You say good bye, Falcons say hello

The “Battle for a Bye” between Air Force and Robert Morris lived up to its potential at Cadet Ice Arena on Saturday night.

Falcons senior Derrick Burnett redirected a shot from Mike Walsh into the Colonials net with 4:31 remaining to break a 2-2 tie and propel Air Force to a 4-2 victory. With the win, the Falcons (16-11-6, 14-7-6 Atlantic Hockey Association) earned a bye into the AHA quarterfinals and a home best-of-three series March 11-13.

Senior Sean Bertsch added a goal with 3:23 remaining to seal the win over the Colonials (18-11-5, 13-9-5).

“You’ve got to go out and take care of business, and our guys certainly did that,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore, whose Falcons have won four straight. “We had to win five of six from the best teams in the league. Getting this bye in our pod is no easy feat. RIT took the first one, and you had a street fight between the other five teams. I’ve never had a team in 30 years as resilient as this team is.”

Burnett finished with a goal and two assists, while fellow senior Jacques Lamoureux had a goal and an assist on senior night.

“It’s a weight off our shoulders,” said Burnett, one of seven Falcons seniors. “We struggled on the power play in the beginning of the game, but were just trying to get the puck to the net hoping a few would get through for us and they did. It’s nice that we get the best-of-three (series). I think that’s a little better for us, and we’re excited about it.”

Tom Brooks gave Robert Morris a 2-1 lead with 11:44 remaining in the third after rocketing a wrist shot past Air Force goalie Jason Torf from the right wing. That lead lasted just 1:01, as Lamoureux scored on a power play to knot the game with 10:43 left.

The Colonials got the scoring started on the power play with 6:21 remaining in the first period when Ron Cramer deposited his own rebound past Jason Torf.

Air Force tied the game with a power play goal of its own when Tim Kirby banked in a Derrick Burnett pass with 5:48 left in the second. The goal came on the Falcons’ 23rd shot of the night while they were on their fifth power play.