Hockey's Third Period Rally Falls Just Short Against Air Force

Saturday, January 20

West Point, NY

4:00 PM

Army West Point

7-17-1, 5-12-1

Air Force

13-12-1, 10-5-1

Air Force

Army West Point

Hockey's Third Period Rally Falls Just Short Against Air Force

January 20, 2024 | Hockey

Box Score

WEST POINT, NY - Army West Point hockey (7-17-1, 5-12-1 Atlantic Hockey) came up just short in game two against Air Force (13-12-1, 10-5-1 Atlantic Hockey) as the Falcons sang second following a 7-6 win at Tate Rink on Saturday night.

Army trailed by four goals heading into the third period before scoring four times in the final frame, as an empty netter in the final minute was ultimately the difference.

Air Force picked up where it left off in its game one victory, scoring three times in the opening period as even strength goals from Will Staring and Austin Schwartz bookending the scoring in the period whule Clayton Cosentino scored off a deflection on a five-minute power-play as well in the first twenty minutes.

The second period started in the same manner, as Brendan Gibbons scored before Holt Oliphant tabbed another power-play score at the 8:49 mark to make it 5-0 Falcons. Gavin Abric came on in relief of Evan Szary following the goal, as Army began to stage its comeback.

The first goal came from Mac Gadowsky as he took a pass from Michael Sacco behind the net as the shot from Gadowsky deflected in off an Air Force skate to beat Guy Blessing for just the second time in the series. Making his return from a three-game absence due to injury, Joey Baez got back on the scoresheet just over a minute later with his team-leading 11th tally of the season on a break after Ricky Lyle got a takeaway and fed the puck across to Baez. Air Force halted the momentum just before the end of the period, with Cosentino scoring his second of the game on a breakaway to make it a 6-2 affair heading into the final period.

With Air Force nursing its four-goal lead, Lyle continued to cause fits for the Falcons as he made a pass to a trailing Andrew Garby at the 7:10 mark of the third as Garby deposited his second goal in as many games for him to make it a 6-3 game. Army took a penalty soon after, getting the kill before going on a power-play of its own with just over six minutes remaining. The Black Knights capitalized through Michael Sacco who scored his fourth of the season off a feed from Baez, as Air Force would then challenge the goal unsuccessfully which put them back on the penalty kill after using its timeout in the second period.

Army scored just a few seconds after the ensuing power-play was up, as Pierce Patterson delivered a perfect pass to Itagaki out in front who tapped home his fifth of the season to make it a one-goal game with 3:50 remaining. With the sold out crowd back to life, Army continued to push before pulling Abric with 90 seconds remaining. Following a faceoff after an icing, Air Force won the draw and Oliphant delivered a perfectly placed shot across the full length of the ice to get the empty net goal and restore the two-gaol advantage with 1:11 to play.

The Black Knights continued to push the pace, with Lyle then scoring from in close off a pass from John Driscoll which gave Lyle his third point of the night and once again made it a one-goal game with 39 seconds left. Air Force held the line for the closing seconds, as time ran out on Army who eventually outshot the Falcons for the second straight game, 37-35. Abric made 15 saves on 16 shots faced in relief as Lyle and Baez paced the offense with three points each.

Army will renew its series with the Royal Military College of Canada next Saturday at Tate Rink before heading to Bentley the following weekend to continue its Atlantic Hockey campaign.