McIlmurray Hat-Trick Propels No. 20 Men's Ice Hockey to 5-4 Overtime Victory Over Air Force

Friday, January 31

USAF Academy, Colo. / Cadet Ice Arena

7:05 PM

Sacred Heart

17-8-2, 14-6-1AHA

Air Force

8-13-4, 8-9-4AHA

Team	1	2	3	OT 1	F
Sacred Heart	1	2	1	1	5
Air Force	1	0	3	0	4

McIlmurray Hat-Trick Propels No. 20 Men's Ice Hockey to 5-4 Overtime Victory Over Air Force

1/31/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO.- The #20 ranked Sacred Heart University Men's Ice Hockey team rallied back late in the third and in overtime to walk away with a 5-4 overtime victory over Air Force this afternoon. The Pioneers will look for the two game sweep tomorrow when they face Air Force at 7:05 p.m.

First Period

Both sides were held to limited shots on goal as SHU tallied six while Air Force fired off nine.
SHU jumped on the board first just 2:23 into the game as junior transfer Evan Wisocky tallied his second goal of the year off a pair of assists by sophomores Nick Boyagian and Todd Goehring to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.
The Falcons came back later on in the first period though as Trevor Stone squeezed a goal 7:36 into the period off two assists by Brandon Koch and Ty Pochipinski to even the score up at 1-1.
After the Air Force goal, both sides skated to a standstill to send the game tied up at 1-1 after the first period.

Second Period

The Pioneers came out firing in the second period as they outshot Air Force eight five in the period.
The aggressive offensive attack by SHU paid off as senior Austin McIlmurray racked up his 15^th goal of the year just 2:47 into the period off a pair of assists by Ryan Steele and Max Luukko to put the Pioneers ahead 2-1.
Then in the closing minutes of the period, 15:34 into the second, sophomore Ryan Steele fired a wrap around goal for his sixth of the year off a pair of assists by Jordan Kaplan and Austin McIlmurray to send the Pioneers into the third period with a commanding 3-1 lead.

Third Period

Air Force would score three unanswered goals in the period first coming off the stick of Luke Rowe just 5:58 into the period to tighten the SHU lead to 3-2.
Then five minutes later the Falcons struck again this time off the stick of Matt Pulver 10:17 into the period to even the score at 3-3.
Air Force took a 4-3 lead less than two minutes later as 11:23 into the period Luke Manning found the back of the net to put a gasp into the Pioneers in the second half of the period.
But SHU answered back in the closing minutes of the period as power-play mastermind Austin McIlmurray rocketed his second goal of the game 16:01 into the game on the SHU power-play off a pair of assists by senior Mike Lee and first-year Braeden Tuck to send the game into overtime.

Overtime

Heading into overtime, the Pioneers started off the period on the power-play and just :29 seconds into the period, leave it to McIlmurray to cash in the game winner and his first career hat-trick to give the Pioneers the 5-4 victory.

Notes

Senior Austin McIlmurray led the way for the Pioneers with four points including three goals and one assist.
Senior Mike Lee continued his strong assist game as he recorded two in the game to up his season total to 26 on the year.
SHU improves to 17-8-2 overall on the year and 14-6-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.