Falcon crest

They're for real.

The 11th-ranked Air Force Falcons manhandled No. 3 Colorado College in the annual meeting between the Colorado Springs rivals, winning the clash for the first time since Nov. 9, 1985.

Air Force not only snapped a 25-game losing streak to CC with its 4-1 win in front of a standing room-only crowd at Cadet Ice Arena, it also extended - and brought legitimacy to - its 13-0 record, which until Friday hadn't included a victory over a team with a winning record.

"It shows the rest of the hockey world how serious we are and how good we are," right wing Jeff Hajner said. "This was no fluke. And if people think it is, we get another chance (tonight) to show them."

The Falcons take on No. 10 Denver tonight at Magness Arena, while CC looks to rebound against Colgate at World Arena.

For the Tigers, long the premier Division I program in town, the loss reiterated what has become a puzzling pattern, especially on Friday nights.

CC, which dodged a shutout with a third-period goal from left wing Bill Sweatt, has averaged only 1.38 goals on Fridays and has a 2-4-2 record to show for it.

Against Air Force, the Tigers' offensive woes weren't for lack of chances. CC had nine power plays - amounting to more than 20 minutes on the man-advantage - to the Falcons' four.

"Other than the first 7 minutes, I felt like they took it to us virtually the entire game," CC coach Scott Owens said. "I knew they'd be fired up, skating hard and winning battles.

But I didn't think they would out-compete us as hard as they did tonight. I thought we'd have a little bit more than we did."

Air Force freshman Paul Weisgarber dived to knock in a rebound from Woodland Park native Sean Bertsch's hard wrist shot and give the Falcons a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.

Just 36 seconds into the second, Air Force left wing Josh Frider tipped in defenseman Greg Flynn's shot from the top of the left circle.

Less than 3 minutes later, right wing Mike Phillipich netted a short-handed goal past CC sophomore goaltender Richard Bachman to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.

Bachman had left the puck behind the net for a CC defenseman, but Phillipich got there first and banked the puck off Bachman's left skate.

With 2:17 left in the second, after Air Force defenseman Brett Nylander scored a power-play goal with a wrist shot from the high slot, Bachman was benched for the first time in his career.

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Contact the writer: 476-4803 or kate.crandall@gazette.com. Check out our Colorado College hockey blog at gazettecchockey.freedomblogging.com