Hockey: Bentley beats Air Force 3-1

  • Published
  • By Dave Toller
  • U.S. Air Force Academy
WALTHAM, Mass. (AFNEWS) --  Bentley scored a goal in each period in a 3-1 victory over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey Association game Jan. 26 at the John A. Ryan Arena here.

The Air Force fell to 12-10-5 overall and 9-5-5 in league play. Bentley improved to 10-13-1 overall and 9-10-0 in the AHA.

The U.S. Air Force Academy opened the scoring at the 13:04 mark of the first period on rush up ice. Eric Ehn started the play up the wall and fought through some resistance. He fed Mike Phillipich who found Frank Schiavone on the weak side. Schiavone netted his third goal of the season for a 1-0 lead. The lead lasted just four minutes as Bentley's Jeff Gumaer scored from the slot at the 17:43 mark. Gumaer took a pass from behind the net for his 16th of the season.

Early in the second period, the Air Force had 1:51 of a 5-on-3 advantage but failed to capitalize. The Falcons had four shots on goal, but all four were saved by Bentley goalie Jason Kearney. Bentley then took a 2-1 lead as Pat Percella took a centering pass from Marc Zwicky and scored his fifth of the season. Bentley had a goal disallowed because of a high stick, and the Air Force had a goal disallowed that could have tied the game. Schiavone's tip-in of an Andrew Ramsey pass went in just as the net was knocked off its posts and the goal was disallowed.

Bentley's Anthony Canzoneri scored at the 17:00 mark to give the home team a two-goal lead. After a turnover in the neutral zone, Dain Prewitt fed Canzoneri who scored his eighth of the season. The Falcons pulled the goalie with just over two minutes left, but were unable to score.

For just the third time this season, Air Force was out-shot in a game. Bentley had 22 shots on goal while the Air Force had just 21. The academy was 0-for-5 on the power play while Bentley was 0-for-3. Ben Worker made 19 saves while Bentley's Jason Kearney made 20.

"Teams are taking a different approach to playing us and are playing very good defensive hockey," head coach Frank Serratore said. "All three of their goals came on turnovers. They forced the turnovers and counter-punched. We aren't going to score a lot of pretty goals the second time through the league. We are going to have to get our noses dirty and manufacture some things."

Coach Serratore said out of the lineup were key players Brent Olson, Josh Print, Brian Reese and Michael Mayra.

"We need to stay positive and move our feet to draw penalties. Then when we draw the penalty, we have to make something happen on the power play," he said.

The same two teams conclude the two-game Atlantic Hockey series Jan. 27 at the John A. Ryan Arena.

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