Air Force hockey falls to Colorado College, 5-1, in exhibition game
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Colorado College scored two goals in the second period and three in the third for a 5-1 win over Air Force in an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Air Force opened the scoring late in the first period. Falcon forwards Clayton Cosentino and Parker Brown controlled the puck and Luke Rowe put back a rebound with a slap shot from the left circle with 3:49 left in the first.
Colorado College dominated play early in the second period and had an 8-1 shot advantage in the first five minutes. The Tigers tied the game at 3:43 when Matthew Gleason put back a rebound at the top of the crease. Midway through the period, a major penalty was called on Air Force defenseman Luke Robinson, but the Falcon penalty was up to the task with a pair of blocked shots, three saves and nine clears. However, shortly after the power play expired CC’s Noah Prokop gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead at 15:48. Late in the period, a major penalty was called on Tiger forward Hunter McKown and the Falcons had a major power play. After Mitchell Digby drew a penalty, the Falcons had a 5-on-3, but were unable to net the equalizer.
Early in the third period, Gleason scored his second of the game with a wrister from the left circle at 3:10. Tiger forward Ryan Beck scored on the power play at 13:43 for a 4-1 lead. After that goal, Air Force goalie Guy Blessing was pulled from the net as freshman Aaron Randazzo played the final six minutes. The Falcons pulled Randazzo late for the extra attacker and Tyler Coffey scored an empty-netter with 1:58 left.
Colorado College outshot Air Force, 39-33. Air Force was 0-for-4 on the power play and CC was 1-for-5. Blessing made 30 saves while Randazzo made three. For the Tigers, Matt Vernon started and made 17 saves while Kaidan Mbereko played the final 30 minutes and made 15 saves.
“We got virtually everything we needed from the game in terms of situational play,” associate head coach Joe Doyle said. “We were able to work on just about every type of situation and that will help us this coming week. We took too many penalties and we can’t take two majors. We want to play hard and physical, but we need to figure out what is a good check and what isn’t. It is hard to win a game from the penalty box.”
Air Force opens the regular season by co-hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament, Oct. 7-8. Air Force hosts Maine (RV) on Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:05 pm. The Falcons will then host No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 6:05 pm MT.
