ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Air Force came into this weekend’s series at Rochester Institute of Technology already banged up, with several players out of the lineup, including senior all-star defenseman Phil Boje.
The bad news is that two more seniors left tonight’s game with injuries. The good news is that the Falcons were able to overcome those setbacks, and thanks to a pair of timely saves by goaltender Billy Christopolous, come away with a 2-1 win over the host Tigers.
Air Force was limited to 13 shots on goal for the game, but scored on two of its first three attempts, opening a 2-0 first-period lead. Erik Baskin and Trevor Stone scored for the Falcons, and Christopolous stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced, including a pair of breakaway chances for RIT.
“The key to it all, the foundation to it all, was Billy Christopolous,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “(Stopping) the two breakaways. To me, that was the difference.”
The first save came early in the first period when RIT’s Mark Logan was able to get in all alone on Christopolous, who got a piece of the shot. The puck trickled behind the Air Force goalie, but freshman defenseman Jake Levin swatted the puck out of danger before it crossed the goal line.
“(Logan) made a pretty good move and kind of slipped it though my five-hole,” said Christopolous. “But (Levin) came back and saved me there.”
Minutes later, Baskin took a drop pass from linemate Ben Kucera and beat RIT goaltender Logan Drackett stick side to make it 1-0 Falcons. It was Baskin’s team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Air Force struck again about six minutes later when Stone put a shot in nearly the same place as Baskin’s goal, stick side and just inside the far post, for his third goal of the season.
RIT outshot Air Force 5-3 in the tightly played first period.
“We limited them to three shots (in the first) but we give up two goals, ” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “Obviously, we’d like to have that back. But the rest of the game was a good defensive battle.
“I was disappointed in the loss, but not in the effort. It was the kind of game we were expecting.”
“Obviously, it was good to have the lead,” said Serratore. “Because we knew (RIT) wouldn’t quit.”
Christopolous’ other huge save was early in the second period, again stopping a breakaway. This time it was a backhand attempt by RIT’s Shawn Cameron.
“I just got enough of it with my shoulder,” said Christopolous. “I was pretty excited about that.”
RIT drew within one with 7:24 remaining in the third period. Dan Willett won a battle along the half wall and got the puck to Cameron, who connected with Myles Powell with a goal-mouth pass for Powell’s eighth goal of the season.
The Tigers put pressure on Christopolous in the final minutes, pulling Drackett for an extra skater with 1:54 left, but the Falcons were able to pack it in and Christopolous made a pair of saves in the closing seconds to preserve the victory.
RIT outshot Air Force, 26-13, including 13-5 in the final period.
“I thought we carried play in the third,” said Wilson. “Once you get down 2-0 to a team like Air Force, they’re going to try to shut it down, and they did a really good job of that tonight.”
Air Force lost senior forwards Tyler Ledford and Jordan Himley to injuries during the game. They would have logged significant ice time in the final minutes.
“Those are two of our top guys,” said Christopolous. “But other guys have stepped up and we got it done.”
“We had no choice,” said Serratore. “The guys answered the bell. I like the way we battled. Hopefully, we can continue to overcome these injuries. I hope there’s no banana peels in the locker room, because it’s been that kind of a season so far.”
