USAFA, Colo. – Air Force scored two goals in the final two periods to break a 1-1 tie and handed the Army hockey team a 3-1 loss on Saturday night at Cadet Ice Center.
The Black Knights (5-16-2, 5-13-2 AHA) got their lone goal from Brendan McGuire, while Parker Gahagen finished with 32 saves on the night. Clint Carlisle earned an assist and he has tallied points in five of his last six games.
The Falcons (9-13-3, 8-6-2 AHA) won both games this weekend and Chad Demers is a major reason why as he scored the gamewinner tonight and finished the two games with four goals. Jonathan Kopacka and Scott Holm were the other goal scorers for the home team. Connor Girard made his first career start and stopped 25 to earn the win.
The Black Knights came out and got a lot more offensive pressure than last night. However, it was Air Force who went up first with Kopacka scoring from the redline. He fired a wrister from center ice that crossed up Gahagen. The netminder tried to blocker the puck to the corner, but it went into the top corner for the first lead of the game coming with 8:31 left in the first.
In the second period, Army evened it up with McGuire sneaking in his fifth of the year right after a power play had expired. Carlisle collected the puck off the side boards and fired a soft shot on net. Girard lunged out to cover the puck, but before he could, McGuire swooped in and chipped it over Girard’s shoulder to tie the game at the 11:31 mark.
The final five minutes were interesting with Army taking a five-minute major for slew-footing. The drama intensified a minute later with Nick DeCenzo getting behind the defense for a breakaway. He was hauled down and earned a penalty shot. He went in on Girard and made a couple of moves, but the puck fell off his stick and Girard covered it.
The momentum swung back in favor of the Falcons with Demers scoring his fourth goal of the weekend and second on the power play. Air Force worked the puck around the perimeter and Demers let a shot go from the right side and it beat Gahagen to give the Falcons the lead back at 2-1 with 3:27 left in the middle stanza.
The Falcons increased their lead to 3-1 with 12:29 left in the game as Holm beat Gahagen between the pads. The puck was bouncing all over the Army zone and Holm settled it down in the slot and fired a wrister that hit the back of the net for an insurance goal for Air Force.
Air Force was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Army went scoreless on five chances. The Falcons had a 35-26 shot advantage.
Army is back on the ice next Saturday as the rivalry with the Royal Military College ramps up at Tate Rink.
Ice Shavings: Army and Air Force played for the 63rd time … Air Force leads the series, 36-22-5, and has won the last four meetings … Pham’s five-game point streak came to an end … DeCenzo’s penalty shot was the second of the season for Army as Pham scored against Mercyhurst on Nov. 8 … Connor Girard made his first collegiate start for the Falcons tonight … Carlisle has points in five of his last six games and reached double digits with 10 points on the year.
