Winning doesn’t cure all ills but it sure goes a long way.
Air Force had struggled mightily since New Year’s Eve. The Falcons took a 7-1 shellacking from Denver on home ice. They traveled to Holy Cross for a pair and managed just one point. Bentley visited Colorado Springs and took home three points. Air Force had slipped to fourth place in Atlantic Hockey and was in danger of dipping further in the tight race.
Paul Weisgarber and Air Force got back on track against Army.
“We had not been playing Falcon hockey,” coach Frank Serratore said. “The energy, the vigor and passion has not been there. When that’s happening, it doesn’t matter who you are playing. If we don’t have that as a foundation, we ain’t going to have success against anybody.”
So Air Force traveled to West Point with a lot on the line, beyond the fact this was another renewal of the passionate service-academy rivalry with Army.
The weekend didn’t get off to an ideal start as Army managed a late short-handed goal to forge a 3-3 overtime tie before a national television audience. It wasn’t totally satisfying for the Falcons, but it wasn’t a complete loss either.
“Before the (Saturday) game I talked to the team,” Serratore said. “I said, ‘All right, we took a step. Are we going to take another step today or are we going to step back?’”
Serratore got the answer he was looking for. Air Force totally dominated Army through nearly 50 minutes of action and Jason Torf finally won his first game of the season as the Falcons prevailed 4-2.
“I thought our team was tremendous,” Serratore said. “The effort was tremendous. The first two periods, shots were 17-6 (in our favor). We worked hard but we were forced to overcome a lot of adversity.”
Air Force took seven penalties and gave Army six power-play opportunities – the Black Knights capitalized just once, with less than a second to play in regulation. Most impressive was the Falcons’ ability to kill off a five-minute major assessed to Chad Demers for charging into Army goalie Rob Tadazak to open the second period – Serratore claims Demers was “chopped down” before crashing into the freshman. Army managed two shots in the opening 45 seconds of the man-advantage and nothing else.
Torf was not spectacular with just 16 saves, but he didn’t have to be. It was his first win in a season that came to a crashing halt on Oct. 8 when Torf tore his groin against Michigan State. He resumed light skating in December and saw his first action on Jan. 14 against Bentley when he made 21 stops and lost a 2-1 decision.
“He’s played two games and played very well,” Serratore said of Torf, who dazzled as Andrew Volkening’s replacement in 2010-11, posting a 16-9-3 record and 2.87 goals against average. “We’re all very proud of Jason.”
Senior Stephen Caple played in Torf’s absence, posting a 10-4-5 record and 2.29 goals against. Caple made 18 saves in Friday’s tie, but he gave up a short-handed goal to Mark Dube with 3:39 left in regulation.
“Steve Caple not only filled in for Torf, he more than filled in,” Serratore said. “He was 9-2-2 in the games before Christmas. He came back and I threw him to the wolves at Colorado College, saying ‘Put up or shut up,’ and he put up and beat them. How do I not come back with that guy? The next week at Holy Cross he showed up when everybody else on our team didn’t. (Friday) night he did his thing – he wasn’t great but he certainly wasn’t bad. He’s earned the right to be considered in the mix.”
For now, Air Force doesn’t have a No. 1 goalie.
“Right now we feel we have two guys that deserve to play,” Serratore said. “We’ll probably let it play out a little bit.”
It was the first time Air Force had beaten Army at Tate Rink since Jan. 2004 and the first time the Falcons escaped West Point with at least three points since Dec. 2001.
Air Force has proven to be one of the toughest teams down the stretch in Atlantic Hockey play. Was a three-point weekend at West Point the start of something good?
“I would like to think so but we’ll see (Sunday) at Canisius,” Serratore said. “I liked what I saw (Saturday night against Army). If we can replicate that we will have a good stretch run. I hope we can build off this and we should be able to. The formula they had tonight will work regardless of who we play. We just have to stick to it.”
ARMY UPDATE
Bad situation made worse: Army freshman goalie Rob Tadazak was run into twice during Saturday’s game against Air Force. The second collision resulted in a concussion, said coach Brian Riley. As of Wednesday, Tadazak was still suffering headaches and his short-term status is in doubt. Tadazak is 0-6-3 with a 3.01 goals against in nine starts and one relief outing.
The job falls to junior incumbent Ryan Leets, who is off to a 2-8-4 start with a 3.27 goals against.
Army is in the midst of a six-game winless streak (0-1-5). Army opened the season at 0-4-2 and went 0-5-4 between wins over Sacred Heart on Nov. 11 and RPI on Dec. 30.
“We’re a team that’s challenged offensively to score goals,” Riley said. “It’s almost like the longer the game goes without us scoring, the pressure just builds. When we do score that first goal they just seem to be a lot looser.”
An unfriendly barn: Army is winless (0-7-3) in 10 games at Tate Rink, something unheard of in West Point history.
“We do think about it,” co-captain Mike Hull said. “We want to win for our team and for our fans who support us so well but at the same time we don’t let that affect us going into the game. We don’t think, ‘Oh crap we haven’t won at home’ and get uptight or too tense. Does it sting a little bit? Of course but we don’t let it negatively affect us.”
Army plays a home-and-home with Bentley this weekend, and hosts Canada’s Royal Military College on Feb. 4 in a renewal of what had been the longest-running international hockey series.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
If the playoffs started today: First-round matchups would have No. 12 Sacred Heart at No. 5 Niagara, No. 11 Army at No. 6 Connecticut, No. 10 American International at No. 7 Holy Cross and No. 9 Canisius at No. 8 Bentley. The byes would go to No. 1 Mercyhurst, No. 2 Rochester Institute of Technology, No. 3 Robert Morris and No. 4 Air Force.
Players of the week: Daniel O’Donoghue of Mercyhurst shared the award with Cody Crichton of Robert Morris. O’Donoghue, a sophomore forward, had two goals and two assists as Mercyhurst beat Holy Cross 3-2 in overtime and tied 5-5. Crichton, a senior forward, had a goal and assist on consecutive nights as Robert Morris won a pair at Connecticut, 4-3 and 2-1, putting an end to the Huskies’ four-game win streak.
Goalie of the week: RIT senior Shane Madolora won for the fourth time and third time in the past four weeks. Madolora stopped 62 of 63 shots as RIT blanked Bentley 2-0 and beat the Falcons 2-1 – Bentley had its six-game league unbeaten streak come to an end. The shutout win was Madolora’s third in a row, and he extended his streak to 211 minutes, 1 second. Madolora ranks third in the nation with a .935 save percentage.
Rookie of the week: Chris Lochner of Niagara posted his first career hat trick, all on the power play, as the Purple Eagles beat AIC 6-1 on Saturday.
Clean sweep: Canisius beat Sacred Heart 2-0 and 4-3. It was the first Golden Griffin sweep of the Pioneers since the 2003-04 season. Tony Capobianco posted his first career shutout with a 28-save effort on Friday.
Coming up: It’s first versus second as league leader Mercyhurst visits runner-up Rochester Institute of Technology in a Friday-Saturday set. The Eastern pod teams all play home-and-home sets with Bentley opening at Army, Holy Cross at Connecticut and Sacred Heart at American International. Likewise for Niagara, opening at Robert Morris. Air Force visits Canisius on Sunday.
