Falcons fall flat against DU in hockey

The hangover came a day early for the Air Force men’s hockey team.

A night after an emotional win over fifth-ranked Colorado College at World Arena, the Falcons fell hard, 7-1, to No. 15 Denver at Cadet Ice Arena on New Year’s Eve. The Pioneers (10-7-3) scored early and often against a lethargic Air Force (10-5-2) squad that had won five in a row.

 Air Force’s four previous losses this season came by a total of four goals.

 “They were just better in every facet of the game,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “It’s a shame what happened tonight. It’s humbling and somewhat embarrassing for all of us.

“I think last night proved what we’re capable of doing, and I think tonight proved that we have a ways to go.”

 Denver – which beat No. 10 Union 3-1 Friday night – didn’t look like a team that was missing its second-leading scorer Jason Zucker and starting goalie Adam Murray. Zucker is captaining Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Alberta, Canada, and Murray (5-2-1) was out with a groin injury.

 The Pioneers controlled the game’s flow from the start, using imposing physical play and an aggressive offensive attack to jump on the Falcons early. Freshman Ty Loney put Denver up 1-0 with a goal just 4:23 into the game, and captain Drew Shore scored on a power play with 4:55 left in the period to make it 2-0.

Luke Salazar deposited a rebound from a Shore shot past Air Force goalie Stephen Caple (10-3-2) 3:55 into the second, and the rout was on. Shore added another power-play goal with 7:58 remaining in the second off a pass from Loney, who also finished with two assists.

 “When you can score early and score first like we did, it really helps you from a psychological standpoint and emotionally,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “We’ve made changes to be in better position defensively, play harder defensively and manage the puck better. They were little subtle adjustments, and you can see the guys start to buy into it more with every period we played this weekend.”

Senior co-captain Paul Weisgarber helped the Falcons avoid their first shutout of the season when he deposited a rebound of a Dan Weissenhofer shot into the net 5:29 into the third. Denver had a quartet of penalties midway through the period, giving Air Force two 5-on-3 advantages, but the Falcons could not cut the lead further.

Serratore even pulled his goalie to create a 6-on-3 advantage, but Salazar scored an empty-netter with 8:33 remaining and the Falcons holding a 6-on-4 advantage. Denver’s Joey LaLeggia finished the night’s scoring with a goal with 3:53 remaining.

Freshman goaltender Juho Olkinuora – who spent time at Serratore’s house with his sons over the Christmas break – stopped 28 shots for the Pioneers.

Jason Torf – the Falcons’ starting goalie at the beginning of the season who injured his groin Oct. 8 in a loss to Michigan State – made his first appearance in net for the Falcons since then in the third period.