Nick Sajevic scored the deciding goal in double overtime to give Air Force a 3-2 victory over Robert Morris in the opening game of their best-of-three Atlantic Hockey America quarterfinal series. The match took place on Friday, March 6, at Clearview Arena in Pittsburgh.
Air Force, seeded sixth with an overall record of 18-13-4, opened the scoring late in the first period. Will Staring netted his sixth goal of the season at 15:29, assisted by Jake Peterson and Anthony Yu. The Falcons extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second period when senior captain Mason McCormick forced a turnover and scored unassisted.
Robert Morris, seeded third and holding a 13-19-3 record, responded late in regulation. Tanner Klimpke scored twice for the Colonials within the final six minutes of the third period. His first came on a rebound with just under six minutes left. With their goalie pulled for an extra attacker and less than three minutes remaining, Michael Craig set up Klimpke for his second goal from the left circle to tie the game and send it into overtime.
The game remained deadlocked until midway through the second overtime when McCormick drew a penalty after being checked into the boards. On Air Force’s subsequent power play, Sajevic won an offensive zone faceoff. Nolan Cunningham passed to Chris Hedden at the left point; Hedden’s shot bounced off the back wall and Sajevic capitalized on it for his second game-winning goal this season.
Head coach Frank Serratore commented on his team’s performance: “This time of year, it comes down to special teams and goaltending and your best players have to be your best players,” Serratore said. “That was true for both teams tonight. It was a goaltenders’ dual. The difference in the game ended up being us finally capitalizing on a power play. That was huge. That would have been a massive punch in the gut to lose that one after having a 2-0 lead. This was a great road victory.”
Air Force outshot Robert Morris by 51 to 40 shots on goal. The Falcons converted one out of six power plays while successfully killing all five Colonial advantages. Goalie Dominik Wasik made a career-high 38 saves for Air Force; Charlie Schenkel recorded 48 saves for Robert Morris.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch, Serratore added: “That one is in the bank and now we look at tomorrow,” Serratore added. “Robert Morris is fighting for their lives and they don’t want their season to end. I think these are two evenly matched teams. We have an opportunity to end the series tomorrow and they have the opportunity to extend it. We need to put our best foot forward tomorrow night.”
Game two will take place Saturday evening at Clearview Arena.
