BRIDGEPORT, Conn.— The Sacred Heart men's ice hockey team dropped its last contest of the 2016 calendar year on Saturday afternoon, as Air Force recorded two goals in the third for the comeback victory. The Pioneers (6-12-2, 4-10 AHA) held the 2-1 into the third but were unable to hold the Falcons (11-6-3, 8-3-1 AHA) attack. 

Air Force picked up the first goal at 7:04 in the first as Matt Koch collected the rebound on a miss by Brady Tomlak. Sacred Heart was quick to respond as sophomore Adam Durkee put a backhanded goal past Shane Starrett for first goal of the season. Sophomore Liam Clare picked up the assist with the pass into the slot on the goal. Freshman Vito Bavaro put the Pioneers ahead 2-1 with a slap shot from the left circle on the open look from fellow freshman Ruslan Rakhmatov at 6:14 in the second period. The Falcons tied it up at 2:09 in the third as Kyle Haak slipped one past Nathan Perry on the breakaway. Erik Baskin hit the game winning goal from the left circle on the feed from Tyler Ledford to bring the game to 3-2. The Pioneers held a man advantage in the final two minutes of the game but were unable to capitalize.

The Falcons outshot the Pioneers 33-16 on the day. The Pioneers power play went 0-for-4 on power play, while the SHU penalty kill yielded Air Force to 0-for-6.

The Pioneers open up 2017 on the road with a two-game series at RIT beginning Friday, January 6 at 7:00pm. 

First Period

- Durkee collected a pass by Clare and backhanded it past Starrett for his first goal of the season at 10:29. Durkee's first tally since February 26, 2016 at Holy Cross.

- Hansen fired one from the right circle but was denied by Starrett.

- Perry picked up a stop on a shot by Erich Jaeger wide open in the slot.

Second Period

- Bavaro picked up his third goal of the season with his strike at 6:14.

- Perry laid out for a big save on an open rush by Evan Giesler at 15:25 in the period. 

Third Period

- Perry denied Giesler once again with a spectacular backdoor save on the Air Force power play to start the third period.

- Minello has his slap shot from the blue line blocked by Dylan Abood but nearly trickled in at 17:25 on the SHU power play.