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Sefchik’s late goal ties Air Force, Army earns 3 of 4 points

By Ryan Yanoshak, Athletic Communications

Firstie captain and forward Eric Sefchik scored the tying goal with 11 seconds left in regulation as Army skated to a 3-3 tie with Air Force Jan. 30 in an Atlantic Hockey Association matchup at Tate Rink.

Air Force jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but it couldn’t hold the advantage as Army rallied with an extra-skater goal to bring the crowd of 2,513 to its feet.

The Black Knights, coming off a 4-2 win Jan. 29 against the Falcons, moved to 9-12-5 overall and 8-8-4 in conference games this season.

Air Force, which held a 40-32 advantage in shots on goal, is now 12-10-6 overall and 12-6-6 in league games.

The Falcons took a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining and seemed to be on their way to a win until Army pulled its goaltender and netted the tying goal.

Army had three shots on goal in the fiveminute overtime session and Air Force had one, but neither team was able to break the logjam for the third tie in the series. The last time these service academy rivals tied was a 3-3 contest Feb. 28, 1999, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“As I told the guys, there are good ties and bad ties and this was a good one,” Army hockey head coach Brian Riley said. “Air Force was all over us in the first period, but we were able to weather the storm and the guys got their legs going.”

Plebe forward Andy Starczewski and Yearling forward Kyle Maggard also scored goals for Army, which ended a four-game homestand and is now unbeaten in its last five games with Air Force (4-0-1) at Tate Rink.

Sefchik had his second consecutive multiple-point game with an assist while forwards Cow Cody Omilusik, Cow Joey Ammon, Firstie Owen Meyer, Yearling Danny Colvin and Plebe defenseman John Clark collected assists.

“You want your big players to score big goals and that’s what happened at the end,” Riley said. “You don’t want to have any regrets after playing the game, especially this one, and the guys left it all on the ice. It was a great college hockey game.”

Army goalie Jay Clark made 37 saves while Air Force’s Andrew Volkening turned away 29 shots.

Air Force came out flying, applying offensive pressure and getting off 21 shots on goal in the first period. The game was scoreless until the 15:09 mark when Air Force’s Blake Page knocked home a rebound.

Twenty-six seconds later, Matt Fairchild scored from in front of the crease to extend the Air Force advantage to 2-0 as the Falcons held a 21-6 advantage in shots on goal.

Army responded in the second period, outshooting the Falcons 14-11 and cutting its deficit in half.

Starczewski was rewarded with the goal as Army made it a 2-1 game. Sefchik and Omilusik collected the assists. It was Starczewski’s eighth goal of his plebe season and the third straight game that Omilusik earned an assist.

The Black Knights tied the game five minutes into the third period when Maggard slammed home a shot off of assists from Ammon and Colvin. The goal swung the momentum back to Army.

Air Force continued to crash the net and were rewarded when Fairchild scored his second goal of the game to give the Falcons a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining.

Army, which held a 9-7 advantage in shots in the third period, pulled Clark with under a minute to go.

Sefchik won the faceoff to Volkening’s right and John Clark collected the puck. Clark worked the puck down the boards to Meyer behind the net. Meyer fed Sefchik in front of the net and the captain potted the goal that ensured at least a point with his seventh goal of the season.

Army had more opportunities in the extra session, but settled for the tie as the Black Knights’ firstie class finished with a 4-4-1 mark against Air Force.