Air Force Takes Series Lead After Game One

Friday, March 9

West Point, NY

7:05 PM

Army West Point

15-14-6, 12-10-6AHA

Air Force - Quarterfinals

19-13-5, 13-11-4AHA

Air Force

Army West Point

Air Force Takes Series Lead After Game One

March 09, 2018 | Hockey

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – After a back-and-forth battle throughout the game, the Army West Point hockey team fell to Air Force 5-3 Friday night in game one of the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights and Air Force have now met five times in the postseason.
Dominic Franco netted his sixth power play goal of the year tonight as Army's first goal.
He now totals 29 points on the year and 51 in his career.
Michael Wilson continued his three-game point streak tonight with a goal.
He leads the Black Knights with 18 goals and 30 points.
Brendan Soucie also scored for the Cadets for his seventh of the year and 22nd in his two seasons.
Players in the assist column were Dalton MacAfee, John Zimmerman, Conor Andrle and Blake Box.
Andrle continues to increase his career numbers and now totals 98 points.
Cole Bruns had 20 saves in net tonight.

HOW IT HAPPENED
PERIOD ONE (ARMY 1 – Air Force 1)

The Falcons were aggressive out of the game with a 5-0 shot advantage halfway through the first period.
It was a battle of the power play in the first stanza with Air Force getting on the board first with its man-advantage unit.
The Falcons worked the puck along the blue line and passed it down to Evan Giesler who was waiting at the right dot. He redirected it past Bruns for the score.
The Black Knights answered two minutes later when Franco shot the puck past Billy Christopoulos from the slot, also on the power play.
This tied the game at 1-1-.

PERIOD TWO (AIR FORCE 3 – ARMY 2)

It continued to be a back-and-forth battle in the second frame.
Army scored an even strength goal eight minutes into the period. Box dumped the puck to Andrle and he skated around the net with it and finally fired a shot near the Black Knights' bench.
Wilson connected on the top of the crease to score for Army.
Air Force bounced back with two straight goals in the frame.

PERIOD THREE (AIR FORCE 5 – ARMY 3)

Following the first five minutes of the final stanza, the Falcons padded their lead. Jordan Himley sniped a shot from the blue line.
Army didn't quit though and Soucie scored unassisted from the left circle to bring the game back within one.
With 1:40 remaining, Army pulled Bruns to give them a 6-on-5 advantage.
The Black Knights had a few near opportunities, but an empty net goal

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