AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Air Force left winger Jacques Lamoureux claims to have a special talent.
If so, it showed up just in time Saturday night to allow the Falcons to escape with a 4-2 victory over Army at the Cadet Ice Arena.
After the Falcons playing the first 41:25 of the game without a lead, Lamoureux’s power-play goal ensured Air Force a trip to the Atlantic Hockey Association’s final four tournament for the fourth straight year.
“I have an ability to sometimes be in the right place at the right time,” Lamoureux said of his team-leading 21st goal of the season. “I was able to get to that spot and (Derrick Burnett) found me.”
It was Burnett who passed the puck out from behind the Army net to a wide-open Lamoureux, whose point-blank shot got past Army goaltender Jay Clark.
“Sometimes in hockey, guys sneak into that hole,” Clark said of Lamoureux’s place on the ice. “It’s a common play in hockey. They passed it about the time I was turning around. Sometimes there isn’t much you can do about it.”
Up to that point, Army’s defense had throttled the Falcons, who had trouble controlling the puck from the blue line on in most of the game.
The Falcons converted just one of three power plays against the Black Knights, who lost 3-0 the night before in the best-of-three playoff series.
“The power play came through at the right time, but it wasn’t a thing of beauty,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “We were darn lucky that Army didn’t score on their previous power play. There was nothing easy about that game. It was one of those games that you have to scrap and gut out.”
Serratore credited goal-tender Andrew Volkening with some big saves that stymied the Black Knights on three of four power plays.
Army broke through against Volkening on Bryant Skarda’s goal with 2:06 left in the first period.
“In a playoff series, giving up a couple of goals happens,” Volkening said. “The bottom line is, we got the job done. If you go into a third game (of a playoff series), you never know what’s going to happen. It can go either way.”
An empty-net goal by Burnett with 20 seconds left clinched the victory.
