COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 16, 2002) — Air Force scored six goals for the second straight night to defeat Alabama-Huntsville, 6-5, Saturday night at the Cadet Ice Arena to earn only its second ever CHA sweep. With the win, the Falcons record improved to 12-15-1 (3-10-1 CHA), while the Chargers fell to 13-16-1 (7-8-1 CHA).
“The fans were treated to a really exciting game tonight,” said Air Force Head Coach Frank Serratore. “Our power play left something to be desired, and theirs was good, but we worked hard, and got the bounces when we need them. We’re not as strong as they are, so we need to outwork them and we did that when we needed to tonight.”
Alabama-Huntsville opened up the scoring early in the first period, finding the back of the net at 3:15 of the period when forward Craig Bushy beat Air Force goaltender Zach Sikich. The Falcons even the game up at one just past midway through the period when forward Brian Gornick picked up a loose puck in front and shot it home. The Chargers regained the lead with only 40 seconds remaining in the period as forward Steve Charlebois scored a goal that beat Sikich on the short side.
After being outscored 2-1 in the first period, Air Force reversed things and outscored the Chargers, 2-1. Forward Tom Starkey evened the score up at two at 9:34 of the period on a goal that went in and out of the net, which was originally waved off by referee Randy Schmidt. However, after consulting with the linesmen and goal judge, the goal was awarded to the Falcons.
“The shot just hit the bar of the back of the net and came back out,” said Serratore. “I mean you could see our guys put their arms up and their shoulders slumped. The referee took the time to check on it and the right call was made.”
The Chargers clawed back and regained the lead on a power play goal by forward Jared Ross. Ross received a cross-ice pass from Bushey and shot it just inside the post before Sikich was able to slide over. Just as Alabama-Huntsville scored in the last minute of the first period, it was the Falcons turn in the second period and forward Andy Berg beat Charger goaltender Adam MacLean with a one-time at 19:15.
The two teams continued to play end-to-end and at 14:31 of the third period, after his team had just killed off a penalty, Falcon forward Shane Saum skated past three defenders and beat MacLean to give Air Force its first lead of the game at 5-4. Air Force forward Derek Olson added an empty-net goal at 19:03, which turned out to be very important as Charger forward Joel Bresciani scored with 10 seconds remaining to pull the Chargers back within one.
Sikich made 24 saves to earn the sweep and his third win of the season. MacLean made 32 saves in a losing effort.
Air Force hits the road next weekend to play two CHA games at Niagara, while Alabama-Huntsville travels to Findlay for a pair of CHA games.
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