Hockey: RIT beats Air Force, 5-4

  • Published
  • By Dave Toller
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Athletic Media Relations Associate Director
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AFNEWS) --  Rochester Institute of Technology scored two goals in the third period for a 5-4 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Association game at the Frank Ritter Arena Feb. 9.

RIT, in first place in the AHA, improves to 18-9-2 overall and 17-5-1 in the league. Air Force falls to 13-13-5, 10-8-5 for fourth place in the AHA.

RIT opened the scoring at the 2:30 mark of the first period when Jesse Newman scored his second of the season. The Tigers were buzzing around the Falcons' net when Newman scored from right in front of Falcon goalie Ben Worker.

It took the Falcons 12 minutes to get on the board, but when they did, they scored twice in a span of 33 seconds. Eric Ehn tied the game at the 13:54 mark of the first period for his league-leading 20th of the season. Ehn started the rush up the ice and made a centering pass to Andrew Ramsey. Ehn then skated behind the net and came back out front where he beat Jocelyn Guimond high. Freshman Jeff Hajner, who is skating on the top line in place of injured Mike Phillipich, also assisted on the play.

Just 33 seconds later, Josh Frider gave the Falcons' a 2-1 lead with a writer from the top of the right circle. Frank Schiavone and Brett Nylander assisted on the goal. RIT came back to tie the game with a 5-on-3 goal at the 17:32 mark. Al Mazur scored on a pass from behind the net from Simon Lambert to tie the game at 2-2.

The Falcons broke the tie early in the second period when Ehn scored his second of the game just 39 seconds into the second period. After winning the faceoff to start the period, Ehn skated into the zone uncontested and fired a wrister that beat Guimond high to the glove side. Ramsey and Billy Devoney collected helpers on the play.

Four minutes later, Hajner scored his ninth of the season for a 4-2 Falcon lead. Ehn forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Hajner picked up the puck just inside the blue line. He skated in and also went high to the glove side to beat Guimond.

RIT came back to make the score 4-3 when Bobby Raymond took a shot from the right circle and Worker made a glove save. However, the puck fell out of the glove, rolled down the back of Worker and went into the net.

The Tigers scored twice in the third period for the 5-4 win. Less than two minutes into the third period, Darrell Draper scored from Anton Kharin to tie the game at 4-4. The score remaining tied until the final three minutes. With 3:06 left, Brad Harris scored on a flurry in front of the net from Jesse Newman and Ricky Walton.

RIT outshot Air Force,27-22 in the game. The Tigers were 1-for-7 on the power play while AFA was 0-for-4 on the power play with no shots. Worker made 22 saves for Air Force. RIT starter Jocelyn Guimond allowed four goals on 10 shots in the first 25 minutes before being pulled from the game. Louis Menard came on in relief and stopped all 12 shots he faced to earn the win.

"That was the best team we've played this season," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They played with great energy, they were physical and were more aggressive then we were. We were opportunistic with some highlight film type of goals. Frider's goal was beautiful. We took too many penalties in the game. It was a game that we could have stole but didn't."

The same two teams conclude the series Feb. 10 in Rochester.

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