Falcons skate past Alabama-Huntsville, 4-3

  • Published
  • By Dave Toller
  • U.S. Air Force Academy
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Eric Ehn scored two goals as Air Force skated past Alabama-Huntsville, 4-3, in a non-conference college hockey game today at the Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force improved to 1-1 overall this season. UAH fell to 0-2. The victory is the 100th Division I win for head coach Frank Serratore, the most of any Air Force coach. Overall, Serratore has won 131 games at the Academy.

UAH got on the board first during a Falcon power play. Air Force turned the puck over at the UAH blue line and Kevin Morrison skated down the center of the ice. Falcon defenseman Michael Mayra caught him from behind but was whistled for tripping and the Chargers had a penalty shot opportunity. Morrison took the shot and beat AFA goalie Peter Foster through the five-hole for a 1-0 Charger lead at 8:49.

The Falcons answered with two goals later in the first period. Ehn tied the game at the 12:34 mark. Andrew Ramsey made a pass from behind the net to Ehn in the slot who went high to beat UAH goalie Marc Narduzzi. Three minutes later, defenseman Billy Devoney gave the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish. On the power play, Josh Schaffer made a pass from the left dot to the right post and Devoney also went high to beat Narduzzi for a 2-1 AFA lead.

Late in the second period, UAH's Shaun Arvai was called for a five-minute checking from behind penalty and given a game misconduct for hitting Falcon winger Andrew Ramsey. The Falcons capitalized as Ehn scored at the 17:27 mark, just 16 seconds after the penalty was called. Ramsey assisted on the play as Ehn cleaned up Mayra's slap shot from the point.

The Falcons' took their first penalty early in the third period and UAH took advantage. David Nimmo scored at 3:15 on a rebound from Brennan Baker and Dominik Rozman.
Ramsey's first goal of the season came at the 6:01 mark to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead. On the power play, Brian Gineo took a shot from the point that was tipped in by Ramsey right in front of the net.

With just over 12 minutes remaining, UAH got within one goal as Brett McConnachie scored on a short pass right in front of the net from Grant Selinger.

The Chargers pulled Narduzzi with 23 seconds left in the game and had one shot on goal that Foster turned away.

"We played hard enough and well enough to draw a lot of penalties tonight," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We didn't capitalize on many of our opportunities tonight. One area of concern for us is our power play. It needs to improve. With the new rule changes, special teams are going to be even more important."

AFA out-shot UAH, 29-18, in the game. The Falcons were 3-for-10 on the power play as UAH was whistled for 11 penalties for 33 minutes. The Chargers were 1-for-4 on the power play.

Foster made 15 saves for the Falcons, including eight in the third period. Narduzzi made 25 for UAH.

The Falcons travel to Fairbanks to face the Alaska Nanooks, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 13-14, at the Carlson Center.

"This will be a huge test for us," Serratore said. "Fairbanks is a team that could be ranked right now. They went into Minnesota and took three points last season and have nearly everyone back."