Air Force’s strong defense and a timely power-play goal was enough to overcome a standout performance for Niagara goalie Jackson Teichroeb in a 3-0 grinder of a home win Friday night.

Sophomore forward Erik Baskin scored a power-play goal with 4:21 left in the third period to allow the 1,931 fans at Cadet Ice Arena to let out a sigh of relief after Teichroeb (42 saves) kept last-place Niagara (3-17-2, 3-12-1 Atlantic Hockey Conference) alive for most of the contest.

Baskin’s goal off a pass by Colorado Springs’ Tyler Ledford came on Air Force’s 41st shot and more importantly for coach Frank Serratore, while on the power play. The Falcons man advantage now has seven goals in the past 11 games but struggled last weekend.

“Their goaltender was very, very good,” Serratore said. “He kept his team in the game and made things a little scary towards the end. We were only one shot away from being tied and heading into overtime when anything can happen.”

“I am happy we got the clinching score on the power play because we needed a (confidence) boost there.”

Sophomore wing Ben Kucera added his team-high eighth goal, an empty-netter with 11 seconds left, for the final margin.

To set themselves up for a series sweep Saturday, the Falcons will need to battle their way to the front of the Niagara net and make Teichroeb’s job more difficult.

“This is the time of year when defenses really tighten up and we need to get into those dirty areas and get goals,” said Baskin, who recorded his seventh tally. “Niagara and Army are similar teams who play tough defensively and play strong and physical.”

“We need to attack the cage harder,” Serratore said. “We have been playing a good team game but we need penetration to manufacture some goals.”

Another strong team defensive performance led to the eventual game-winner only 1:57 into the game and helped freshman Shane Starrett to his second shutout in three games (one goal allowed, 63 saves).

A Niagara turnover forced by freshman Evan Okeley sent the puck over to junior center Tyler Rostenkowski, who collected the pass with his left skate and kicked it over to his stick blade. His right-handed shot from the slot beat Teichroeb low and it was 1-0 with 18:03 left in the first period.

The Falcons kept up the pace and kept the last-place Purple Eagles at bay the remainder of the game, out shooting the visitors 45=14 and holding Niagara to one shot in the second period.

But Teichroeb (1-5-1, one shutout), who missed the first third of the season due to injury, rose to the occasion and the skaters in front of him, including Colorado Springs junior defenseman Kevin Patterson, cleared away rebounds and kept Air Force from establishing a net presence for rebound opportunities.

Air Force 3, Niagara 0

Niagara                 0              0              0              — 0

Air Force              1              0              2              — 3

First period – 1. AFA, Rostenkowski (Okeley) 1:57. Scoring – NIA, King, high-sticking, 6:17.

Second period – None. Penalties – AFA, Mackey, tripping, 9:03; NIA, Edwards, slashing, 11:15; NIA, Farmer, cross-checking, 14:22.

Third period – 2. AFA, Baskin (Ledford, Mackey) 15:39 (PP); 3. AFA, Kucera (unassisted) 19:49 (EN). Scoring – NIA, bench, too many men, 4:19; AFA, Hartner, interference, 4:25; NIA, Sarcona, high-sticking, 13:51.

Power play – NIA 0-2, AFA 1-5. Shots on goal – NIA 6-1-7 – 14: AFA 14-14-17 – 45. Saves-minutes – NIA, Teichroeb 13-14-15 – 58:49; AFA, Starrett 6-1-7 – 60:00. Referees – Barnard, Pincus, Mukai. Attendance – 1,931 (2,470 capacity).

PREGAME

Air Force looks to improve on its 8-3-2 record since a challenging nonconference slate. Niagara junior defenseman Kevin Patterson is skating on the fourth line as a forward Friday night.

LINES

Niagara

LW-C-RW

Dzakhov-Curran-Farmer

Lomsnes-Plouffe-King

Kuhn-Sarcona-Pietrobon

Edwards-Rennaker-Patterson

LD-RD

Harper-Kovachis

Smith-Dineen

Chiarantano-Muto

Goalies – Teichroeb, O’Brien.

Air Force

LW-C-RW

Kucera-Ledford-Baskin

Serratore-Haak-Feno

Giesler-Carey-Himley

Hartner-Rostenkowski-Okeley

LD-RD

Boje-Mackey

Hrabovsky-Yoder

Abood-Kopacka

Goalies – Starrett, Christopoulos, Dylewski