The good news – Air Force took three leads on Friday night.
The bad news – the Falcons lost all three of them, and riding momentum from its third goal late in regulation, Bentley scored again just 2:03 into overtime for a 4-3 Atlantic Hockey Conference victory at Waltham, Mass.
Brendan Hamblet‘s strike off a scramble in front of Billy Christopoulos capped the hosts’ furious rally. Jonathan Desbiens had tied the score for a third time with 2:18 to in regulation.
“This was a winnable game,” AFA coach Frank Serratore said. “We had the lead late, we killed off some penalties. It’s tough to take.”
The loss, combined with AIC’s victory over Niagara, dropped Air Force four points back of the league leaders. Bentley is just three points behind AFA but in fifth place.
Special teams show up
One of the more disheartening aspects of the loss for Air Force (13-10-4, 11-7-3 AHC) was its special teams were very good.
The visitors scored two power-play goals on seven chances – including their first and third tallies, while firing 11 of their 23 shots. And AFA killed off all six Bentley penalties, limiting the hosts to just three of their 27 shots on goal in the process.
“It was a little loose. Some of the (Bentley) goals that were scored, nobody covered anybody,” Serratore said. “This was tough; we worked so hard. We had two power-play goals. Give Bentley credit, they worked hard to come back to tie it.”
Air Force also lost despite dominating in the circle, winning 46 of 74 face-offs (62 percent).
Scoring blitz
After a scoreless first, the teams combined for four goals in the first 2:45 of the second period.
Kieran Durgan scored on a rebound of an Evan Feno shot on a carryover power play just 23 seconds into the period. But Bentley’s Ryan Gorowsky evened things just 23 seconds later when he buried a feed from Luke Santerno. Santerno’s initial shot landed on top of the net behind goalie Christopoulos (19 saves), but the forward retrieved the puck and fed Gorowsky from behind the net.
But Trevor Stone restored the Air Force lead just six seconds later. Feno poked the ensuing face-off into the Bentley zone, Stone retrieved it and beat Aidan Pelino (24 saves).
Just less than two minutes later, Michael Zuffante tied it again for Bentley (11-11-3, 10-7-2 AHC), and that’s how it stood for the next period and a half.
Closing it out
Air Force put itself in prime position to finish the job and end Bentley’s seven-game unbeatend streak and surge of the AHC standings. Senior co-captain Evan Giesler struck on the power play off a pass from Kyle Haak for a 3-2 lead with 9:44 in the game.
As the period wound down, the hosts wound up, eventually getting Desbiens’ tying strike and then a power-play opportunity in the closing minute that carried over into overtime. AFA killed that off, but Hamblet’s strike ended it.
“We need to start making some strides,” Serratore said. “Are we good enough? We viewed this as a playoff series. Tomorrow we look at elimination, that’s how we are going to look at the rest of the series this season.”
Air Force’s three stars
- Kieran Durgan. The freshman had a goal and an assist.
- Evan Feno. The senior had assists on AFA’s first two goals.
- Matt Pulver. Exhibit A for hard work, the junior was a penalty-killing force.
Up next
The teams conclude their series Saturday at 5:05 p.m. 1300 AM will carry the broadcast.
©First Line Editorial 2017-19
