Air Force Academy

March 15, 2009

Box Score in PDF Format

USAFA, Colo. - Brent Olson scored the first hat trick of his career to lead Air Force to an 8-1 win over Sacred Heart in game three of the Atlantic Hockey Association best of three quarterfinals, Sunday, March 15, at the Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.

With the win, Air Force wins the three-game AHA Quarterfinal series and advances to the AHA Final Four in Rochester, N.Y., March 20-21, for the third straight year. The Falcons join RIT, Mercyhurst and Bentley in the AHA Final Four. Air Force, the top seed in the tournament, will play No. 4 seed Bentley on Friday, March 20, at 4:05 pm ET at the Blue Cross Arena.

Air Force improved to 9-1 all-time in the AHA Tournament and a perfect 6-0 in AHA elimination games. The Falcons improved to 25-10-2 overall while Sacred Heart fell to 11-23-4. The 25 wins are a school record for Division I victories and they tie the school record for wins against all opponents with the 1971-7 2 team.

For the first time in the series, Air Force scored the first goal of the game. Greg Flynn fired a slap shot from the left point that beat Stefan Drew five hole. Paul Weisgarber won a faceoff in the offensive end and Mike Phillipich, who returned from an ankle injury, tipped the puck out to Flynn at the top of the left circle. Flynn's rocket gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Less than three minutes later, Flynn tied his career high with his second of the game and seventh of the season. On a 4-on-3 power play, Jeff Hajner carried the puck into the zone and slid the puck to Michael Mayra on the left side. Flynn took Mayra's pass and one-timed the puck past Drew for a 2-0 lead. Through the first 14 minutes of the game, Air Force outshot Sacred Heart, 15-0. Jacques Lamoureux gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead with his power-play goal at 18:45. Scott Mathis and Flynn led the breakout and Lamoureux skated the puck down the left side. His shot from a tough angle, low on the goal line, hit the goaltender in the shoulder and went in for his 30th of the season.

Lamoureux netted his 31st of the season, and second of the night, just 45 seconds into the second period. Josh Frider skated down the left side uncontested and slid the puck to Lamoureux in the slot to give the Falcons a 4-0 lead. Sacred Heart got on the board at the 1:52 mark on the power play. Erik Boisvert took a cross ice pass at the bottom of the right circle and cut the Falcons lead to 4-1. Air Force answered less than two minutes later as the Falcons' top line scored in transition. Lamoureux took a shot from right in front that was saved and Brent Olson punched it in for his 10th of the season. Frider also assisted on the play.

The Falcons added two more in the second period to build a 7-1 lead. Olson's second of the game came at the 16:46 mark of the second period from Michael Mayra. Mayra led the rush down the right side and fed Olson coming down the slot. With 1:04 left in the second period, Jeff Hajner scored his 10th of the season on the power play. Flynn sent a puck up the boards and Matt Fairchild gave the puck to Hajner in the neutral zone. Hajner's wrister from the center point gave Air Force a 7-1 lead. Midway through the third period, Air Force took an 8-1 lead on the power play. Olson took the puck off the boards, walked into the circle and fired a shot that beat goalie Olivier St. Onge as the crowd of 1,469 threw their hats on the ice. Lamoureux and Frider also assisted on the play.

Air Force outshot Sacred Heart, 51-15, in the game. The 51 shots are a season high and the most since getting 55 vs. Mercyhurst in 2007. AFA was 4-for-11 on the power play while Sacred Heart was 1-for-7. Volkening made 14 saves in earning his 25th win of the season. Drew made 14 saves in the first period and then left the game with an illness after the first 20 minutes. Olivier St. Onge came on in relief and gave up five goals while making 29 saves in 40 minutes.

"This was a game we had to win," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Game three in our building against the lower seed, you have to get it done. I couldn't be more proud of our group. Sacred Heart was a very tough team to play against the first two nights, but we sent a message early in this game. They got some life when they scored, but we came back and got the next goal. Our discipline was very good tonight. It usually comes down to special teams and goaltending and we won both. Volkening didn't make a lot of saves, but very quietly he made some very good saves. The leaders have to lead and our leaders led tonight. That's what has to happen. Our older guys, our leaders got it done. I really believe that in the second half of the year, we became a better team because of the adversity that we had to overcome. Because of that, I believe that we are a better team right now than we were early in the season when were 13-0."

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