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Air Force beats Holy Cross, 3-2, in AHA Semifinals

Lamoureux scores two in third as Air Force beats Holy Cross, 3-2, in AHA Semifinals

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior Jacques Lamoureux scored two goals in the third period to lift Air Force to a 3-2 win over Holy Cross in the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinals, Friday, March 18, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. With the win, Air Force advances to the AHA Championship game on Saturday, March 19, at 7:05 p.m. The Falcons’ opponent will be the regular-season champions and defending tournament champions, RIT. The Tigers and Falcons finished first and second, respectively, in the regular season. AFA advances to the championship game for the fourth time in five years in Atlantic Hockey.

Air Force improved to 19-11-6 overall this season. Holy Cross’ season came to an end with an overall record of 17-16-5.

It took 11 minutes for Air Force to get its first shot on goal and then the fourth shot on goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead with 4:21 left in the period. Ryan Timar fed Scott Mathis at the center point and his shot went wide of the net and bounced hard off the back boards. The puck bounced into the crease as Holy Cross goalie Adam Roy was sliding back to the post. The puck went off of his skate and into the net for the only goal of the period. Holy Cross outshot Air Force, 8-4, in the first period.

In the first minute of the second period, Falcon defenseman Tim Kirby fired a slap shot from the point that clanked off the post. The Crusaders tied the game with 5:10 left in the period right after a Crusader power play ended. Shayne Stockton’s shot from the right circle deflected off of goalie Jason Torf and went in on the short side to tie the game at 1-1. Air Force’s best scoring chance of the period came when Tony Thomas intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and fed John Kruse who skated in on a breakaway. His shot was turned away by Roy with 3:30 left in the period.

Early in third period, Holy Cross took its first lead of the game when Erik Vos scored his eighth of the season. The Crusaders won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Andrew Cox fired a shot that was saved. Vos put back the rebound for a 2-1 lead at the 2:51 mark. The Falcons turned up the intensity on the offensive end and Lamoureux scored the next two goals of the game. His first came at 9:26 when Kyle DeLaurell made a pass from behind the net and the senior center scored from the left circle to tie the game. With 4:16 remaining in the third, Stephen Carew started the rush in his own end and found DeLaurell in the neutral zone. DeLaurell skated over the blue line, drew the defenders and then slid the puck to Lamoureux on the left side. His second of the game and 23rd of the season gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead at 15:44. With 38 seconds left in the game, the Crusaders pulled their goaltender but didn’t get a shot on goal. Lamoureux extended his own school record with his 17th career game winner.

Holy Cross outshot Air Force in every period and 30-21 in the game. AFA was 0-for-4 on the power play while Holy Cross was 0-for-3. Jason Torf made 28 saves while Adam Roy made 18 for the Crusaders.

“ That was a very difficult team to play against,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “I feel very fortunate to win that game because it could have gone either way. Jacques Lamoureux has scored a lot of goals for us, but he scored some big goals for us as well. When we really need one, he has that knack of scoring big goals.”