'Saders, Falcons skate to draw; Scarth scores for Holy Cross.

Byline: Shaun Suhoski

WORCESTER -- If recent history is any predictor, today's contest between Holy Cross and Air Force will be a close affair.

On Military Appreciation Night, Friday at the Hart Center, the Atlantic Hockey Association rivals skated to a 1-1 tie, the third straight stalemate between the teams dating back to last season.

The tie leaves Holy Cross at 7-6-5 overall, and 6-1-5 in AHA play, good for second place behind No. 19 Robert Morris.

After a lackluster first period that left the hosts trailing, 1-0, the Crusaders found their skating legs in the second, forechecking with purpose and outshooting the Falcons, 18-6, during the period and 28-13 over the remainder of the game.

"We started a little sluggishly in the first period, and I thought we made some mental mistakes system-wise and execution-wise,'' said Holy Cross coach Dave Berard. "I thought we made some adjustments after the first period and we had much better effort in the second, third and overtime.''

The effort paid dividends midway through the second when freshman Matt Scarth gathered the puck in the right circle off the boards, shifted and zipped a shot through the legs of Falcons' goaltender Chris Truehl (37 saves) to tie the game and secure at least a point for the Crusaders.

"Castan Sommer was working hard on the forecheck and got a turnover,'' Scarth said. "I just got an opportunity coming off the wall. The defenseman dropped down and I was just able to cut to the middle and catch the goalie cheating on the five hole.''

The freshman winger from Alberta, Canada was named first star with four shots on goal and a plus-1 rating. Earlier he was denied by Truehl on a prime power-play bid from in close.

The Falcons (5-12-3; 4-5-2 AHA) scored on a power play with just over a minute left in the first period when Erik Baskin -- camped at the...