Falcons fall to Bentley, 3-0

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Bentley goalie Nicholas Grabko stopped all 22 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey game Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Cadet Ice Arena. The teams split the two-game league series.

In the first period, Bentley's Kolby Amici scored with 4:44 left in the period, but it was disallowed because of overtime.

Bentley (8-9-0, 5-6-0 AHA) did score the first goal of the game on the power play early in the second period. Kellen Hjartarson gained the zone and snapped a wrister from the right circle just 2:59 into the second period. Bentley controlled play in the early in the second period, out-shooting the Falcons, 10-2 in the first 10 minutes. Late in period, Falcon defenseman Chris Hedden had a breakaway that was saved by Grabko with six minutes left in the second.

Air Force (8-9-1, 5-4-1 AHA) started the third period with 54 seconds of a 5-on-3, but could not get anything past Grabko. Midway through the third period, a major penalty for spearing was called on Bentley's Josh Latta, giving the Falcons a five-minute power play. Thirty seconds into the power play, Stephen Castagna carried the puck into the Air Force end and scored with a wrister from the top of the right circle, short-handed, at 9:59. In the first four minutes of the power play, Bentley blocked two shots and Grabko made a save. Air Force pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage for the remainder of the power play, but was unable to score. With 3:58 left, Nick Bochen scored an empty-netter to make up the final margin.

Air Force outshot Bentley, 23-22, in the game. AF was 0-for-6 on the power play while Bentley was 1-for-3. Blessing made 20 saves for the Falcons.

"We had a lot of opportunities, but didn't make anything happen," head coach Frank Serratore said. "This was a good game. We were better in the first period and they were better in the second period. It came down to special teams and goaltending. Our goalie was good, but there's didn't give up a goal and their special teams were a +2. Give them credit. When it was all said and done, they were better than us."

Air Force is now idle until the Kwik Trip Holiday Faceoff, Dec. 28-29, in Milwaukee, Wisc. Air Force will face sixth-ranked Wisconsin in the first game of the tournament.

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Team Stats

Chris Hedden

Nate Horn

Luke Rowe

Brendan Gibbons

Players Mentioned

Chris Hedden

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