AIR FORCE ACADEMY — On the brink of being eliminated from the Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs and losing the opportunity to qualify for its third consecutive NCAA Tournament, the Air Force hockey team thrived under pressure Sunday at Cadet Ice Arena.
The No. 1-seeded Falcons produced the game’s first 16 shots and got huge performances from their top skaters in an 8-1 rout of No. 8 Sacred Heart in the rubber match of an AHA three-game playoff series.
Senior defenseman Greg Flynn and sophomore center Jacques Lamoureux each had two goals and four points. Flynn scored the game’s first two goals and Lamoureux got the third and fourth, upping his NCAA-leading total to 31. A postgame scoring change gave senior wing Brent Olson a third goal and his first career hat trick.
The Falcons led 3-0 after the first period, 7-1 after two. They had 51 of the game’s 66 shots.
Air Force (25-10-2) advanced to Friday’s AHA semifinals in Rochester, N.Y., where it meets No. 4 Bentley (19-16-2). The Falcons, two-time defending AHA playoff champions, must again win the tournament to advance to the 16-team national field.
“It’s never bad to be challenged with adversity, and then overcome it. This was a series win that we can be proud of,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “We played a team, a low seed that had a plan and executed it pretty well for two games. It took us to the third game before we pierced their armor. I don’t think there are any negatives with that.”
Air Force scored the first goal for the first time in the series and never allowed the Pioneers (11-22-4) to play dump-and-chase and sacrifice transition offense by packing it in defensively like they did in Games 1 and 2. They were forced to attack, allowing Air Force to use its superior speed and skill.
“Being in an elimination game, there is a little adversity, and that was good for us,” Lamoureux said. “At the beginning of the year, we didn’t have any adversity and were kind of killing everyone. . . . So to have our backs against the wall was good for us at this time of the year.”
Sacred Heart 0 1 0 — 1
Air Force 3 4 1 — 8
First period — 1, Air Force, Flynn 6 (Neisgarber, Phillipich), 5:54. 2, Air Force, Flynn 7 (Mayra, Hajner), 8:32 (pp). 3, Lamoureux 30 (Flynn, Mathis), 18:45 (pp). Penalties — Gingera, SH (cross checking), 3:16; Kozlak, AF (roughing), 7:13; Johnson, SH (roughing), 7:13; Boisvert, SH (hooking), 7:45; Berube, SH (boarding), 11:40; Burnett, AF (roughing), 14:05; Kozlak, AF (roughing), 16:18; Brown, SH (roughing), 16:18; AF bench (too many men), 16:30; Trapp, SH (roughing), 18:00; Trapp, SH (10-misconduct), 18:00.
Second period — 4, Air Force, Lamoureux 31 (Frider, Sellers), :45. 5, Sacred Heart, Boisvert 15 (Grimson, Jarman), 1:52 (pp). 6, Air Force, Olson 10 (Lamoureux, Frider), 3:22. 7, Air Force, Olson 11 (Mayra, Frider), 16:46 (4×4). 8, Air Force, Hajner 10 (Mathis, Flynn), 18:56 (pp). Penalties — Nylander, AF (hooking), 4:06; Sellers, AF (holding), 11:51; Mathis, AF (hooking), 15:17; Gingera, SH (interference), 16:03; Jarman, SH (slashing), 17:00; Tyll, SH (cross checking), 19:41.
Third period — 9, Air Force, Olson 12 (Lamoureux, Frider), 7:44 (pp). Penalties — SH bench (too many men), 3:17; Hajner, AF (interference), 3:36; Bailer, SH (contact to the head), 4:05; Rodriguez, SH (tripping), 7:04; Yelovich, SH (interference), 7:44; Wright, AF (hooking), 18:47.
Shots — SH 5-6-4 — 15. AF 17-20-14 — 51. Power plays — SH 1 of 7. AF 4 of 13. Goalies — SH, Drew (9-19-4) 17 shots-14 saves (20:00), St. Onge 34-29 (40:00). AF, Volkening (25-10-2) 15-14. A — 1,469.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
