Falcons fall to AIC, 4-3

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – AIC goalie Alexandros Aslanidis made 34 saves to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 4-3 win an Atlantic Hockey game Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.

Early in the first period, the Falcons lit the lamp to take the early lead. Luke Rowe kept a puck in the zone and set up Bennett Norlin in the slot. The senior, on senior night, scored his second of the season at 4:05.

AIC scored two goals in a span of 3:17 in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Brett Rylance scored his second of the series on the rush at 8:52. Again on the rush, Aaron Grounds dropped a pass for Dustin Manz in the slot and Manz scored at 12:09. The Falcons tied the game on the power play as another senior, Brandon Koch, scored at 13:50. Koch's sixth of the season came from Rowe and Clayton Cosentino.

AIC (16-12-6, 13-8-3 AHA) again took the lead as Brett Callahan scored from Manz and Grounds at 7:10 of the third period. The Falcons answered yet again. Cosentino fed Austin Schwartz in the slot and Schwartz's shot was saved. However, the puck slid through the pads of Aslanidis and, with the puck sitting near the goal line, freshman Holt Oliphant tapped it in at 9:23. Forty-nine seconds later, AIC capitalized on a 4-on-1 as Manz scored from Grounds with 9:48 left.

Air Force outshot AIC, 37-23. The Falcons were 1-for-4 on the power play while AIC was 0-for-2. Austin Park made 19 saves for the Falcons.

"The story of the weekend was their goaltending.," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They were really good and they made some very timely saves. This was a nip and tuck battle. We scored first tonight and then when we tied it in the third, I thought it was a good omen. We had a breakdown in the third and they capitalized. Ultimately that cost us. They were opportunistic and they found a way to win two hard fought games."

This season, the top eight teams make the playoffs and the bottom two teams do not. Mercyhurst sits in the eighth and final playoff spot with 33 points, nine points ahead of Air Force with six points available.

Air Force closes out the season at RIT, Feb. 24-25, in Rochester, N.Y.

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Team Stats

Luke Rowe

Clayton Cosentino

Brandon Koch

Holt Oliphant

Players Mentioned

Clayton Cosentino

Brandon Koch

Bennett Norlin

Holt Oliphant

Austin Park

Luke Rowe

Austin Schwartz

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