WALTHAM, Mass. — Air Force coach Frank Serratore gave himself a moment to smile following Saturday night’s game at Bentley. His Falcons defeated the host team, 4-2, in the final home game played in the John A. Ryan Arena. A bus ride awaited him, but he had to give himself one last moment on the road.
“I remember the great John Thompson went into Syracuse when (the Orange) won something like 50 games in a row at their old building,” Serratore said. “When Georgetown beat Syracuse, he said, ‘(Manley Field House) is officially closed.’ So I get the distinction of saying the JAR is officially closed. As silly as it seems, it’s a big moment, and to win the last game here in the way that we did was kind of cool.”
A night filled with raw emotion in the JAR ended with Air Force earning two key league points. The Falcons rallied from a two-goal deficit in the first period, capitalizing on opportunities to close the doors on the JAR and send Bentley into their new arena with a weekend split in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
“I thought our guys responded well tonight,” Serratore said. “Even when we were behind, I thought we were playing pretty darn good. Bentley manufactured the first goal, and then on the second goal, I thought there could have been an interference that sprung for (it). So we overcame some adversity.”
The host Falcons indeed jumped out to an early lead by simply beating Air Force to the punch. Ryner Gorowsky scored first, striking from the left side to beat goaltender Billy Christopoulos eight minutes into the period. Bentley made it 2-0 with time winding down when Jake Kauppila deked Christopoulos out of the crease, dangling the Air Force netminder for his second goal of the weekend.
However, the second period changed the game’s tune. After Air Force scored on a power play with Matt Serratore’s 11th goal of the season, Bentley earned a five-minute major after Erich Jaeger was whistled for interference, but the Falcons mustered only one shot on goal late in the extra-man attack. It shifted the game noticeably in favor of Air Force, despite the score remaining 2-1 into the intermission.
“I liked the way we started the game,” Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist said. “We had a lot of energy and built a 2-0 lead. (But) we had a five-minute power play and weren’t able to execute and stretch the lead. It was a turning point of the game, and then they got a power-play goal to turn the tide a little bit.”
The game’s third period devolved into a penalty festival as both teams drew a number of calls. Referees whistled Bentley for six penalties, including four minutes against defenseman Connor Brassard at the 6:39 mark. Dueling roughing calls resulted in an Air Force advantage, during which Evan Giesler scored with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game.
Three minutes later, Alex Mehnert tucked the eventual game-winner inside the corner over Argue’s shoulder, giving Air Force a lead they would never relinquish. Bentley mustered only two shots in the entire third period as an empty-net goal sealed its fate.
“When you get into the playoffs — and this was like a playoff game — it gets down to goaltending and special teams,” Serratore said. “Goaltending has been good (for us) all year, and so has our penalty kill. (But) our power play has been terrible, and we got contributions from both (sides of special teams) tonight.
“Our guys hung in there where they needed to hang in there. It didn’t go our way (on Friday), and it didn’t deserve to go our way. But we stayed with our game and eventually we turned the game. It’s hard to turn a game when it’s not going your way, especially on the road. It was a big win for us.”
The weekend split vaulted Air Force into the hunt for a first-round bye. The two points moved them into a three-way tie with both RIT and Niagara with 23 points, just one point behind Army West Point for fifth.
“We’ve been inconsistent all year, but we always respond when our backs are against the wall,” Serratore siad. “But we’ve got proactively respond. We’re going down to play Sacred Heart. They shelled Niagara (on Friday). They beat us on that Friday at Air Force, and we need to not reverse to the performance we had (this past Friday). We need to have the same performance that we had tonight.”
As for Bentley, this weekend closed the book on an era dating back over 40 years. Saturday was Bentley’s last home game at the JAR, the only home the program has ever known. Next weekend, the Falcons move to the Bentley Arena, a 2,000-seat hockey palace on campus in Waltham, Massachusetts, for their series against Army West Point.
“Our guys are mature kids, and they’re obviously excited to get into the new building,” Soderquist said. “We wanted to go out tonight and end things the right way. We gave it our all, but we got our emotions a little bit out of check and took too many penalties. But overall I’m really proud of our guys.”
Still, the JAR didn’t go off into the night without another story for its character. A dislodged glass panel wound up delaying the game for over 10 minutes late in the first period as the rink crew went to work fixing things up for the rest of the game.
“I’ve played here since I was in college,” Soderquist said. “I’ve been here for over 20 years. I won’t say that I’m sad to see it go since I’m excited for our future. But I’ll always remember the JAR.”
