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Air Force hockey scores four times in third period to complete comeback against Canisius

By November 28, 2025 | updated 8 hours ago

Air Force forward Holt Oliphant (18) collides with Michigan St. defenseman Viktor Hurtig (3) in the first period of a game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, at the Cadet Ice Arena on the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)

Air Force hockey shook off the tryptophan and overcame a slow start to earn a third straight win the day after Thanksgiving. 

The Falcons wiped out a two-goal deficit and scored four times in the third period to defeat conference foe Canisius 6-3 on Friday. The win marks five straight on the road for Air Force (8-6-1, 5-4), which has won seven of the last nine games. 

The host Golden Griffins outshot Air Force 11-6 in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead with goals from forwards Cole Miller (5:02) and Hunter Price (19:37). Canisius’ dominant play continued into the second period when Falcons junior goalie Dominik Wasik kept his team in the game with timely saves on a pair of shorthanded attempts and even on a Canisius breakaway. 

He finished the game with 29 saves as Canisius outshot Air Force 32-29.

Wasik has been vital to Air Force’s success since taking over as the team’s starting goalie on Oct. 25. He entered Friday’s contest with a .922 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against average. 

Against Canisius, he proved his skill once again.

“That game could have been over in the first period and a half,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said in a radio interview following the game. “They only had two because of one man. Wasik was our best player again. … If it’s 4-0 instead of 2-0, or 5-0, you ain’t coming back.”

Air Force made quick work of the Griffins’ two-goal advantage, scoring twice in a 54-second span to tie the game. Junior defenseman Nolan Cunningham opened the scoring for Air Force at 7:16 of the second period, and then sophomore center Nick Sajevic earned the equalizer at 8:10. 

Despite the Falcons turning the game on its head, Canisius remained resilient and regained the lead thanks to a goal from forward Killian Kiecker-Olson at 9:26 in the middle frame. 

But Air Force didn’t pass up the opportunity to win another Atlantic Hockey America game on the road and responded in the final frame. Sophomore left wing Anthony Yu scored his third goal in as many games, beating Griffins netminder Chase Clark at the 7:18 mark of the third.  Yu’s linemate and senior captain Holt Oliphant gave Air Force the lead with a score at 13:48.

Falcons’ top line left wing Sam Stitz scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season at 17:26 to give Air Force a 5-3 lead. Finally, Falcons sophomore defenseman Ren Morque finished off the game and dashed Canisius’ hopes at a comeback with a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 18:09. Morque‘s second goal of the season came when the Griffins had a 6-on-4 advantage, with Clark pulled for an extra skater and the Griffins on the power play from a penalty to Air Force senior captain Chris Hedden. 

Air Force and Canisius will conclude the series on Saturday at 11:05 a.m.

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Hugh Johnson

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