Falcons scored four in the third for 6-3 win at Canisius

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Air Force scored four goals in the third period for a 6-3 win over Canisius in an Atlantic Hockey America game Friday, Nov. 28, at Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y. Air Force has now won three straight and seven of the last nine.

Canisius (7-7-1, 3-5-1 AHA) scored in the first five minutes for the first period and another in last minute for a 2-0 lead. At 5:04, Griff Kyan Haldenby won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Cole Miller scored with a wrister from the slot for a 1-0 lead. Later in the period, the Griffs had a 3-on-1 rush and Hunter Price scored on a give-and-go with 24 seconds left in the first period.

Early in the second period, Falcon goalie Dominik Wasik made a pair of saves on an odd-man, short-handed rush by the Griffs and another on a breakaway to keep the Falcons within two goals. Air Force (8-6-1, 5-4-0 AHA) scored two goals in a span of 66 seconds. Mason McCormick won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Nolan Cunningham scored his fifth of the season at 7:17. After a big hit by McCormick in the neutral zone, the Falcons tied the game at 2-2. On the rush, a shot by Sam Stitz was saved, but Nick Sajevic put back the rebound at 8:11. Just over a minute later, Griff winger Stefano Bottini made a wrap-around pass and Killian Kiecker-Olson scored at 9:26 for a 3-2 lead.

Air Force tied the game at 7:18 of the third period on Anthony Yu's third of the season as McCormick and Oliphant had the assists. Yu has a goal in three straight games and five points in his last four games. The Falcons took their first lead of the game at 13:48 on Oliphant's fourth of the season when he redirected a shot by Cunningham. Air Force took a 5-3 lead on the rush as Will Dawson and Sajevic set up Stitz for his team-leading sixth goal of the season at 17:26. Canisius pulled the goalie with 2:28 left for a two-man advantage, but Ren Morque scored a short-handed, empty-netter with 1:51 left for a 6-3 lead.

Canisius outshot Air Force, 32-29. Air Force was 0-for-4 on the power play and killed all three of the Griff man advantages. Wasik had 29 saves while Chase Clark had 23 for the home team.

"That game could have been over in the first period and a half. They easily could have had four or five goals, but they didn't because of Dominik Wasik," head coach Frank Serratore said. "He was our best player again. He kept us within striking distance. They didn't get much in that third period and they didn't have much left in the tank. We started to take over. Wasik kept us in it and we found our way to a few goals. They are a big, strong, old and heavy team, but our boys are spirited and stayed with it. Give them credit for how they played early and give our guys, and our goalie, credit for bending and not breaking and coming back for this win."

Air Force and Canisius conclude the two-game league series Saturday, Nov. 29, at 1:05 pm ET in Buffalo, N.Y.

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