USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Purple Eagles hockey team produced a significantly better effort Saturday night in their second game of the weekend against the Air Force Falcons. An Air Force goal with 7:52 to play and an empty-net tally made the difference in a 3-1 Niagara loss Saturday night at the Cadet Ice Arena.
TJ Sarcona picked up Niagara’s lone goal in the loss late in the second period, with assists coming from Stephen Pietrobon and Matt Chiarantano. Jackson Teichroeb made 23 saves on 25 shots against, as the junior netminder fell to 1-6-1 on the season.
Late in the third period tied 1-1, Niagara had their fair share of chances to take their first lead of the weekend. Brock Edwards was just denied on a three-on-two with eight minutes to play, and Air Force turned around with an odd-man rush of their own where Phil Boje scored the game-winning goal, narrowly beating the blocker of Teichroeb.
“To go from bad to good, we had to eliminate our mistakes, and we did that tonight,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “To go from good to great, we have to make plays, and right now we are not. It looked like Brock was putting in the game-winner, and next thing you know, you look up and they score on the rush.”
Although they managed just 14 shots on goal in Friday’s loss, the Purple Eagles (3-18-3, 3-13-2 Atlantic Hockey) got off to a decidedly better start on Saturday, outshooting Air Force 13-6 in the opening stanza. Teichroeb made a few strong saves when the moment required it, and the Purple Eagles knocked on the doorstep on several different occasions.
The Purple Eagles got into a bit of penalty trouble midway through the second period, and that led to a five-on-three chance for Air Force (12-9-3, 10-5-3 Atlantic Hockey). Erik Baskin cashed in with his second power-play goal in as many nights to open the scoring at the 15:57 mark. Air Force finished the first 40 minutes of play going 1-for-5 on the power play, with Teichroeb turning away nine of 10 man-advantage shots against.
During some four-on-four play just three minutes later, Niagara knotted the scoring on Sarcona’s goal. Chiarantano forced a turnover at the Niagara blue line to start a three-on-two break. He found Pietrobon for a shot that was turned away, but Sarcona slid a shot along the ice from the left of the net for the Purple Eagles’ first goal of the weekend.
Niagara was able to kill off a penalty to start off the third period as both teams traded chances throughout. With 7:52 to play, however, Air Force took the lead off a three-on-two rush with Boje’s goal. Niagara pulled Teichroeb in favor of an extra attacker with two minutes left, but Baskin tapped an empty-netter home to seal the win.
After playing seven of eight January games to date on the road, the Purple Eagles return home Jan. 29 and 30 to host the Army Black Knights. Tickets are available at the Dwyer Arena ticket office or by phone at (716) 286-TIXX (8499).
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