For much of Friday’s game Air Force kept the pressure on Mercyhurst, but when there was a lapse Billy Christopoulos was there to slam the door.
The senior goaltender stopped all 18 Lakers shots he faced, including a handful of point-blank ones off rushes, as the Falcons took a 2-0 Atlantic Hockey victory at Cadet Arena. In the process, Christopoulos got his second shutout in a row and extended his overall goal-less streak to 157 minutes, 46 seconds.
“We were the slightly better team for the majority of the night, the shots indicated that,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “When we had a breakdown, Bill was there.”
Kyle Haak scored a power-play goal early in the second period and Trevor Stone tallied on a breakaway five minutes later to give Air Force (9-6, 9-4 AHC) all the offense it would need.
Special teams again key
Haak’s goal came 1:42 into the second on a rebound of Matt Koch‘s shot from between the circles after a lengthy stay in the Lakers’ zone.
“We were in the zone for 40 or 50 seconds, which starts with the faceoff,” the senior center said. “Then we had two or three retrievals. Goose (Evan Giesler) vacated the front of the net to get it to the three guys up high. I filled his spot, he filled my spot and we had double-layer traffic. (The puck) came on the stick at the right time.”
The Falcons also killed off all three of their penalties, extending that streak to 25.
“We like to be very aggressive on our penalty kill,” defenseman Zack Mirageas said. “A lot of teams try to sit back, block shots, put sticks in lanes. We take it too them.
“Our mentality is we want to make them make a decision before they’re ready to.”
The Falcons’ PK mettle was put to the test in the third period when they had to make two of their kills, and again in the final 2 minutes, when Mercyhurst pulled goalie Garrett Metcalf (27 saves).
Air Force locks down the Lakers
After Stone took a nice pass from Giesler out of the zone and jetted in from the red line to beat the Lakers goalie with a nifty forehand-backhand-forehand move, the Falcons went into lockdown mode. This was particularly apparent in the third period, when they held Mercyhurst (7-8-2, 5-5-1) to just three shots on goal.
A key, Mirageas said, was limiting the Lakers’ stays.
“Our defense has come a long way since the first game,” he said. “We’re getting back to pucks quickly, we’re making easy plays, we’re playing as a pair, making tape to tape passes and just getting out of the defensive zone in the least amount of time as possible.”
Still, the Lakers had some chances, including a dandy with 9:44 left, when Christopoulos stretched to make a fantastic right toe save on a breakaway.
“We played a good defensive game but somehow we gave up a lot of 2 on 1s, blocked shots, defensemen stepping up at the wrong time,” Haak said. “As far as sustained pressure I thought we did a good job shutting them down and keeping them to the outside.”
And on the occasions that didn’t happen, Christopoulos was there.
“They’ve got some opportunists,” Serratore said. “You can’t let them have so may outnumbered rushes or they’re going to capitalize on them. They could have turned this game. When they did get them, Bill came up big.”
Notes
Mercyhurst has an interesting Colorado connection. Metcalf, a Salt Lake City native, played some of his travel hockey for the Colorado Rampage, which is based in Monument just up I-25 from the Academy. He was a 2015 draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks and began his college career at UMass-Lowell. He is a redshirt junior for the Lakers. … Sophomore Max Harper, who missed the first 14 games as he recovered from a lower-body injury, was in the lineup for the first time this season.
Air Force’s three stars
- Billy Christopoulos. The senior had his second shutout in a row and had to make some huge saves to keep a 2-0 game intact.
- Trevor Stone. He broke the game open with a breakaway goal and all over the ice.
- Kyle Haak. The steady senior scored his fourth goal of the season by helping keep possession alive on a power play.
Up next
The teams play again Saturday at 5:05 p.m. at Cadet Arena. Bring your bears for the annual Teddy Bear Toss.
©First Line Editorial 2017-18
