Saturday, January 3
Tempe, AZ
7:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
10-8-2
2
at
5
Arizona State University
11-10-1
1
2
3
F
Air Force
1
0
1
2
Arizona St.
2
1
2
5
Falcons fall to ASU in championship game
1/3/2026 11:54:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
TEMPE, Ariz. – After an early Air Force lead, Arizona State rallied for a 5-2 win in the championship game of the Desert Hockey Classic, Saturday, Jan. 3, at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
Nick Remissong gave Air Force (10-8-2 overall) an early lead at 1:44 of the first period. His linemates Aidan Willis and Brendan Gibbons set up Remissong in the slot for his second of the season. Arizona State's top line then scored the next two goals for a 2-1 lead. Cullen Porter, a first-round pick of Calgary, scored on a one-timer on the power play at 9:45 to tie the game. With 3:33 left in the first, Bennett Schimek got loose for a breakaway for a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the second period, ASU's Logan Morrell scored a power-play goal on the rush for a 3-1 lead at 7:17.
Early in the third period, Air Force cut the ASU lead to 3-2 on the rush. Goalie Dominik Wasik played the puck behind his own net to Chris Hedden. Mason McCormick skated down the left side and scored off the pipe just 35 seconds into the third period. Wasik collected his first career assist on the play. ASU answered 90 seconds later when Carmelo Crandall won a puck on the wall, skated in front and scored at 2:02 of the third for a 4-2 lead. With under three minutes left, Air Force pulled the goalie. Crandall forced a turnover in his own end, skated the length of the ice and scored into the empty net to seal the ASU win.
Air Force outshot ASU, 18-4, in the third period and 35-23 in the game. ASU was 2-for-4 on the power play and killed both of Air Force advantages. Wasik made 18 saves for the Falcons. Connor Hasley made 33 for the home team that won its own tournament for the third straight year.
"ASU has a tremendous amount of speed and skill and we needed to counter that with good, honest, hard hockey," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We did that at times, but we didn't do it enough. A big part of the game was their dominance on the faceoff dot. That enabled them to have a lot of in-zone time. Give them some credit, they fell behind but they got back in it with their special teams. Overall, we played pretty well and I would like to think we learn from this game and we will be a better team moving forward into conference play."
Air Force returns to conference play with a home series against Bentley, Jan. 9-10, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
--30--
Nick Remissong gave Air Force (10-8-2 overall) an early lead at 1:44 of the first period. His linemates Aidan Willis and Brendan Gibbons set up Remissong in the slot for his second of the season. Arizona State's top line then scored the next two goals for a 2-1 lead. Cullen Porter, a first-round pick of Calgary, scored on a one-timer on the power play at 9:45 to tie the game. With 3:33 left in the first, Bennett Schimek got loose for a breakaway for a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the second period, ASU's Logan Morrell scored a power-play goal on the rush for a 3-1 lead at 7:17.
Early in the third period, Air Force cut the ASU lead to 3-2 on the rush. Goalie Dominik Wasik played the puck behind his own net to Chris Hedden. Mason McCormick skated down the left side and scored off the pipe just 35 seconds into the third period. Wasik collected his first career assist on the play. ASU answered 90 seconds later when Carmelo Crandall won a puck on the wall, skated in front and scored at 2:02 of the third for a 4-2 lead. With under three minutes left, Air Force pulled the goalie. Crandall forced a turnover in his own end, skated the length of the ice and scored into the empty net to seal the ASU win.
Air Force outshot ASU, 18-4, in the third period and 35-23 in the game. ASU was 2-for-4 on the power play and killed both of Air Force advantages. Wasik made 18 saves for the Falcons. Connor Hasley made 33 for the home team that won its own tournament for the third straight year.
"ASU has a tremendous amount of speed and skill and we needed to counter that with good, honest, hard hockey," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We did that at times, but we didn't do it enough. A big part of the game was their dominance on the faceoff dot. That enabled them to have a lot of in-zone time. Give them some credit, they fell behind but they got back in it with their special teams. Overall, we played pretty well and I would like to think we learn from this game and we will be a better team moving forward into conference play."
Air Force returns to conference play with a home series against Bentley, Jan. 9-10, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
--30--
Team Stats
AF_
ASU
Shots
35
23
PPG
0
2
SHG
0
0
Penalties
4
3
Penalty Mins
8
6
Faceoffs Won
17
45
Game Leaders
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyStacy McIntyre and Player POST UNLV
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Joe Scott, Caleb Walker and Kam Sanders Post Game vs Wyoming
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Air Force falls to Wyoming
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