#3 Air Force 4, #6 Army 2

USAFA, Colo.  - Third-seeded Air Force scored two goals late in the third period and eliminated #6 Army with a 4-2 win, Saturday night at Cadet Ice Arena in an Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinal series in front of 2,764 fans.

The Falcons, the three-time defending league champions, scored a power play and empty net goal in the final minute and a half to win the best-of-three series.

Air Force, now 16-14-6, will play #2 seed Sacred Heart Thursday in the AHA semifinals at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. #1 RIT and #5 Canisius will play in the other semifinal.

Army ends its season at 11-18-8.

"I am very proud of our guys," said Army hockey head coach Brian Riley. "We challenged the guys and every player who wore a sweater tonight gave all that they had. Tonight, we played Army hockey and the guys played as hard as they could. I can't ask for anything more than that."

Owen Meyer had a goal and assist, Bryant Skarda scored a goal and Mike Hull, John Clark and Eric Sefchik collected assists for the Black Knights.

Army goalie Jay Clark made 30 saves while Andrew Volkening, coming off a shutout in the first game of the series, made 31 stops.

Skarda finally solved Volkening when he scored his seventh goal of the season with 2:05 left in the first period. Each team had power play chances but it was an even strength goal from Skarda that was the first tally of the contest.

Meyer corralled the puck near center-ice and moved it to Hull. Meyer circled back between the face-off circles and one-touched a pass to Skarda who was to Volkening's left. Skarda blasted in a one-timer for a 1-0 Army lead after one. It was Meyer's 18th assist of the season and the 20th for Hull.

The Falcons, who have lost just one AHA playoff game, tied the game midway through the second period with a fluke goal. Air Force was on a 2-on-1 breakaway. An Army player, skating hard to break up a pass, accidentally tipped the puck in the net to knot the game at 1. Sean Bertsch was credited with the score, his sixth goal of the season.

"They got a bounce," said Riley. "We were maybe one bounce from having to come back for game three. But give Air Force credit. They have won a lot of playoff games and tonight they found a way to get it done."

Meyer put Army back on top later in the period. With an Air Force player in the penalty box for checking from behind, Army scored its first power play goal of the weekend, against the nation's top penalty kill unit.

Sefchik cycled the puck to John Clark inside the blue line. Clark fired a shot that appeared to be wide but Meyer re-directed it past Volkening for his 13th goal of the season. It was Sefchik's 24th assist this season and the seventh for Clark while Meyer secured his seventh multiple-point game this season.

The Falcons answered a second time to make it a 2-2 contest after two periods. Brandon Johnson took a pass in close and scored his second goal of the season with 2:38 remaining in the period.

Clark kept the game tied with a phenomenal third period. First, he made a sprawling save to thwart a 3-on-2 opportunity with 13 minutes left to play, and then used his stick to make a huge save after an Army turnover behind its net.

Air Force took its first lead of the game with a power play goal with 1:25 remaining. Air Force used its timeout when an Army player was whistled for high sticking. Derrick Burnett, from behind the net, fed Jacques Lamoureux who netted his 21st goal of the season.

Army used its timeout and pulled Clark for an extra skater but Burnett forced a turnover and then potted the empty net goal for the final scoring margin.

GAME NOTES: Army's starting lineup consisted of Andy Starczewski, Eric Sefchik, Cody Omilusik, Marcel Alvarez, John Clark and Jay Clark ... Chief Warrant Officer 5 Dan Jollota is serving as the team's Officer Representative ... Col. Sam Johnson, the ODIA Chief of Staff, is serving as team administrator ... Following its morning skate, several of the hockey team members and coaches saw parts of the Army and Air Force lacrosse game at Falcon Stadium ... In other AHA quarterfinal series' #1 RIT beat #9 Connecticut 4-1 to sweep that series; #2 Sacred Heart topped #7 Holy Cross 4-3 in overtime to win that series; and  #5 Canisius edged #3 Mercyhurst 5-4 in double overtime to win the series.. . Owen Meyer has 66 career goals. Saturday was his first against Air Force ... Air Force has allowed just 20 power play goals this season.

AIR FORCE 4, ARMY 2
ARMY             1-1-0-2
AIR FORCE     0-2-2-4

First Period:
ARMY - Skarda (Meyer, Hull), 17:55

Second Period:
AF - Bertsch (unassisted),8:46
ARMY - Meyer (Jo. Clark, Sefchik), PP, 15:20
AF - Johnson (Kirby, Weisgarber), 17:22

Third Period:
AF - Lamoureux (Burnett, Kozlak), PP, 18:35
AF - Burnett (Bertsch), EN, 19:40

Shots: Army 33 (12-11-10); Air Force 34 (10-14-10)
Saves: Army 30 (Clark, 58:48, 10-12-8; empty net, 1:12); Air Force 31 (Volkening, 60:00, 11-10-10)
Power Plays: Army 1-4; Air Force 1-3
Penalties: Army 4-8; Air Force 5-10
Attendance: 2764