Alabama-Huntsville beats Air Force in hockey, 4-1

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Center Jared Ross scored two goals to lead the University of Alabama-Huntsville to a 4-1 win over the Air Force Academy in a College Hockey America conference game here Nov. 14.

UAH remained in first place in the league, improving to 6-1-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference. Air Force fell to 2-4-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.

Despite playing a strong first period, the Falcons found themselves down two goals at the first intermission. Air Force outshot UAH, 18-14, in the first period and had numerous scoring chances; however, UAH goalie Scott Munroe made 18 stops in the opening period, and the Chargers capitalized on their opportunities.

The Chargers’ Dominic Rozman opened the scoring at 11:31 when he put back a shot after Mike Salekin’s attempt hit the crossbar. With 1:50 remaining in the first period, Keith Rowe gave the Chargers a 2-0 lead.

Ross scored twice in the second period for a four-goal UAH lead. His first goal came at 7:34 and his second came at 8:38. On the first goal, Jeff Winchester took a shot from the point that hit hard off the backboards and came right to Ross who was wide open on the right post. His second goal came on the power play from Winchester and Craig Bushey.

Air Force got on the board in the third period as Seth Pelletier won a faceoff in the neutral zone, and got the puck up ice to Mike Knaeble on a two-on-one rush. Knaeble’s pass was right on the stick of Pelletier in the slot who scored at 5:56. The Falcons had three power play opportunities in the third period, but were unable to score on any of them.

“We just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” said head coach Frank Serratore. “You could feel the frustration in the locker room after the first period. We played pretty good, and we played very hard, but we were down 2-0. Our inability to score goals puts so much pressure on our defense. We did have a couple bright spots. Seth Pelletier was the hardest working player on the ice, and he scored a couple goals in the series. Ian Harper played the second half ... and he keeps getting better. We have two good young goalies.”

The Falcons outshot the Chargers, 35-30, in the game. Air Force was 0-for-6 on the power play while UAH was 1-for-5. Munroe made 34 saves for UAH, including 18 in the first period. Foster started for Air Force and was replaced midway through the second period by freshman Ian Harper. Foster made 15 saves while allowing four goals. Harper made 11 saves and shutout the Chargers in the final 31 minutes of the game.

“I give Huntsville a lot of credit,” Mr. Serratore said. “They are opportunists. They are so good when they get the puck around the net. They make it look easy to score goals, and it is not easy.”

Air Force travels to Robert Morris for a two-game conference series Nov. 19 and 20 in Moon Township, Penn.