AIR FORCE 3, BENTLEY 1

Courtesy of Air Force Athletic Communications

U.S.A.F. ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force moved back into a tie for second place in Atlantic Hockey with a 3-1 win over Bentley Saturday night, Feb. 2, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force improved to 13-10-5 overall and 10-8-4 in the AHA. Bentley fell to 6-14-6 overall and 6-8-6 in the league. Air Force is tied for second place with Army with 24 points, two points behind first-place RIT.

After a scoreless first period, Air Force scored twice in the middle period. Jeff Hajner put the Falcons on the board at the 8:28 mark on the power play. Michael Mayra made a long outlet pass to Derrick Burnett. Burnett gave the puck to Hajner in the left circle. The sophomore center from Las Vegas, Nev., then skated into the slot and fired a wrister past Joe Calvi for his 10th goal of the season. Four minutes later, Air Force took a 2-0 lead on an even-strength, tough-angle goal by Matt Fairchild, his eighth of the year. Brad Sellers started the rush from his own and Burnett fed Fairchild at the blue line. Fairchild skated down the left boards and took a shot from below the bottom of the left circle. It deflected off the goaltender's shoulder and into the net for a 2-0 AFA lead.

Bentley came out with a vengeance in the third period and quickly cut the deficit to one goal. Jay Bletzer took a shot from the point and Paul Scalici tipped the puck at the top of the crease to the left side, behind the Falcon goaltender Andrew Volkening. Justin Kemmerer slid the puck into the open net at the 1:48 mark.

Air Force regained the two-goal lead when Mayra, a defenseman from Anchorage, Alaska, made a play in both the defensive and offensive zone. First he blocked a shot deep in own end on the faceoff dot. He then collected the puck and started a 3-on-1 rush, skating down the right side. Mayra waited as Brent Olson was the second man down the slot. Olson netted his team-leading 13th of the season at the 5:14 mark for a 3-1 advantage Bentley was unable to get its goaltender off the until the final 30 seconds of the game.

AFA outshot Bentley in two of the three periods and 32-26 in the game. Air Force was 1-for-5 on the power play while Bentley was 0-for-4. Calvi made 29 saves for Bentley. Volkening had 25 for Air Force.

"Every night is a battle in our league," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We just needed to get a win. Our kids gave a wonderful effort for 125 minutes this weekend. Bentley is a tough opponent to play. They manufactured a couple of odd-man rushes. They cheat to the offensive side sometimes and they get some chances. However, when they did that, they gave us some chances as well. We have a tough stretch of games in front of us with four of them on the road. We need to get as many points as possible to secure home ice in the playoffs."