air Force, 13-6, including five power-play shots, but neither team was able to score.
The Falcons clung to the one-goal lead until late in the third period when Air Force was called for too many men on the ice. The Griffs capitalized on the power play as Ralph Cuddemi put back a wraparound attempt by Ryan Schmelzer with 3:04 remaining to tie the game at 1-1. Canisius had several quality chances in overtime and outshot the Falcons, 2-1, in the extra period, but neither team scored.
Canisius outshot Air Force, 26-25, in the game. Canisius went 1-for-5 on the power play while Air Force was 0-for-2. Shane Starrett made 25 saves for the Falcons while Simon Hofley made 24.
"Give Canisius credit, this was a game that they did not deserve to lose," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They had some quality chances and Shane was there to make some great saves. As a team, we have to find a way to kill that too many men on the ice penalty. We didn't have a lot of great chances tonight and didn't make their goalie make many really good saves. We have to find a way to be better on Saturday night."
The Falcons return home for a two-game series against RIT, Feb. 5-6, at Cadet Ice Arena.
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