Blessing stops 34 in 4-1 win over Bentley

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Senior Guy Blessing made 34 saves and Air Force scored short-handed and on the power play for a 4-1 win over Bentley in an Atlantic Hockey America game Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force (11-12-1, 8-6-0 AHA) earned a series split with second-place Bentley.

Bentley (12-8-2, 10-5-1 AHA) took the early lead when Stephen Castagna set up Jake Black in front for a one-timer just 3:02 into the game.
After nine scoreless periods against Bentley, Air Force finally broke the seal. And did so with two goals in a span of 37 seconds. Bentley goalie Connor Hasley collided with Falcon winger Sam Stitz behind the net and both players went down. Stitz got up and tucked the puck into the open net to tie the game at 10:27. Holt Oliphant and Nolan Cunningham assisted on the play. The Falcons took the lead at 11:04 on the rush as junior Mason McCormick snapped a wrister past Hasley from the right circle. McCormick's third of the season came from Austin Schwartz and Mitchell Digby.

Late in the second period with Bentley on the power play, Austin Schwartz forced a turnover and skated the puck deep into the Bentley end. Schwartz fed Oliphant for a shot from the right side. His shot was redirected by Chris Hedden for Air Force's first short-handed goal of the season. Hedden's second career shortie came with 19 seconds left in the period.

Midway through the third period, Schwartz won a race to a loose puck and drew a penalty on Bentley. The Falcons capitalized as sophomore defenseman Nolan Cunningham scored his first career power-play goal, from Hedden and Cosentino, at 8:52.

Bentley pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker with 4:10 remaining. After three blocked shots and a save by Blessing, tempers flared. The result was a total of 75 penalty minutes, 45 on Bentley and 30 on Air Force. Air Force closed out the game on a power play and won for the third Saturday night.

Bentley outshot Air Force, 35-23, in the game. Air Force was 1-for-2 on the power play and killed all three Bentley power plays. Bentley goalie Connor Hasley, who shut out Air Force in the first three games this season, allowed four goals and made 19 saves.

"The first two periods were chaotic, but Blessing stood tall and kept us in it," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They tried to knock us out early. They scored that early goal and they had us on our heels. They are really good team. We finally found a way to score a few goals, but special teams and goaltending were the difference for us. We can play better, we were good tonight, but not great. It says a lot about our group when you don't play your best, but you still beat a good team. We need to better, especially next weekend at Army. They should be feeling good about themselves, but we are as well."

Air Force travels to West Point, N.Y., for a two-game AHA series with the Army Black Knights, Jan. 17-18.

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Team Stats

Chris Hedden

Nolan Cunningham

Austin Schwartz

Holt Oliphant

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Nolan Cunningham

Mitchell Digby

Chris Hedden

Mason McCormick

Holt Oliphant

Austin Schwartz

Sam Stitz

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