Air Force Academy
Harvard
No. 2 Harvard holds off No. 15 Air Force, 3-2
3/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Second-ranked Harvard took a 3-0 lead in the second period and then held off 15th-ranked Air Force for a 3-2 win over the Falcons in the 2017 NCAA East Regional final at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, Saturday, March 25, in Providence, R.I. Air Force's season comes to an end with a 27-10-5 overall record. The top-seeded Harvard Crimson (28-5-2) advances to the NCAA Frozen Four in Chicago, April 6-8.
Midway through the first period, Harvard drew first blood. Crimson center Alexander Kerfoot carried the puck into the zone and below the goal line. His centering pass was whistled in by defenseman Viktor Dombrovskiy for a 1-0 lead at 9:54. Air Force's best scoring chance in the first came with about four minutes left in a four-on-four situation. Tyler Ledford flipped the puck out of the zone and Matt Serratore came in on a breakaway. Serratore's wrister went just over the cross bar as the Crimson held on to the one-goal lead.
Harvard scored two goals in a span of 2:03 in the middle of the second period. Harvard sophomore Ryan Donato, the son of the Crimson head coach Ted Donato, skated around a Falcon in the neutral zone, another at the top of the circle and went around Shane Starrett for a 2-0 lead at 7:47. On the power play, Kerfoot made a cross-box pass to Tyler Moy, whose one-timer from the left circle put the Crimson up 3-0 at 9:50. The Falcons answered with two goals in a span of 15 seconds. After Dylan Abood drew a penalty on Harvard's Michael Floodstrand, the Falcons capitalized. On the delayed penalty, A.J. Reid fired a blast from the center point that caromed off the back wall and came out to the near post. Freshman Brady Tomlak was there to tap it in for his fifth goal of the season at 11:23. On the ensuing power play, Phil Boje's point shot was knocked down in front. Jordan Himley collected the loose puck and scored his second of the weekend and team-leading 22nd of the season to make the score 3-2 at 11:38.
Trailing 3-2 late in the third, the Falcons pulled the goalie with 90 seconds left, but were unable to tie the game.
Harvard outshot Air Force, 30-29. Air Force was 1-for-2 on the power play while Harvard was 1-for-4. Shane Starrett and Merrick Madsen each made 27 saves in the game.
"That was a heckuva college hockey game," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Harvard has a great hockey team, but the boys in blue were pretty good too. We took their best punch in the second period and it didn't look good for a while. All season we have been able to come back, but not tonight. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. I have a ton of respect Harvard. They have a hard-working team. They were able to make some really good plays tonight, and make them moving at full speed. The better team won tonight, but there were two pretty darn good teams out there. We came here to win, but I think everyone saw the fight in our team tonight. We're confident that we will come back next year and take another step."
Air Force finished the 2016-17 season with the second most wins in school history (27) and the fewest losses in the Frank Serratore era (10). The Falcons earned an NCAA victory and reached the Elite Eight for just the second time in school history (2009). The Falcons bid farewell to the senior class of Johnny Hrabovsky, A.J. Reid and Tyler Rostenkowski who combined to win 84 games, tying the third most by any class in school history. The Falcons led the nation with a school-record 16 road wins and led the nation in penalty kill at 89.7 percent.
Two Falcons were named to the all-tournament team, sophomore forward Kyle Haak and junior defenseman Phil Boje. Haak had three points (2-1-3) in the two games while Boje had two (1-1-2).
"We knew we were never out of it," said Air Force junior captain Dylan Abood. "We never stopped believing. I am so proud of this team. We stayed with it and never got out of the fight. I'm ready to get back to work tomorrow. We'll be back."
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