Black Knights Fall to Falcons, 3-1

Friday, January 27

USAF Academy, CO

9:05 PM

Army West Point

13-9-3, 11-7-1AHC

Air Force

15-8-4, 12-5-2AHC

Army

Air Force

Black Knights Fall to Falcons, 3-1

January 27, 2017 | Hockey

Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Army West Point hockey team dropped a 3-1 decision to service academy rival Air Force Friday night. The Black Knights evened the score in the second period, but the Falcons netted two unanswered to win.

Ian Mansfield recorded the Cadets' lone goal, while Dominic Franco tallied the assist.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Air Force improved to 15-8-4 with tonight's win and clinched two points in the AHA where the Falcons boast a 12-5-2 mark.
Army fell to 13-9-3 on the year and is now 11-7-1 in AHA contests.
With tonight's goal, Mansfield recorded his first career point against the Falcons. Franco joined him with his first assist against Air Force.
Parker Gahagen recorded 24 saves on the night, while allowing just two as the final Falcon goal was an empty netter.
The Black Knights have not been shutout this season (24 games).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Gahagen made a statement right off the bat with a glove save off a dart 24 seconds into the game.
With seven minutes remaining into the first frame, Gahagen dove to the right to prevent an Air Force goal. This kept the score knotted at 0-0.
At the 17:11 minute mark, Air Force took a 1-0 lead with a rebounded shot by Evan Feno that snuck past Gahagen's hip.
Mansfield gave the Black Knights some momentum back with a goal six minutes into the second frame.
Franco stole the puck from the Falcons in their zone and fed it to Mansfield who zipped it past Shane Starrett's right shoulder to the pipe and into the net.
The teams had their second 4-on-4 bout of the night after the Falcons used some excessive force on Gahagen after the whistle.
Air Force went up 2-1 in the last minute of the second stanza after Jordan Himley went one-on-one with Gahagen baiting him out of position.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, the Black Knights experienced their first power play of the evening. Senior captain Ryan Nick got a great shot off which hit the pipe and unfortunately redirected out of the goal.
The Black Knights gained a power play to close-out the game with 1:35 on the clock, but the Falcons clinched the game with an empty netter with 0:56.1 to go.