Air Force forges tie with Wayne St.

Air Force coach Frank Serratore required four stitches to his forehead after getting hit by an errant puck late in the second period of Friday's College Hockey America showdown with Wayne State.

That bump on the head, though, didn't seem to bother the Falcons coach as his club battled to a hard-fought 1-1 tie in front of a season-high 1,768 fans at the Cadet Ice Arena.

The tie keeps Air Force (12-10-3, 4-5-3 in league) a point behind third-place Wayne State (14-10-2, 6-5-2).

The third-place team in the CHA at season's end avoids the elimination game in the CHA Tournament next month and a possible showdown with the CHA's top seed in the next round.

"We've got to put our chances away," Serratore said. "When you play that hard and that intense, and your goalie has to pitch a shutout in order for you to win, that's not right. That's my only criticism.

"I really felt, though, if one team deserved to win it was our team. I'm really pleased with our effort level, our intensity, our preparation. I loved everything. The only thing, we have to put our chances away."

After nearly 35 minutes of scoreless hockey, Air Force broke through on a tipped power-play goal by senior Scott Bradley.

Falcons' sophomore Andy Berg fired a shot from just inside the blue line, which hit Bradley's stick and sailed past Wayne State's sophomore goaltender David Guerrera.

It was Bradley's third goal of the season, which elevates him to 25th place on the Falcons' all-time scoring list with 114 points in 131 games.

Moments later, Air Force was called for having too many men on the ice. The Warriors took advantage by peppering the Falcons' senior goal-tender Marc Kielkucki. Kielkucki, though, as he's done all year, weathered the furious 2-minute storm and sent Air Force into the locker room up 1-0 entering the third period.

The Warriors, winners of four straight in the CHA, tied the contest at 5:56 of the third period on a close-range goal by Jason Durbin.

"Our strategy from here on out is to put games behind us and keep focused on the next game," Bradley said. "We need to try and get as many league points as we can and as many wins as we can coming down the stretch."

- Troy Schwindt may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

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