Record win streak ends against Air Force
Cody Wydo scores lone goal in first Colonial loss
More stories from Haley Sawyer
More stories from Haley Sawyer
The RMU hockey team’s record-setting win streak ended on Friday night in an AHC overtime disappointment.
The Colonials (7-1-2, 5-1-2) came out flying in the first period, firing shots from every angle. They were everywhere at once, causing an Air Force (3-6-2, 3-2-1) scramble.
By the end of the first stanza, RMU outshot the Falcons 16-5. Five different Colonials registered two or more shots.
“Coach Schooley challenged us today and said we’ve been coming out flat so I think the guys really stepped it up and came out really hard and had momentum,” said junior forward Brandon Denham.
The Falcons got their speed up to par in the second period and the scoring followed. At 6:48 on a four on three advantage, Cole Gunner took a shot from the high slot and found a hole in Dalton Izyk for the first goal of the night.
It was all on the line for the Colonials in the final frame. They tried frantically to avoid penalties and create chances, but with no avail.
Cody Wydo finally evened it out with less than eight minutes remaining in the game with a power play goal.
“I just saw Tyson go around the net,” said the captain. “He gave it to me and I had a lot of speed and was able to beat the defensemen wide and I just went to the net and it went in luckily.”
It was all knotted up at one for the overtime period.
In 30 seconds, a top shelf goal from Air Force’s Scott Holm ended the game and win streak.
“It’s tough for us to lose the first one but we’re nine games in now, and its going to happen eventually,” said Denham, who had six shots on the evening. I think we deserved better tonight, but that’s the way hockey is. You don’t get the bounce you deserve.”
The scoreboard can be misleading, especially in games like this. Collectively, RMU outshot AFA 45 to 24 and had a plethora of other opportunities. They skated hard and dominated the attacking zone.
“It was one of the best games we’ve played, but we just weren’t capitalizing on our opportunities,” said Wydo. “Otherwise we played pretty well. Held them in there.”
“Any time you lose like this, it stings if you’re on a streak or not. It’s just a loss. We’ve got to put it behind us now.”
Haley is a junior communication major with a concentration in journalism. She is involved in both print and broadcast journalism at the Academic Media...