Air Force Academy
RIT
Giesler's hat trick leads Falcons to 4-2 win
2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Sophomore Evan Giesler scored his first career hat trick and Shane Starrett made 34 saves as No. 19 Air Force defeated RIT, 4-2, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game, Friday, Feb. 17, at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y. Air Force improved to 20-8-5 overall this season and in second place in the conference with 37 points, three points behind Canisius.
Air Force jumped on the board early as Giesler scored just 25 seconds into the game. Evan Feno won an offensive zone faceoff and Giesler collected the puck in the left circle and snapped a wrister past RIT goalie Mike Rotolo.
RIT tied the game early in the second period as Liam Kerins intercepted a clear attempt by the Falcons and scored his 10th of the season at 6:15. The Tigers took the lead, just after the Falcons killed a penalty, at 12:54 of the second. Tiger defenseman Darren Brady's shot was saved, but in a flurry in front, Jordan Peacock put back the rebound for a 2-1 Tiger lead. Late in the period, A.J. Reid drew a penalty and the Falcons went on the power play. The Falcons capitalized with a perfect tic-tac-toe play. Matt Koch made a pass from the left point down to the Erik Baskin on the goal line. Baskin then slid the puck across the crease to Giesler who tapped it in on the back door to tie the game with 1:51 left in the second.
The Falcons regained the lead midway through the third period. Baskin's shot was saved, but Giesler secured the hat trick as he put back the rebound for a 3-2 lead at 10:05. With 1:37 left, RIT pulled its goalie for the extra attacker. Starrett made three saves in a flurry in front to preserve the one-goal lead with about a minute left. Then with just under a minute left, Baskin blocked a shot from the point. After a scrum, Matt Serratore sent the puck to the blue line and Baskin skated uncontested toward the empty-net. The junior from Minnetonka, Minn., sealed the victory with 25 seconds left.
Air Force outshot RIT, 41-36, it the game. Air Force was 1-for-4 on the power play and killed all four of RIT's power plays.
"This was a war," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We got great goaltending again tonight. RIT is a big, heavy team and there was nothing easy about playing them. In the second period, they had the momentum. They were pitching and we were catching. In the third, I thought we took it to them a little. This wasn't our best game, but credit RIT for a lot of that. They were difficult to play against. We'll be in for another hard-fought battle tomorrow."
The two teams conclude the two-game league series on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:05 pm ET in Rochester, N.Y.
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