Falcons fall to Holy Cross, 4-1

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Holy Cross goalie Jason Grande made 28 saves and the Crusaders scored a pair of power-play goals in a 4-1 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Association game, Friday, Dec. 2, at the Cadet Ice Arena.

Less than three minutes into the game, the Falcons were called for a major penalty and Holy Cross took the early lead. Matt Guerra and Alex Peterson set up Tyler Ghiradosi on the goaline. Ghiradosi's shot went around the pad of Guy Blessing and just inside the far post for a 1-0 lead at 4:18.

Air Force controlled much of the play in the second period, but were unable to get anything past Grande or the Crusader defense that blocked 21 shots in the game.

Midway through the third period, Jack Ricketts put back a rebound of his own shot on the power play for a 2-0 lead. Late in the third period and on the power play, the Falcons pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage. Nate Horn pushed the puck up the wall to Brandon Koch. Koch set up Will Gavin in the right circle and the junior netted his team-leading sixth of the season at 17:22. In the final 50 seconds, Lucas Thorne and Matt Guerra scored empty-net goals to make up the final score of 4-1.

Air Force outshot Holy Cross, 29-27. The Falcons were 1-for-8 on the power play while HC was 2-for-3. Guy Blessing made 23 saves for the Falcons.

"We played pretty darn well for 50-55 minutes," head coach Frank Serratore said. "But we have to play a full 60 if we are going to win. For them to win a game like this, they needed very good goaltending and special teams and they got it. We didn't get off to the start we wanted at all. We just can't start games this way. Saturday night is a must-win for us. We cannot afford to get swept at home."

Air Force and Holy Cross conclude the two-game series on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 5:05 pm at the Cadet Ice Arena. Following the game, the Falcons are idle until a home series against Canisius, Dec. 30-31

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Team Stats

Will Gavin

Nate Horn

Brandon Koch

Chris Hedden

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Will Gavin

Nate Horn

Brandon Koch

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