Six different Falcons scored goals as Air Force defeated the Peterborough Pirates, 6-2, in an exhibition hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 21, in Peterborough, England.
Air Force is 2-1 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 is playing teams from the second division, a group of former college and minor league (IHL, WCHL, ECHL, etc) players.
The Falcons scored three goals in the first period against Peterborough on goals by Scott Zwiers, Brian Rodgers and Andy Berg. Zwiers scored on a rebound of a Jeff Zurick shot at 1:07. Rodgers, who was camped right in front of the net, scored a power-play goal at 2:35.
Peterborough got on the board at 7:54 on a goal by Warren Tiat. Berg’s one-timer on the power play gave the Falcons a 3-1 lead after one period.
Early in the second period, Derek Olson scored on a rebound at 1:25. Pirate forward Darren Colton scored at 4:47 to make the score 4-2.
Late in the period, the Falcons took a 5-2 lead on a goal by Justin Hamilton. Freshman Ryan Wiggins gave a great effort getting to the net and Hamilton scored on the rebound. Falcon sophomore winger Shane Saum closed out the scoring at 17:48 of the third period. Saum skated into the zone on a one-on-two and beat two Pirate defensemen on a breakaway.
Freshman goalie Zach Sikich played all 60 minutes and made 19 saves while allowing two goals.
Reaney, who had two assists and played solid defense, was named the “Man of the Match” for Air Force. Peterborough’s Darren Colton was named the “Man of the Match” for the Pirates.
“This was without a doubt the best game we’ve played since we’ve been out here and it was also the best team we’ve faced,” assistant coach Derek Schooley said. “We played hard and we finished our checks.”
More than 1,700 fans attended the game, including more than 500 Air Force fans from local bases.
The road trip ends Nov. 22 as the Falcons play the Coventry Blaze. The Blaze is tied for first in the league.
“The game against Coventry will be our biggest challenge,” Schooley said. “They are a very good team, we will be playing our fourth game in four nights and they play on an Olympic-size sheet of ice. This will be a major challenge for us.”
