A tremendous effort for one standings point.

The Falcons came back from a two-goal deficit in the third period Wednesday. Freshman Thomas Daskas tied the game with 3.7 seconds left to send it into overtime. Sacred Heart then sealed a 4-3 win in overtime off an odd-man rush.

“That is one massive punch in the gut after coming back and doing what we did short-handed to tie the game,” coach Frank Serratore said.

Air Force team captain Jake Levin made it 1-0, the lone senior among five freshmen who scored in this three-game stay at Niagara.

The Pioneers responded with three unanswered goals before the next period break. Eight seconds into a power play, Air Force allowed Sacred Heart to set up and camp out. Marc Johnstone took a pass at the back door and roofed it to make it 3-1.

That looked like enough to do in the Falcons (0-6-1), who had yet to score more than two goals in a game through six. However Blake Bride fed Will Gavin from behind the net and the freshman tightened the score.

Air Force pressed for the equalizer but Zach Mirageas took a boarding penalty with 14 seconds left in regulation. The faceoff was back in Air Force’s end. Daskas won the draw, Zach LaRocque (23 saves) hustled off the ice for the extra attacker, Bennett Norlin won a foot race and he gave it back to Daskas. Daskas followed up on his own rebound and launched the biggest celebration of a tough season so far.

“Had we found a way to win that game or even tie, it may have been the most miraculous tie or win in history, having to do what we did — score short-handed, go 200 feet in 14 seconds and score and then kill off 1:45 of 4-on-3,” Serratore said.

Air Force turned the puck over during 3-on-3 overtime. Mirageas was the lone man back on a 2-on-1 and approached Braeden Tuck, but Tuck flipped the puck over the shoulder of LaRocque to win the game and take the extra point.

The game was originally scheduled Dec. 18 at the academy. Air Force stayed at Niagara’s Dwyer Arena in Niagara, N.Y., for the midweek makeup game.

It has collected points in two straight, but for the second straight season, Air Force is winless through seven. The Falcons will get a chance to end the slide there against Mercyhurst, picked to finish last in Atlantic Hockey,

“Where we started on Sunday, we were terrible,” Serratore said of a 7-2 loss to Niagara. “Monday, we were difficult to play against and we ended up salvaging a point out of that. Tonight, I felt we didn’t beat ourselves.”