Air Force Academy
Boston College
Falcons beat No. 5 Boston College, 2-1
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
DENVER, Colo. - Matt Serratore and Ben Kucera scored in the third period and Shane Starrett made 37 saves as Air Force beat No. 5 Boston College, 2-1, in the first game of the annual Ice Breaker Tournament at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo. The win marked Air Force's eighth win over a top five team in the last nine years.
After a scoreless first period, Boston College drew first blood on a penalty shot as Austin Cangelosi gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead at 14:12 of the second period. Through the first two periods, BC outshot Air Force, 28-13.
Early in the third period, the Falcons tied the game as Phil Boje cleared the zone and Serratore picked up the puck at the BC blue line. Skating in on a 3-on-1, Serratore's shot from the left side beat BC goalie Joe Woll at 6:17 of the third period. Later in the third and with the Falcons on a 5-on-3 power play, Air Force took its first lead of the game. The Falcons controlled the puck in the zone and moved it from low to high. From the right point, Matt Koch sent the puck down low to Kucera on the right side who gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead at 11:38. In the final three minutes, Air Force had to kill a penalty and then also kill 59 seconds of a 6-on-5 advantage when the Eagles pulled their goalie. Starrett made two saves in the final 10 seconds to preserve the victory.
BC outshot Air Force, 38-26, in the game. Air Force as 1-for-7 on the power play and killed all six of BC's man-advantages.
"I told the team if I had to give them a grade for the first two periods, it would have been about a C, but they aced the final," head coach Frank Serratore said. "I didn't think we played very well in the first two periods and we were only down 1-0. We were much better in the third. We had 26 shots in the game and 13 came in the third. It always comes down to special teams and goaltending. Shane made the saves he needed to make and our penalty kill was good. We were good last year on the penalty kill, we have all those guys back this year and we have a lot of confidence in them."
Air Force's opponent and game time on day two of the Ice Breaker had not yet been set as of this release. The Falcons will face either Ohio State or Denver at either 4:05 or 7:05 pm on Saturday, Oct. 8.
--30--
