Injury overshadows Falcons' exhibition hockey victory

The Air Force hockey team held on for a 5-4 exhibition win over McGill of Montreal on Monday but the result was insignificant after Falcons sophomore Mitch Torrel suffered a head injury and cut over his left eye after a collision into the boards late in the game at Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force sports information director Dave Toller confirmed the injuries and said that Torrel was at Memorial Hospital for precautionary observation.

The left wing was moving his arms and legs as he was taken off the ice on a stretcher with his head and neck immobilized. The head injury is likely a concussion.

Torrel was bent over and skating backward into the McGill zone while collecting the puck when McGill's Francis Verreault-Paul elbowed Torrel in the back of the head, driving him helmet-first into the boards and silencing the 601 fans on hand.

The injury put a damper on what had been an exciting game after McGill scored twice in 14 seconds to turn a 5-2 AFA lead into a 5-4 tossup headed into the third period.

The two quick goals sent Falcons relief goalie Stephen Caple to the bench after he had replaced starter Jason Torf after McGill scored twice in 26 seconds for an early 2-0 lead.

Torf replaced Caple midway through the second and kept the Redmen quiet the rest of the game.

“No doubt, our goalies did not have a stellar night,” coach Frank Serratore said. “But what was encouraging was Torf going back in and shutting them down.”

Air Force reeled off four goals over the final 4:51 of the first for a 4-2 lead. The spurt was capped by George Michalke’s goal with 37.6 seconds left after he left the penalty box.

“We weren’t disappointed with how we were playing even though we were down 2-0,” said senior co-captain Paul Weisgarber, who scored the game-winner early in the second. “We held on to win a one-goal game. That’s a good sign after we struggled with that last season for awhile.”

“It showed the maturity of our team,” added senior co-captain Scott Mathis. “Our guys, especially the young guys hung in there and battled.”