Army scores three in third for a 4-4 overtime tie

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Army scored three goals in the third period in a 4-4 overtime tie with Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey America game, Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena. Army's Barron Woodring scored in the fifth round of a shootout for the shootout win and the extra point in the standings for the Black Knights.

Air Force (13-19-2, 10-13-1 AHA) drew first blood with a power play goal. Chris Hedden's centering pass went off a skate in the slot and Sam Stitz put it away for a 1-0 lead at 10:44 of the first period. The goal was Stitz's fourth in his last four games. Nolan Cunningham also had an assist to extend his point streak to four games.

A pair of seniors, Andrew DeCarlo and Clayton Cosentino, scored the next two goals on senior night. DeCarlo walked in front of Army goalie J.J. Cataldo, made two quick moves and lifted a back hand over the shoulder for a 2-0 lead at 14:27 of the second. Michael Kadlecik and Austin Schwartz had the assists.

Early in the second period, Cosentino scored his seventh of the season, and his 97^th career point, at 5:59. His linemates, Anthony Yu and Scwartz had the assists. Late in the second, Army got on the board with a power play goal at 18:06. Jack Ivey scored with a wrister from the center point as Mac Gadowsky and twin brother, Ben Ivey, had the assists. Air Force answered on the rush as Nick Sajevic scored on a breakaway with 54 seconds left in the second. Stitz and Ren Morque had the assists as Sajvic scored his second of the season and extended his point streak to four games.

Army (13-16-2, 13-9-2 AHA) trailed 4-1 entering the third period, but the Black Knights tied the game late in the third. Early in the third period, Army's Barron Woodring won a faceoff and Vincent Salice scored with a wrister from the top of the left circle at 4:54 of the third. Midway through the period, Sam Groebner fired a shot from the left point that bounced off the back wall and Nik Hong scored at 10:56 to cut the Falcon lead to 4-3. With 2:30 left in the third, Army pulled the goalie for the extra attacker. With 1:44 left, Max Gadowsky tied the game with a one-timer from the left point.

Neither team scored in overtime as the game headed to a shootout. In the first three rounds, each team scored twice as the game went to sudden death. In the fifth round, Army's Barron Woodring scored and Cataldo made a save as the Black Knights earned the shootout victory.

"We got beat by a better team," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Words can't express my utter disappointment. We failed in a big way tonight. Those were points we needed. Give Army all the credit in the world. Good for Brian Riley on his farewell tour. If there is any solace to be had from this, is that I'm happy for Brian. He carries himself with grace and class all the time. Army is feeling pretty good about themselves and they should be because they earned it."

Each team had 28 shots on goal in the game. Air Force was 1-for-1 on the power play while Army was 1-for-4. Guy Blessing and J.J. Cataldo each made 24 saves.

Air Force closes out the regular season at Robert Morris, Feb. 21-22, in Pittsburgh, Pa.

--30-

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.