Freshman Willie Reim and senior Erich Jaeger each scored twice as Air Force defeated Trinity Western 8-0 in a college hockey exhibition game Sunday at the Cadet Ice Arena.
Coming off a hard-fought 4-1 loss against fellow NCAA Div. I opponent Colorado College, the Spartans were bettered for the second time in as many nights, with TWU goalies Lucas Mills (Burnaby, B.C.), Isaac LaBelle (Saskatoon) and Allistair Duncan (Abbotsford, B.C.) combining to make 63 saves.
The Falcons scored first as a pair of freshmen combined on the goal. Reim cleaned up a rebound off Luke Manning’s shot at 1:37 for the 1-0 lead. Late in the period, senior captain Matt Pulver drew a penalty and the Falcons scored on the power play. Zach Mirageas’ wrister from the top of the right circle gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead with 33 seconds left in the first period.
Early in the second, on the rush, Reim netted his second of the game from Brady Tomlak at 4:13. Air Force took a 4-0 lead with a short-handed goal by Erich Jaeger. Just after a 4-on-4 expired as TWU returned to full strength, Jaeger gained the zone down the left wing, cut the middle and scored at 8:01. Freshman defenseman Brandon Koch had the assist. The Falcons had a 21-8 shot advantage in the second period.
Another freshman got on the scoresheet in the third period as Blake Bride scored at 4:02. Kieran Durgan led the odd-man rush and Jake Levin’s shot was saved. Bride cleaned up the rebound for a 5-0 lead. Just two minutes later, the Falcons struck again as Tomlak buried Trevor Stone’s centering pass for a 6-0 lead. Jaeger’s second of the game came with 3:47 remaining as he put back a rebound of Andrew Kruse’s shot. With 31 seconds left, and on the power play, Stone scored with a slap shot from the right circle. Freshmen defensemen Brandon Koch and Dalton Weigel had the assists.
Air Force outshot Trinity Western, 71-12, in the game. Junior Zach LaRocque started in goal for the Falcons and played the first two periods, stopping all eight shots he faced. Sophomore Alex Schilling played the third period and stopped all four he faced.
NOTABLE
- TWU was 0 for 2 on the powerplay, while the Falcons were 2 for 5.
- The Spartans are now 1-7 all-time against NCAA opponents.
- Sunday’s game was played in front of a crowd of 1,506.
- Playing a difficult preseason schedule, which featured two NCAA Div. I teams, one Canada West team (UBC), two ACAC teams (Portage and SAIT) and one BCIHL team (SFU), the Spartans finished with a 1-5 record in their exhibition schedule.
