Air Force Academy
Army West Point
Falcons defeat Army, 3-1
1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo - Shane Starrett made 17 saves and Jordan Himley scored the game-winner as Air Force defeated Army, 3-1, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Friday, Jan. 27, at a sold out Cadet Ice Arena. The crowd of 3,123 is the largest since 2012 against Colorado College. Air Force is tied for first place in Atlantic Hockey with Canisius with 26 points.
Air Force (15-8-4 overall and 12-5-2 AHC) dominated the first period, but was unable to score until late in the period. Evan Feno put back a rebound in a flurry in front of the net with 2:49 left in the period. Evan Giesler and Trevor Stone had the assists on the play.
Army (12-9-3 overall, 11-7-1 AHC) tied the game at 5: 51 of the second period. A long outlet pass by the Falcons was intercepted by Dominic Franco in the neutral zone. Franco fed Ian Mansfield who snapped a wrister from the top of the right circle that clanked off the far post and went in to tie the game at 1-1. In the final minute of the second, the Falcons regained the lead. Phil Boje made a pass from behind the net to Erik Baskin at the right point. Baskin's shot was saved, but Jordan Himley put back the rebound for his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
Late in the third period, a penalty was called on Falcon winger A.J. Reid with 1:35 remaining and then Army pulled its goalie for a two-man advantage with 1:19 left. After an Army shot, Starrett made a save and then pushed the puck to Phil Boje on the boards. Boje's clear just missed the empty net, but Tyler Ledford collected the loose puck and scored the short-handed, empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win.
"I liked our game tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They have a good team and they came at us. I thought we were the better team for the most part tonight. I liked our effort tonight and hopefully we can replicate it tomorrow."
Air Force outshot Army, 27-18, in the game. Air Force was 0-for-1 on the power play while Army was 0-for-2.
Air Force and Army conclude the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5:05 pm MT at the Cadet Ice Arena. The game is sold out, but standing room only tickets are available at the athletic ticket office in the Cadet Field House.
--30--
