Air Force sweeps Mercyhurst with 4-1 win in series finale

U.S AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force extended its winning streak to four straight games with a 4-1 win over Mercyhurst in an Atlantic Hockey America game, Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Cadet Ice Arena. The four-game winning streak is the longest since a five-gamer early in the 2018-19 season.

Air Force (8-6-0, 5-1-0 AHA) scored first for the second straight night as sophomore Brendan Gibbons netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season at 15:08. Freshman Beau Janzig started the rush in his own end and Clayton Cosentino set up Gibbons in the slot. Gibbons' wrister beat Carter McPhail for a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Mercyhurst (2-12-0, 2-8-0 AHA) outshot Air Force, 15-12, but both goalies kept their respective nets clean.

Early in the third period, the Falcons took a 2-0 lead as Cosentino scored his fifth of the season. His linemates Gibbons and Nick Remissong set up the senior captain in the slot just 31 seconds into the third period. Mercyhurst scored its first goal of the series on the power play as Dominik Bartecko scored on a rebound at 13:22 to cut the Falcon lead in half.

After senior Mitchell Digby drew a penalty, the Falcons scored their first power-play goal of the series. Freshman Anthony Yu fed Digby in the left circle and Digby found Will Staring at the center point. Staring's rocket past McPhail marked his first career power-play goal at 15:06 of the third. Mercyhurst pulled the goalie with 4:22 left in the third and trailing 3-1. The Falcons took two shots at the empty net, but shots by Cosentino and Schwartz from their own end glanced off the post. With 3:14 left, Cosentino chipped a puck out of the zone and Schwartz scored an empty-netter for a 4-1 lead.

Air Force outshot Mercyhurst, 16-10 in the third period and, 35-34, in the game. Air Force was 1-for-2 on the power play and the Lakers were 1-for-3. Guy Blessing made a season-high 33 saves for the Falcons and stopped 56 of 57 in the series. Carter McPhail stopped 31 of 34 for the Lakers.

"I thought this game was more of an even game than last night," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They finally got to Blessing with that power play rebound. The bottom line is when your best player is your goalie, that is a good thing. Blessing was the best player in both games. We have an awfully young team and they are playing above their fighting weight right now. We have some very key puzzle pieces. Give our guys credit as we are playing well around our goalie. With our young group to find a way to win the last four games is really special."

Air Force hits the road next weekend for a two-game league series at Bentley, Nov. 22-23, in Waltham, Mass.

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