Air Force Academy
Robert Morris
Falcons beat Robert Morris, 4-1
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
by Meredith Yeoman
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force scored two goals in the first 64 seconds, including Erik Baskin's eventual game-winner, as the Falcons clipped the Robert Morris Colonials, 4-1, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena. The Falcons trail the conference-leading Colonials by three points in the AHC standings heading into the final weekend of regular-season play. Air Force is in a three-way tie for second place with Holy Cross and RIT and will face a road set with Niagara to close out the 2015-16 campaign. The Falcons have already clinched a first-round bye, but will have to wait until next week to clinch home ice in the first round.
The Falcons (16-11-5, 14-7-5 AHC) jumped out to an early two-goal lead on tallies by Johnny Hrabovsky and Baskin.
Hrabovsky's seventh of the year came just 26 seconds into the contest. Senior captain Ben Carey gathered Jordan Himley's behind-the-net pass and, from below the goal line, fed Hrabovsky who one-timed the puck from the left circle past Robert Morris goaltender Terry Shafer.
Baskin added the game-winner 38 seconds later. After Tyler Ledford threaded him a pass from the right circle, the sophomore winger stickhandled through the slot and wristed the puck past Shafer, who was replaced in net by Andrew Pikul after allowing two goals on two shots. Despite his early exit, Shafer, who entered the contest with a league-leading save percentage of .935, recorded the loss for the Colonials (19-9-4, 16-6-4 AHC).
Freshman winger Kyle Haak added a shorthanded goal midway through the opening frame to pull Air Force ahead, 3-0. Evan Feno stole the puck in the Falcons' defensive zone, spurring a two-on-two breakaway to set up Haak for the backhanded finish at 12:17. The tally was Haak's second shorthanded goal of the season and the team's eighth.
Robert Morris responded early in the second period. David Friedman won a battle for the puck along the boards and found Brandon Denham with a touch pass. Denham one-timed home his 20th of the year from the right circle to cut the Air Force lead to 3-1, but the rest of the game belonged to the Falcons' defense, which held the Colonials scoreless for the final 38 minutes of play.
Evan Giesler added a late tally for Air Force to seal the 4-1 final. With just under five minutes remaining in the third, Haak bounced the puck off the boards and into the RMU zone, and Giesler won the race to it, banging home his second of the season from the left circle.
Shane Starrett stopped 23-of-24 and took the win in net for Air Force. Pikul was 20-of-21 in nearly 59 minutes of relief for the Colonials. Neither team converted a power play goal, with Air Force finishing 0-for-4 and Robert Morris 0-for-6.
"We were better tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We bounced back much better tonight. And whenever we had a breakdown, Shane (Starrett) was there for us. This was a big one for us. For the third week in a row, it was nice to see us perform well on a Saturday."
Air Force travels to Niagara, N.Y., for a two-game league series against the Purple Eagles, Feb. 26-27, in the final regular-season series for both teams.
--30--
