Falcons fall to Canisius, 5-3

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Five different Canisius players scored to lead the Golden Griffins to an 5-3 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey game Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Cadet Ice Arena. The Griffs split the two-game series and ended Air Force's three-game winning streak.

Canisius (9-15-3, 8-8-3 AHA) took the early lead when Jackson Decker scored with a slap shot from the left point at 6:26. In the final six minutes of the period, the teams combined for four goals. The Griffs took a 2-0 lead on a 3-on-2 as Matteo Giampa scored his 16^th of the season at 13:29. Air Force (14-13-1, 11-6-1 AHA) scored two goals in a span of 2:39 to tie the game. Brian Adams drove to the net and dropped a puck for Sam Brennan who scored his third of the season at 14:38. Mason McCormick also assisted on the play.

After Luke Rowe drew a penalty, the Falcon power play tied the game. Clayton Cosentino won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Chris Hedden set up Will Gavin in the right circle. Gavin's one-timer was his fourth goal of the series and his sixth of the season against Canisius. The goal for Gavin was his league-leading 17^th of the season, the most by a Falcon since Jordan Himley had 22 in 2016-17. Late in the period, Canisius forward Matt Vermaeten's shot was saved but Trey Funk but back the rebound for a 3-2 lead with 25 seconds left in the second.

Early in the second period, Giampa forced a turnover at the blue line and Hernandez skated down the right side. His wrap-around went inside the far post at 4:20 of the second period.

Late in the third period, Air Force cut the Griff lead to 4-3. Austin Schwartz sent a puck down low and Nick Remissong centered the puck from behind the net. Andrew DeCarlo's first shot was saved, but he put back his own rebound for his third goal of the season with 3:59 left. Air Force pulled the goalie with 2:27 remaining, but Stefano Bottini scored empty-netter with 51 seconds left to make the final score 5-3.

Canisius outshot Air Force, 31-29, in the game. AF was 1-for-4 on the power play while Canisius was 0-for-5. Canisius goalie Ethan Robertson made 26 saves. Falcon goalie Guy Blessing also made 26.

"They played with a sense of urgency and got to their game really quick," head coach Frank Serratore said."They were pitching and we were catching. If we would have gotten out of the first period 2-2 that would have been highway robbery. But they found a way to get the next goal. Give them credit. That was not the same team we saw last night. They deserved to win the game. The team that establishes dominance early is usually the team that wins the game. They got to their game faster than we did. We were chasing the scoreboard tonight and that is losing hockey."

Air Force travels to Holy Cross for a two-game league series, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 2-3, in Worcester, Mass.

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Team Stats

Andrew DeCarlo

Sam Brennan

Will Gavin

Mason McCormick

Players Mentioned

Brian Adams

Guy Blessing

Sam Brennan

Clayton Cosentino

Andrew DeCarlo

Will Gavin

Chris Hedden

Mason McCormick

Nick Remissong

Luke Rowe

Austin Schwartz

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