If only Air Force would get off to a fast start and score first, what could happen? It had been so long – 11 games to be precise – that it was fair to ask.
We found out on Saturday. The Falcons blitzed Army West Point for three goals in the first 7:39 of the game, and rode that start and another fast one in the second period to a 6-4 Atlantic Hockey triumph at Tate Rink at West Point, N.Y.
Six different players scored goals for Air Force (8-16-2, 4-11-1 AHA), but the game was not without drama as the Black Knights (8-14-3, 7-9-1) chopped a 5-1 Falcons lead to 5-3 and kept the pressure on in the final two periods.
Co-captains Luke Rowe and Willie Reim scored Air Force’s first two goals, and freshman Mason McCormick got the third in the first-period offensive that finished Gavin Abric’s night after the three goals on 11 shots. Abric was fantastic on Friday, stopping 33 of 34 Air Force shots on goal. Justin Evenson relieved Abric and stopped 18 of 21 shots.
Blake Bride and Nate Horn scored in the first 4:25 of the second period, and Parker Brown completed a nice 2-on-1 short-handed sequence with Bennett Norlin for Air Force’s sixth goal. Maiszon Balboa stopped 33 of 37 Army shots for his first win of the season.
Air Force’s scoring problem solved
Continually having to play catch-up caught up to the Falcons during a 1-11-1 slide, but they finally flipped the script Saturday with the first-period burst.
Bride, who was inserted into the lineup after sitting Friday, scored just 26 seconds into the second on a rebound of a Hedden shot that caromed to him in the low slot. Horn struck 3:59 later on another rebound right in front of Evenson.
Brown’s goal gave Air Force a 6-3 lead at 5:55 of the third and was a just outcome for a play he started. While the Falcons were killing a penalty, which was a bugaboo on Saturday, Brown gathered the puck near the AFA line and advanced to Norlin, who was off to the races down right wing. The fleet Brown jumped into the play to create an odd-man attack, and Norlin slid a cross-slot pass to Brown between a defender’s stick and skates that Evenson had no chance defend.
The goal eruption bodes well for reasons beyond the final score. It hopefully opens the floodgates to production from more sources.
Reim’s strike was his first since Nov. 19, a span of 13 games. Horns’s was his first since the next night, or 12 games ago. McCormick’s was his first since Nov. 5, a span of 16 games. Bride’s was his first of the season. And Brown’s was his first since Nov. 25, or 11 games ago. Only Rowe had tallied in 2023 among Saturday’s six scorers.
Reim, Horn and Brown play top-six roles for the Falcons, and both Reim and Horn had 11 goals last season. Reim now has seven and Horn six this season. Brown’s fifth tied a career high.
Beyond McCormick’s goal, two other freshmen – Hedden and winger Holt Oliphant had two-assist games, as did sophomore Clayton Cosentino. And Rowe also added an assist, giving him two points as well.
Penalties created another problem for Falcons
This was Army, so of course the game had to become interesting. The Falcons, and some might say the officials, had a hand in that.
The Black Knights had eight power plays to the Falcons’ three, and Army created all sorts of problems with the man advantage, Brown’s goal excepted.
Three times they scored on the power play, twice by Joey Baez – his 11th and 12th of the season, and a third time by Thomas Farrell shortly after Brown’s goal.
As tight as Friday’s game was, this one was looser, and that’s not a style that befits either of these programs.
Scoreboard watching
The challenge for Air Force continues to be making up ground to re-insert itself in the Atlantic Hockey playoff picture. Only the top eight teams will qualify.
The Falcons did their part Saturday, but next weekend’s opponent, Mercyhurst, could have helped them in the AHA standings. Ninth-place Bentley defeated the Lakers to remain four points ahead of Air Force. Eighth-place Canisius lost to Niagara and sits seven points above the Falcons.
Air Force will play Canisius in a little over two weeks to make up a series that was postponed in late December because Canisius was snowed in at Buffalo. That’s part of a stretch where Air Force will play six games in nine games – two at second-place Sacred Heart before the two against Canisius and two more against third-place AIC.
©First Line Editorial 2022
