WEST POINT, N.Y. – After being scoreless in regulation, Army and Air Force skated in sudden death overtime Sunday night at Tate Rink. The Falcons scored off a deflection six minutes into the extra frame to claim the weekend series.
Cole Bruns was outstanding in net for the Black Knights with 39 saves, his highest since February 3rd against Niagara.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
Army finished the season 3-2-0 against Air Force.
The Black Knights played strong defensively with two players recording five blocks.
For the second straight night, Blake Box notched five blocks.
Brendan Soucie joined the club with five of his own.
John Zimmerman followed with three.
The Falcons outshot the Cadets 40-15 in the game.
Army’s leaders in shots were Tucker DeYoung (4) and Conor Andrle (2).
The two teams totaled five penalties throughout the 66:38 minutes played.
Army’s senior class caps their careers with 115 goals, 225 assists and 340 points.
Conor Andrle totaled 98 career points, while Tyler Pham had 97.
Dalton MacAfee skated in his 100th career game tonight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
PERIOD ONE (ARMY 0 – AIR FORCE 0)
Army had two main opportunities to score in the first period.
The first was set up by Dominic Franco, but Zach Evancho’s shot was saved by Billy Christopoulos.
Following that, John Laurito fired a shot from the slot which bounced off the netminder.
Trevor Fidler was trailing the play, but the puck was out of reach.
The Falcons were awarded the first power play of the game, but Bruns spoiled the effort with a save with 13 seconds remaining.
PERIOD TWO (ARMY 0 – AIR FORCE 0)
Army went on its first power play opportunity of the game five minutes in.
Five minutes later, the Black Knights’ penalty kill was put to the test yet again.
Neither team was successful, but just after the man-advantage expired for Air Force, Bruns made saves in a frenzy of shots by the Falcons.
Towards the end of the frame, Bruns picked up two more quick stops at about the one minute mark to maintain the 0-0 score.
PERIOD THREE (ARMY 0 – AIR FORCE 0)
The excitement continued to build in the third frame.
Army picked up its shot attempts in the period thanks to DeYoung and Andrle who both had close chances, but Christopoulos picked up the saves.
There were no penalties in the stanza as the teams were preparing for overtime.
Bruns tallied 35 saves at the end of regulation including one off his noggin.
OVERTIME (AIR FORCE 1 – ARMY 0)
The Falcons scored 6:38 into the overtime off a bad deflection. The puck bounced off an Army stick to go past Bruns for the game.
