Air Force and Mercyhurst ended their Atlantic Hockey America matchup in a 3-3 overtime tie on Friday, Feb. 13, at the Cadet Ice Arena. Mercyhurst secured an additional point in the conference standings after Christian Kocsis scored in the fifth round of the shootout.
The opening period saw Air Force dominate offensively, outshooting Mercyhurst 15-4. The Lakers did not register their first shot until eight minutes into the game.
In the second period, both teams scored rapidly within a two-minute stretch. Mercyhurst took an early lead with Kocsis scoring off a rebound from Sean James’ shot at 1:08. Air Force responded just 26 seconds later when freshman Oliver Genest netted his first career goal by redirecting a shot from Holt Oliphant. The Lakers regained their advantage as Ryan Coughlin tipped in a centering pass from Jacob Leblanc at 3:03.
Genest continued to be pivotal for Air Force, scoring twice more to complete his first career hat trick—the first for a Falcon since Austin Schwartz late last season. His second goal came after Chris Hedden made a long outlet pass to him at the far blue line, allowing Genest to tie it up at 2-2 with a wrist shot at 7:05 of the second period. Genest’s third goal gave Air Force a brief lead at 16:22 following an assist from Oliphant.
A fire alarm early in the third period caused a 22-minute delay in play. After action resumed, Mercyhurst tied the game with just over ten minutes left when Alexander Dimitriadis won an offensive zone faceoff and Lukas Klemm scored from center point.
During overtime, Air Force had seven shots compared to one by Mercyhurst but neither team scored, sending the contest to a shootout. With both teams even after four rounds, Kocsis clinched the shootout win for Mercyhurst in round five.
Air Force finished with a significant edge in shots on goal (43-20). Only one penalty was called during the entire game; Mercyhurst went scoreless on its sole power-play opportunity. Sal Evola made 40 saves for Mercyhurst while Dominik Wasik recorded 17 saves for Air Force.
“They won this game because they didn’t beat themselves,” said head coach Frank Serratore. “They protected the good ice. There were more scary situations around Wasik then we had around their guy. They didn’t give us any out-numbered opportunities and they didn’t take any penalties.”
The teams are scheduled to play again on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Cadet Ice Arena.
