Air Force hockey eyes even more redemption in AHA quarters

One weekend does not a salvaged season make. But when Air Force takes the ice next Friday against Army in the Atlantic Hockey Association playoff quarterfinals, last weekend’s sweep of Sacred Heart provided the Falcons with both a blueprint for success and the confidence to carry it out.

“The 0-5-1 stretch is obsolete now, forgotten about,’’ junior leading scorer Jacques Lamoureux said. “We’ve got two wins going into the playoffs; we’ve got a lot to feel good about.’’

The 6-3 and 8-1 victories represented the Falcons’ best and tied-for-second offensive outputs of the season. And the games came against the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.

What matters now for the Falcons (14-14-6) was the style points, which translate to momentum.

“We were finishing checks, doing all the little things right, blocking shots like (Derrick) Burnett did,’’ said Blake Page, who scored a pair of short-handed goals in Saturday’s victory. “That’s huge for us.’’

Defense, led by senior goalie Andrew Volkening, has carried the Falcons to three straight AHA Tournament titles. And, while not as good as the last couple of seasons, the Falcons still are tied for second in the league, giving up 2.5 goals a game.

The issue all season has been the offense, which was just fifth in the AHA (3.07 avg.) and managed only nine goals in six nonconference games, all losses.

But, after a stretch of five road games (Army, AHA No. 1 seed RIT and national No. 15 Colorado College) and a home game against national No. 1 Denver, during which Air Force managed just eight goals, the Falcons broke out.
Against Sacred Heart, the Falcons scored six power-play goals (50 percent conversions) and three short-handed goals.

“We hadn’t been getting bounces for the last seven games and we finally got the bounces,’’ said defenseman Tim Kirby, who had a lifetime-best five assists Saturday to cap a seven-point weekend, earning him AHA player of the week honors. “If we work as hard in the playoffs as we did here this weekend, we’ll do pretty well.’’