Air Force Upsets Denver, 5-2

USAFA, Colo. Matt Fairchild scored three goals and Andrew Volkening stopped 29 shots to lead Air Force (12-7-4) to a 5-2 win over No. 4 Denver (17-6) at Cadet Ice Arena tonight. The upset win was Air Force’s first over Denver since Jan. 15, 1980, breaking the Pioneers’ 19-game winning streak against the Falcons.

“Give Air Force full credit tonight,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “They outworked us and I’m really disappointed in our effort.”

Tom May (Eagan, Minn.), Patrick Mullen (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) each tallied two points for the Pioneers. Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) suffered his second consecutive loss after allowing four goals on 13 shots.

Air Force held a 2-0 lead after the first period. Derrick Burnett gave Air Force a 1-0 lead at 8:03 off a nice feed from Eric Ehn and Fairchild scored shorthanded after a turnover by Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) at 19:55. The Falcons outshot the Pioneers 9-8 in the opening stanza and both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.

Schaffer gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead at 11:03 of the second period and Fairchild ended Mannino’s (9 saves) night when he netted his second goal of the game at 15:09. May scored DU’s first goal with 53 seconds left in the period on assists from Mullen and Ostrow. Denver outshot Air Force 11-4 in the period.

DU failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes midway through the final period. Mullen made it 4-2 with a backhanded goal from May and Ostrow at 12:02. DU pulled Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) to create a 6-on-5 advantage, but Fairchild completed his first career hat trick at 15:08 with the empty net.

The Pioneers outshot Air Force 31-16, but went 0-for-5 on the power play. The Falcons finished 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.

Notes: DU hosts Bemidji State tomorrow night at Magness Arena. The Pioneers are 4-0 all-time against the Beavers. The crowd of 2,657 marked the fifth largest crowd in Cadet Ice Arena history. Ostrow tallied his fourth consecutive two-point game. J.P. Testwuide (Vail, Colo.) missed the game with the flu. Mannino was pulled from the game in consecutive starts for the first time in his four-year career. The Pioneers have been outscored 12-4 in their last two games.

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