Junior Ryan Wiggins scored two goals to lead Air Force to a 5-2 win over Holy Cross Saturday night at the Cadet Ice Arena. A season-high crowd of 2,323 watched the Falcons split a two-game series with the Crusaders.
Air Force improved to 12-16-2 overall while Holy Cross fell to 16-7-3.
For the second straight night, the Falcons scored first. Freshman Theo Zacour scored at the 4:29 mark of the first period from Andrew Ramsey and Matt Bader. Zacour took a pass from behind the net for his eighth of the season.
Holy Cross answered late in the second period on a power-play goal by Tim Coskren. The Crusaders outshot Air Force, 17-9, in the second period and Peter Foster made 16 stops. With 1:20 remaining, Coskren put back a rebound that deflected off Foster’s pad and trickled over the goal line.
The teams combined for five goals in the third period, four by Air Force. Ryan Wiggins gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead at 1:31 of the third period from Mike Knaeble and Tom Starkey. Wiggins took a wrister from the hash marks and beat Ben Conway high, stick side.
Five minutes later, Seth Pelletier gave AFA a 3-1 lead from Josh Priewe and Buck Kozlowski. Pelletier rushed down the right wing and beat Conway high to the far post. Holy Cross again answered at 7:03 of the third period off the stick of Greg Kealey. Kealey scored on a pass from behind the net as Jeff Dams and James Sixsmith assisted on the play.
Air Force scored two empty-net goals in the final minute of the game. Wiggins scored unassisted after hustling down the ice to create a turnover with one minute remaining. Holy Cross continued with the extra attacker and Shane Saum produced the 5-2 final with 14 seconds remaining.
“Our guys played a heck of a game,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “We played three very strong periods. We were the better team tonight and it would have been a shame if we would have lost. We beat a very good Holy Cross team, but they didn’t have the same jump that they did on Friday.”
The Falcons outshot the Crusaders, 32-31, in the game. Holy Cross was 1-for-5 on the power play while AFA was 0-for-4. Foster made 29 saves for Air Force while Conway made 27.
