Air Force captain Mike Phillipich thought he’d be ready after missing the first two games of the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament quarterfinal series because of an ankle injury. To hear coach Frank Serratore tell it, the decision to put the captain on the ice Sunday was a no-brainer.

“Mike Phillipich told me he was going to play,” Serratore said. “He’s the captain of the team, and when the captain of the team tells you …”

Said Phillipich: “I felt I would be good enough to play tonight. I just wanted to make sure I’d be better than the guy I was replacing. I didn’t want to leave it to chance, playing in a one-and-done game.”

And the captain helped make the biggest play of the game — on his first shift. Off a faceoff, he helped move the puck to fellow senior Greg Flynn, whose slap shot opened the scoring at 5 minutes, 54 seconds of the first period.

“Getting that first goal was huge,” Phillipich said.

It was the first time in the series that the Falcons scored first.

Quiet weekend homeSacred Heart sophomore Pat Knowlton, a Cheyenne Mountain graduate, did not have a point, shot or penalty Sunday and had only one shot during the series. His plus-minus for each game of the series was even.

Knowlton had a big game in getting the Pioneers to the quarterfinals, collecting a goal and assist in the play-in game against Connecticut.

He finished the season with two goals and nine assists.

By the numbersSunday was the least-attended game of the series with 1,469 fans. … Josh Frider tied a Falcons record by playing in his 147th game. … Sacred Heart was outshot 51-15, not even getting a shot for the opening 14 minutes.

AHA playoffs• Jeff Gumaer scored three goals — two in the second period — as fourth-seeded Bentley advanced to meet Air Force with a 4-2 victory over Canisius. Bentley, which led 2-1 after one period, got three assists each from Dain Prewitt and Anthony Canzoneri.• Tyler Brenner and Anton Kharin each scored twice and Stevan Matic added a goal and two assists as league co-champion Rochester Institute of Technology eliminated Holy Cross 9-5.