Serratore borrows from Ali for rope-a-dope strategy

Serratore borrows from Ali

Air Force coach Frank Serratore borrowed a plan from boxer Muhammad Ali.

In 1974, Ali reclined against the ropes in the early rounds against George Foreman, allowed his bigger, younger opponent to grow weary and then knocked him out. Ali called his strategy the “rope-a-dope.”

Serratore employed a variation of Ali’s plan in Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss to Yale in the NCAA Tournament.

“Yale is … an explosive team that plays with a tremendous amount of energy,” Serratore said. “Our game plan was to rope-a-dope our way through the first two periods.

“… We figured they would lose their energy, that they would just peter out a little bit in the third period.”

Serratore said his strategy almost worked.

“I thought we had the better legs in the third period and I thought we had the better legs in overtime,” Serratore said.

Yale coach compliments Air Force

Yale coach Keith Allain said it was a “terrific playoff-type hockey game. You gotta give Air Force an awful lot of credit. They defended extremely well for 60-plus minutes. … We had to work for every inch of ice we could get.”

Yale came into the game averaging 4.29 goals per game, best in the nation.

Lamoureux describes last goal

Jacques Lamoureux watched his Air Force career end when Yale’s Chad Ziegler scored in overtime.

“They’re the best team in the country, and when you’re the best team in the country, you’re going to get those bounces,” Lamoureux said.

Minnesota-Duluth wins

If Air Force had won, the Falcons would have faced Minnesota-Duluth in today’s regional final. No. 3 seed Duluth defeated No. 2 Union College in the other regional semifinal on Friday afternoon.