Friday, October 18
USAFA, CO
7:05 pm MT
Air Force Academy
2-3-0
3
vs
2
Lindenwood
1-2-0
1
2
3
F
Lindenwood
1
1
0
2
Air Force
1
1
1
3
Air Force beat Lindenwood, 3-2
10/18/2024 10:25:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Mason McCormick scored the game-winner and Guy Blessing made a save with one second left as Air Force beat Lindenwood, 3-2, in a non-conference game Friday, Oct. 18, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.
Lindenwood (1-2-0) opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 16:01 of the first period. On a 2-on-2 rush, Lion David Gagnon carried the puck to the bottom of the right circle and threw it toward the net. The puck bounced off of Blessing and into the net for a 1-0 LU lead. Air Force answered as freshman Michael Kadlecik drew a penalty and the Falcons capitalized. Holt Oliphant skated down the right wing and his shot went hard off the back wall. Owen Dubois collected the rebound on the weak side and scored from a sharp angle at the bottom of the left circle with 1:06 left in the first. Chris Hedden also assisted on Dubois' second of the season.
Early in the second period, the Lions regained the lead when Ethan Zielke scored on a rebound just 35 seconds into the period. The Falcons answered again about five minutes later. Sam Stitz sent a puck up the wall to Kadlecik who saw Hedden wide open on the back door. Both freshmen collected their first career points on Hedden's second of the season at 5:27 to tie the game.
Air Force took its first lead in regulation this season at the 5:30 of the third period. Will Staring took a shot that was blocked by a defenseman, but McCormick cleaned up the rebound for a 3-2 lead. McCormick's first of the season was also assisted by freshman Beau Janzig, getting his first career point. Lindenwood pulled its goalie with 2:14 left but managed just two shot attempts that were blocked. In the final five seconds, LU won a faceoff in the neutral zone and Gagnon took a shot from the top of the circle that was saved by Blessing as time expired.
"It was a hard-fought game, but the better team won it," head coach Frank Serratore said. "The first period wasn't great, and we were fortunate to get out of there tied. We were better as the game went on. We managed the third period really well. Our 5v6 unit did a great job at the end. After the start we had had, some people may say this win was lucky. We need to go out on Sunday and prove to ourselves and everyone that this wasn't lucky and we are going in the right direction."
Lindenwood outshot Air Force, 28-27. The Falcons were 2-for-5 on the power play and killed both Lindenwood power plays. Blessing made 26 saves for the Falcons. Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 24 for the visitors from St. Charles, Mo.
Air Force (2-3-0) and Lindenwood conclude the series on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3:35 pm at the Cadet Ice Arena.
--30--
Lindenwood (1-2-0) opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 16:01 of the first period. On a 2-on-2 rush, Lion David Gagnon carried the puck to the bottom of the right circle and threw it toward the net. The puck bounced off of Blessing and into the net for a 1-0 LU lead. Air Force answered as freshman Michael Kadlecik drew a penalty and the Falcons capitalized. Holt Oliphant skated down the right wing and his shot went hard off the back wall. Owen Dubois collected the rebound on the weak side and scored from a sharp angle at the bottom of the left circle with 1:06 left in the first. Chris Hedden also assisted on Dubois' second of the season.
Early in the second period, the Lions regained the lead when Ethan Zielke scored on a rebound just 35 seconds into the period. The Falcons answered again about five minutes later. Sam Stitz sent a puck up the wall to Kadlecik who saw Hedden wide open on the back door. Both freshmen collected their first career points on Hedden's second of the season at 5:27 to tie the game.
Air Force took its first lead in regulation this season at the 5:30 of the third period. Will Staring took a shot that was blocked by a defenseman, but McCormick cleaned up the rebound for a 3-2 lead. McCormick's first of the season was also assisted by freshman Beau Janzig, getting his first career point. Lindenwood pulled its goalie with 2:14 left but managed just two shot attempts that were blocked. In the final five seconds, LU won a faceoff in the neutral zone and Gagnon took a shot from the top of the circle that was saved by Blessing as time expired.
"It was a hard-fought game, but the better team won it," head coach Frank Serratore said. "The first period wasn't great, and we were fortunate to get out of there tied. We were better as the game went on. We managed the third period really well. Our 5v6 unit did a great job at the end. After the start we had had, some people may say this win was lucky. We need to go out on Sunday and prove to ourselves and everyone that this wasn't lucky and we are going in the right direction."
Lindenwood outshot Air Force, 28-27. The Falcons were 2-for-5 on the power play and killed both Lindenwood power plays. Blessing made 26 saves for the Falcons. Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 24 for the visitors from St. Charles, Mo.
Air Force (2-3-0) and Lindenwood conclude the series on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3:35 pm at the Cadet Ice Arena.
--30--
Team Stats
LU
AF
Shots
28
27
PPG
0
2
SHG
1
0
Penalties
5
2
Penalty Mins
10
4
Faceoffs Won
22
40
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
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