Falcons blank Army, 1-0, advance to title game

March 17, 2017

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Shane Starrett made 29 saves and Ben Kucera scored the game-winner as No. 17 Air Force defeated Army, 1-0, in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals, Friday, March 17, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Air Force (25-9-5 overall) advances to the Atlantic Hockey Conference championship game against Robert Morris on Saturday, March 18, at 7:05 pm ET. Air Force makes its first championship game appearance since 2012 when the Falcons won its fifth league title.

After a scoreless first period, Air Force came out in the second with more energy and had several chances early in the period that were turned away by Parker Gahagen. Midway through the period, Kucera put back a rebound of Johnny Hrabovsky's shot at the 11:03 mark.

Late in the third period, Army pulled its goalie for the final 90 seconds in favor of the extra attacker. The Black Knights had one shot on goal, but that was saved as the Falcons earned their 25^th win of the season.

"What a hard fought hockey team this was," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Every game we played with them came down to a goalie pull at the end. This game being so tight was no surprise. That's service academy hockey. Shane was terrific again for us. He's only given up one goal in his last three games and what a great time to be on a streak like that. Army has a good team. They are so difficult to play against. They can really skate and are very well coached. Now we have a chance to win a championship, but we will have to play better. Robert Morris is a good team, they have good depth and scoring and their young goalie is really is good. I might be a little biased, I think the two best team will play for the championship on Saturday. "

Army outshot Air Force, 29-23, in the game. Each team was 0-for-3 on the power play. Starrett earned his fifth shutout of the season, and his second in his last three games.

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