Air Force Academy
Army West Point
Falcons sweep Army with 3-2 win
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Freshman Brady Tomlak scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Air Force earned a series sweep over Army with a 3-2 win an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Saturday, Jan. 28, at a sold out Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force improved to 16-8-4 overall and 13-5-2 in the conference.
After a scoreless first period in which each team had seven shots on goal, Army lit the lamp first. Just as an Army power was expiring, the Falcons went for a clear from behind its goal line and Blake Box knocked it down at the blue line. Just after the penalty expired, Box's wrister from the right point snuck inside the far post for a 1-0 Black Knight lead at 7:26 mark. The Falcons battled back to take a 2-1 lead with two goals in a span of 47 seconds. Dan Bailey tied the game at 15:05 as he carried the puck down the right side and took a wrister from the right circle that found the back of the net. Tyler Rostenkowski and Kyle Haak assisted on the goal. Air Force took its first lead of the game when Phil Boje fired a shot from the left point that was redirected by Tyler Ledford at 15:52.
The Falcons took a 3-1 lead midway through the third period. Tomlak won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Bailey took a shot from the point. After winning the draw, Tomlak spun back to the front of the net and redirected Bailey's shot past Parker Gahagen at 13:10. Late in the period, in a delayed penalty situation, Conor Anderle sent a pass to the front of the net that went off the skate of Black Knight forward Michael Wilson and into the net with 2:08 remaining. On the power play, Army pulled its goalie and had a 6-on-4 advantage. With the two-man advantage, Army had one shot on goal and the Falcons blocked four shots. In the final seconds, Falcon freshman Trevor Stone dove in front of Nick DeCenzo's shot as time expired.
Air Force outshot Army, 34-25, in the game. Army and Air Force both rank in the top 10 in the nation in penalty kill and neither gave up a power play goal in the series. Army was 0-for-6 while Air Force was 0-for-5 in game two. Shane Starrett made 23 saves while Parker Gahagen made 31.
"This was a huge series," head coach Frank Serratore said. "This win enabled us to maintain our position in the standings. It was a gutsy performance by our guys. Shane Starrett was really good. He made some very timely saves. The turning point was the save Shane made on Mansfield's breakaway. That was huge. We were down 1-0 and if that goes in, it could have been a different outcome. We had to overcome some chaos at the end, but I wouldn't expect any different. Give our guys a lot of credit because Army has a good team."
Air Force travels to Bentley for a two-game league series, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 3-4, in Waltham, Mass.
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