A furious Air Force rally fell short as the Falcons fell to the Milton-Keynes Kings, 6-4, in an exhibition hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 20, in Milton-Keynes, England.
Air Force is on a four-game trip to England, playing teams from the British Findus National Ice Hockey League. The super division consists of many players with NHL experience. AFA will face teams from the second division, a group of former college and minor league (IHL, WCHL, ECHL, etc) players. AFA is 1-1 on the trip, including a 5-0 win over Hull, Nov. 19.
Despite out-shooting the Kings, 27-19, in the first two periods, the Falcons fell behind 5-1. The Kings opened the scoring with 48 seconds left in the first period on a goal by Rick Strachan. King forward Jeff Daniels scored three goals in the second period. His first was a power-play goal at 11:15, his second was a breakaway at 14:35 and his third was another breakaway at 18:05.
The Falcons’ first goal came at 16:26 as Tom Starkey won a face-off and Andy Berg scored on a slap shot.
Strachan struck again as he netted a short-handed goal with 54 seconds left in the second for a 5-1 lead.
Air Force scored three goals in the third period, but the rally came up short. Scott Zwiers scored at the 10:30 mark. After Milton-Keynes scored to take a 6-2 lead, the Falcons turned up the offense. A nice pass play from Berg set up Spanky Leonard for his goal at the 14:50 mark of the third period. With three minutes left, Ryan Wiggins scored.
The Falcons out-shot the Kings, 47-27 in the game, including a 20-8 advantage in the third period.
Locallo was selected as the “Man of the Match” for Air Force. Milton-Keynes goalie, Allen Sutton, who made 43 saves, was the “Man of the Match” for the Kings.
The road trip continues as the Falcons play the Peterborough Pirates, Nov. 21 and the Coventry Blaze, Nov. 22.
