Friday, February 4
Buffalo, NY
5:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
10-13-2, 8-9-2
2
at
4
Canisius College
13-10-3, 10-7-2
1
2
3
F
Air Force
0
0
2
2
Canisius
1
1
2
4
Falcon rally falls short at Canisius
2/4/2022 9:10:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Air Force's third-period rally came up short as Canisius defeated the Falcons, 4-2, in an Atlantic Hockey Association game Friday, Feb. 4, at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, N.Y.
Canisius (13-10-3, 10-7-2 AHA) took advantage of an early Falcon penalty as Max Kouznetsov scored a power play goal at 9:49. Late in the second period, the Griffs took a 2-0 lead on the rush. Mitchell Martan maneuvered around a Falcon defender and scored with a wrister from the right circle at 15:04.
In the third period, the Griffs scored two goals in a span of five minutes for a 4-0 lead. Lincoln Erne sent a long lob pass to Simon Gravel and Gravel scored with a wrister from the left circle for a 3-0 lead at 5:14. The Griffs took a 4-0 lead when Alex Ambrosio crashed the net and tipped in a centering pass from Ryan Miotto at 9:51. Air Force goalie Alex Schilling was replaced by freshman Guy Blessing with 9:24 left in the third.
Air Force (10-13-2, 8-9-2 AHA) got on the board with 7:38 remaining. Luke Rowe made a pass from the right point to Parker Brown in the left circle. Brown netted his fourth of the season to cut the Griffs' lead to 4-1. With 4:07 left in the third, Canisius defenseman Jack Lyons was called for a major penalty for a check from behind on Mitchell Digby. As a result, Air Force had 57 seconds of a 5-on-3 and then pulled the goalie for a 6-on-3 advantage. The Falcons cut the Griffs' lead to 4-2 as Clayton Cosentino scored his fifth of the season at 16:32. Will Gavin made a cross-ice pass to Cosentino at the bottom of the left circle. Brandon Koch picked up his second assist on the night and now has 19 on the season to lead Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons pulled the goalie again for the final 3:20 and had several flurries that were turned away by the Canisius defense.
Air Force outshot Canisius, 31-25, in the game. Air Force was 1-for-6 on the power play while the Griffs were 1-for-3. Jacob Barczewski made 29 saves for the Griffs. Schilling made 18 in 50 minutes and Blessing made three in six minutes.
"Give Canisius credit. They are an opportunistic team and they also played hard with a lot of effort tonight," Serratore said. "I liked our first period, but when you have that many shots, you have to get something on the scoreboard. But we didn't. Then they pushed back in the second and took the momentum. We played with a sense of urgency late and scored those two goals, but it was too little too late."
Air Force and Canisius conclude the two-game conference series on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 7:05 pm ET in Buffalo.
--30-
Canisius (13-10-3, 10-7-2 AHA) took advantage of an early Falcon penalty as Max Kouznetsov scored a power play goal at 9:49. Late in the second period, the Griffs took a 2-0 lead on the rush. Mitchell Martan maneuvered around a Falcon defender and scored with a wrister from the right circle at 15:04.
In the third period, the Griffs scored two goals in a span of five minutes for a 4-0 lead. Lincoln Erne sent a long lob pass to Simon Gravel and Gravel scored with a wrister from the left circle for a 3-0 lead at 5:14. The Griffs took a 4-0 lead when Alex Ambrosio crashed the net and tipped in a centering pass from Ryan Miotto at 9:51. Air Force goalie Alex Schilling was replaced by freshman Guy Blessing with 9:24 left in the third.
Air Force (10-13-2, 8-9-2 AHA) got on the board with 7:38 remaining. Luke Rowe made a pass from the right point to Parker Brown in the left circle. Brown netted his fourth of the season to cut the Griffs' lead to 4-1. With 4:07 left in the third, Canisius defenseman Jack Lyons was called for a major penalty for a check from behind on Mitchell Digby. As a result, Air Force had 57 seconds of a 5-on-3 and then pulled the goalie for a 6-on-3 advantage. The Falcons cut the Griffs' lead to 4-2 as Clayton Cosentino scored his fifth of the season at 16:32. Will Gavin made a cross-ice pass to Cosentino at the bottom of the left circle. Brandon Koch picked up his second assist on the night and now has 19 on the season to lead Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons pulled the goalie again for the final 3:20 and had several flurries that were turned away by the Canisius defense.
Air Force outshot Canisius, 31-25, in the game. Air Force was 1-for-6 on the power play while the Griffs were 1-for-3. Jacob Barczewski made 29 saves for the Griffs. Schilling made 18 in 50 minutes and Blessing made three in six minutes.
"Give Canisius credit. They are an opportunistic team and they also played hard with a lot of effort tonight," Serratore said. "I liked our first period, but when you have that many shots, you have to get something on the scoreboard. But we didn't. Then they pushed back in the second and took the momentum. We played with a sense of urgency late and scored those two goals, but it was too little too late."
Air Force and Canisius conclude the two-game conference series on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 7:05 pm ET in Buffalo.
--30-
Team Stats
AFA
CAN
Shots
31
25
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
7
Penalty Mins
6
25
Faceoffs Won
33
33
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
-2
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
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/ Men's Ice Hockey
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/ Men's Ice HockeyD
/ Men's Ice Hockey
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