Falcons blank Sacred Heart, 2-0

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force junior goalie Guy Blessing recorded his third career shutout as the Falcons blanked Sacred Heart, 2-0, in an Atlantic Hockey game Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force and SHU split the two-game series.

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons finally solved Pioneer goalie Justin Robbins late in the second period. Chris Hedden retrieved a puck in his own end and made a long outlet pass to Brendan Gibbons at the far blue line, triggering a 3-on-1. A freshman winger from Wakefield, R.I., Gibbons scored with a wrister from the right circle that tucked under the bar at 16:06. Fellow freshman Owen Dubois also assisted on the play.

Early in the third period, the Falcons took a 2-0 lead. Clayton Cosentino forced a turnover behind the net and centered the puck to Will Gavin. Gavin netted his league-leading 19^th goal of the season at the 3:07 mark of the third period. SHU had seven shots in the first 40 minutes of the game, but had 11 in the third period. SHU (14-15-2, 14-8-1 AHA) pulled the goalie with 3:37 left. The Falcons blocked four shots, two by Parker Brown, and Blessing made four saves to secure the win.

Air Force (15-16-1, 12-9-1 AHA) outshot SHU, 38-18. Each team was 0-for-4 on the power play. Blessing made 18 saves for his second shutout of the season. Justin Robbins made 36 saves for the Pioneers.

"We have had some good efforts this season, but this was our finest hour," head coach Frank Serratore said. "This was our best performance of the year. This was a must-win for us. We had lost four in a row and it started to spiral and it didn't feel good. Territorially, this was a 2-0 butt-kicking, but their goalie was terrific tonight and all weekend. We didn't give them much and Blessing was good when we needed him. We are going to Rochester to play the first-place team and right now we feel a whole lot better after the performance tonight."

Air Force travels to Rochester, N.Y., for a two-game AHA series against RIT, Feb. 16-17.

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Team Stats

Will Gavin

Brendan Gibbons

Chris Hedden

Owen Dubois

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Parker Brown

Clayton Cosentino

Owen Dubois

Will Gavin

Brendan Gibbons

Chris Hedden

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