Last weekend, Air Force hockey exceeded its coach’s expectations. The Falcons rallied from an 11-2 drubbing at home against St. Thomas on Oct. 17 to beat the Tommies 6-2 the next night for their first win of the season. 

“I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, I don’t remember taking a pounding like that. I’ve taken a few poundings like that but never bounced back the next day to win. Maybe play better, but not to win. That’s a very unusual situation, “ Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “To be honest with you, if you’re looking at our five games that we’ve played. The bad game on Friday was the outlier because the other four we’ve competed very well in. But I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for bouncing back the way they did.”

Air Force (1-2-1) will have its first regular-season road trip this weekend, opening Atlantic Hockey America play at Rochester Institute of Technology. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday. 

The Falcons have spent the previous two weekends at home, hosting Denver and Colorado College Oct. 10-11 and St. Thomas last week. Between the optimism from the team’s first win and just being ready for a hockey-focused weekend, Serratore said this road trip is just what the doctor ordered.  

“We had four home games in a row. I don’t want to play at home again. It’s time to go and get into a hotel and have some team meals and have some team camaraderie,” he said. “There’s a lot of distractions when you play at home…There’s a lot less distractions when you play on the road.”

The team’s last road trip, an exhibition at Omaha on Oct. 3, set the tone for the season.  The Falcons scored twice in the third period to send the game to overtime. Air Force lost but between that evening and last weekend’s bounce-back effort on the second night of the series, the Falcons have a lot of faith in their young group.

Despite the changes to the college hockey landscape with Canadian Hockey League players eligible to skate in the NCAA, when the Falcons compete, they’re a dangerous team for any opponent. 

“It tells us a lot. I think it tells us that we’re mentally tough. If we can get punched in the face and get right back up and play like nothing happened,” sophomore center Nick Sajevic said. “Obviously, we did that on Saturday. … I think how we’ve played against all these top teams in the country, we’ve proved that we can play with them. Denver, (Colorado College), Omaha, St. Thomas, no matter who. Even if we have a bad game, there’s no lack of belief.”

Atlantic Hockey presents a challenge, but this young Air Force team, with only seven upperclassmen in the lineup last weekend, is hopeful given the way it’s played tougher opponents so far.

“Obviously, we’re a pretty young team. To be doing what we’re doing at this point in the season, I think there’s a lot of excitement with our group,” Sajevic said. “ I think we’re really excited to get going into conference play, and I think there’s no reason we can’t be at the top of the standings of Atlantic Hockey this year.”