Falcon rally comes up short against AIC

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – AIC scored the first three goals of the game and then held off a furious Falcon rally for a 3-2 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey game Friday, Feb. 17, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.

AIC (15-12-6, 12-8-3 AHA) built an early 3-0 lead in the first period. Blake Bennett opened the scoring on a breakaway at 6:54 of the first period after a long outlet pass from Brett Callahan. The Yellow Jackets struck on the rush again as Brian Kramer flipped a puck high off the glass to Jordan Biro. Biro netted his 10^th of the season for a 2-0 lead at 13:06. Late in the period, Brett Rylance skated the length of the ice and scored with a wrister from the left circle with 2:12 left in the first. Air Force got on the board with 1:36 left when Will Gavin won a battle on the wall and Willie Reim's shot was saved. Junior defenseman Luke Robinson put back the rebound for his first goal of the season and second of his career.

The Yellow Jackets clung to the 3-1 lead until midway through the third period. Gavin chipped a puck to Chris Hedden in the high slot. Hedden's shot was saved, but Andrew DeCarlo put back the rebound at 7:01 of the third. With 3:07 left, Air Force pulled the goalie and went with the extra attacker. With 1:23 remaining, Mason McCormick drew a penalty and the Falcons had a 6-on-4 advantage. AIC goalie Jarrett Fiske made three saves in the final minute to preserve the win.

Air Force (12-19-2, 8-14-1 AHA) outshot AIC, 38-19. AIC was 0-for-3 on the power play while Air Force was 0-for-2. Fiske made 36 saves for the Yellow Jackets. Austin Park made 16 saves.

"I'm really proud of the guys," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We got down 3-0, but our guys showed substance and we outplayed them for the majority of the game. Obviously, you can't chase the scoreboard against a good team like that. The best player on the ice was their goalie. Fiske was really, really good. Give them credit, they are committed to blocking shots. But when we got that second goal, I really thought we were going to win. But it was too little too late."

The same two teams conclude the two-game series on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 5:05 pm MT at Cadet Ice Arena.

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Team Stats

Will Gavin

Luke Robinson

Andrew DeCarlo

Willie Reim

Players Mentioned

Andrew DeCarlo

Will Gavin

Chris Hedden

Mason McCormick

Austin Park

Willie Reim

Luke Robinson

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