Air Force and Army played to a 0-0 overtime tie in an Atlantic Hockey America game at the Cadet Ice Arena on Saturday, February 21. Army secured the extra point in the conference standings by winning the shootout 1-0. This match marked Air Force’s final regular-season home game.
This was Air Force’s first scoreless tie after regulation since a 1-0 overtime win over RIT on February 26, 2022. It was also their first scoreless tie against Army since a double-overtime victory in March 2018 during the AHA quarterfinals at West Point.
Army outshot Air Force 28-26 during regulation. In overtime, Air Force had a shot advantage of 6-2, but neither team scored. The shootout was decided when Dylan Wegner scored for Army in the second round, while goalie J.J. Cataldo stopped all three Air Force attempts.
Overall, Air Force outshot Army 32-30 in the game. Both teams were unsuccessful on power plays; Air Force went 0-for-2 and killed off Army’s only man advantage. Cataldo made 32 saves for Army, while Dominik Wasik recorded his third career shutout with 30 saves for Air Force.
Head coach Frank Serratore commented on the performance: “This was a very intense game that had a playoff feel,” he said. “The stars of the game were the two goaltenders. Cataldo and Wasik were both great. In the series this season, we each earned six points, but we had the better record at 2-1-1, so our seniors go out with a winning record against Army. You don’t often say a 0-0 game is exciting, but this one was. Tonight we took a step in the right direction because we didn’t beat ourselves. We need to take another step in the right direction going into the No. 1 team’s barn this weekend at Bentley.”
Air Force will finish its regular season with games at Bentley University on February 27 and 28 in Waltham, Massachusetts. Bentley has already secured first place in Atlantic Hockey America’s regular season standings while Air Force currently holds seventh place.
