U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Holy Cross scored two power-play goals midway through the first period and held on for a 3-2 win over Air Force, Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Holy Cross (10-19-2, 8-12-2 AHA) took advantage of a major penalty on Air Force with two goals in a span of 69 seconds for a 2-0 lead midway through the first period. Nick Hale scored first with a blast from the left point at 9:57. Jack Ricketts gave the Crusaders a 2-0 lead at 11:06 as Ryan Leibold made a pass from the goal line to Ricketts on the back door. Leading 2-0, Crusader Jack Robilotti had a breakaway that was saved by Falcon goalie Alex Schilling. Jasper Lester and Nate Horn each drew penalties, giving the Falcons a 5-on-3. Luke Rowe put the Falcons on the board at 18:16 with one-timer from the left circle. Brandon Koch and Will Gavin assisted on the power-play goal.
Early in the second period, the Crusaders took a 3-1 lead on a 3-on-2 rush. Leibold set up Grayson Constable for his seventh of the season 47 seconds into the second period.
Air Force (11-15-2, 9-11-2 AHA) scored its second power-play goal of the game at 11:36 when Brandon Koch scored his first goal of the season. Clayton Cosentino made a cross-ice pass to Koch in the right circle to cut the Crusader lead to 3-2. Koch's 20th point of the season was also assisted by Gavin. Gavin had two assists in the game and extended his point streak to nine games (7-8-15). Cosentino extended his streak to six games.
With 5:40 left in the game, a major penalty was called on Crusader defenseman Mike Higgins. With 1:40 left in the third, the Falcons pulled the goalie for a two-man advantage, but could not get the equalizer against Holy Cross goalie Matt Radomsky.
Air Force outshot Holy Cross, 32-21, in the game. The Falcons were 2-for-9 on the power play while the Crusaders were 2-for-4. Radomsky made 30 saves for the visitors. Schilling made 18 for the Falcons.
"We played a lot better than we did last night," head coach Frank Serratore said. "But their goalie was really good and we got out-special-teamed. They did on their major power play what we needed to do. They scored two goals. We both scored two power-play goals, but we had nine power plays in the game. Holy Cross competes so hard. We got that major power play at the most opportune time, but their penalty kill and their goalie got it done."
Air Force hits the road next week for a pair of conference games at Bentley, Feb. 18-19, in Waltham, Mass.
