St. John's 2-0 After Knocking Off Air Force
from press release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- St. John's (2-0,
0-0) used a five-goal second period to open up a 7-1 lead and
eventually knock off Air Force (0-1, 0-0), 10-7.
The Red Storm were led by a trio of scorers in sophomore Harry
Kutner, junior Terence Leach and senior Garrett Mitchell. All three
players tallied three points apiece, each scoring two goals and
notching one assist. Senior Tom Manes collected his second assist
on the season and also found the net for two points on the
game.
The Red Storm defense was led by senior Gavin Buckley, who allowed
seven goals on 30 shots, making five saves. Junior Dan Cremens
picked up a team-high seven ground balls while senior Nick
Messinger fielded four.
St. John's got on the board early as Leach scored unassisted just
35 seconds into the contest. Kutner quickly pushed the lead to 2-0
with a goal of his own at the 12:11 mark. Air Force responded when
midfielder Jimmy Curran found the back of the net off a pass from
Zack Carroll at the 5:15 mark.
The Red Storm broke open the game in the second period with five
unanswered goals to build a 7-1 lead.
Mitchell scored his first goal of the game just over two minutes
into the period. Freshman Jordan Rothman won the ensuing faceoff
and set up Leach with a scoring look near the crease. Leach passed
off to a cutting Dillon Ayers who scored his first goal of the
season and his young career.
Leach and Kutner continued the scoring binge with goals coming at
9:05 and 3:34 in the period. Kutner tallied the assist on the first
goal, while senior Tom Manes set up Kutner from the top on the
second goal. Mitchell rounded out the second period scoring with an
unassisted goal at the 2:26 mark.
Air Force's Stephen Vu stopped the run with just 1:23 left
before halftime, pulling the intermission tally to 7-2.
"I was proud of the way our guys came out of the gate," said head
coach Jason Miller. "We put together a great second period in terms
of our shooting, clearing and our defense. We didn't play our best
in the third period, but we hung tough and we responded at the
end."
Air Force went on its own run in the third period, pulling the
score to 7-5 by the start of the fourth period. The Falcons
capitalized on an early man-up opportunity and Carroll pulled the
margin to 7-3 just two minutes into the period. Air Force's Tristan
Newkirk added another goal at 10:02, and Curran put home his second
goal of the game at the end of the period.
Freshman Jarrett Carr was able to stop the Air Force run by coming
from behind the goal and hitting a diving shot with 11:28 left in
the fourth period to give St. John's an 8-5 lead. Air Force quickly
responded as Dayton Gilbreath pulled the margin back to 8-6.
With 5:21 remaining in regulation, Mitchell found freshman Alex
Lagodich who fired a shot from fifteen yards out that rippled the
net. The score marked Lagodich's first goal of his career and
helped ice the game for St. John's.
Manes added another goal to the margin as he launched a bouncing
shot from the sideline that found the back of the net at 3:15.
St. John's remains on the road next weekend as the team travels to
face conference rival Georgetown. The Red Storm defeated Georgetown
last season in a thrilling 10-9 win.
