WEST POINT — It was deja vu in Tate Rink in West Point, NY on Saturday night.
Down one goal in the third period, the Air Force hockey team was resilient. Early in the third period, Austin Schwartz forced a turnover deep in the Army Black Knights end. Schwartz took a wrister from the bottom of the right circle that snuck past Army goalie Justin Evenson to tie the game at two.
The game would eventually go to overtime for the second night in a row. Air Force was looking for the series sweep, while Army was looking to keep their season alive.
Then 1:02 into the overtime period, Parker Brown scored the game-winner to lift Air Force to a 3-2 win over the Black Knights as the Falcons swept the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series.
“This is one of the toughest games I have played,” Brown said. “They battled so hard. They are a tough team to play against. Digby put a great shot on net and I was able to get enough on it to score. I didn’t even see it go in. I just saw the boys celebrating and I skated down to celebrate with Schills (Alex Schilling). There’s really no words to describe the emotions we are feeling tonight.”
With the victory, Air Force advances to the Atlantic Hockey Final Four for the 10th time in 16 years. The 10 trips to the semifinals tie the AHA record.
“It was a miraculous effort by our guys,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “We have a spirted group that is so fun to be around. Our culture has never been better. We have a special group and it takes a special group to come in here and do what we did. I have been so blessed to have so many great highlights in my coaching career, but none better than this. This group won just three games last season. Then we come back this season, with only one senior, and picked ninth in the coaches’ poll, and to get here is incredible. We were behind going into the third period both nights and found a way to get it done.”
Air Force will play the winner of Sunday’s Sacred Heart-RIT game on Friday, March 18, at 7:35 pm ET at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y.
_____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
