Grounds leads ice hockey to win against Air Force

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Behind a two goal, one assist performance from Aaron Grounds, the American International College ice hockey team defeated its Atlantic Hockey Association rival, the Air Force Academy, by a 3-1 score on Sunday, November 20.

AIC is now 7-6-3 overall with a 5-5-1-1-0-0 AHA mark.

Air Force scored first, as Nate Horn fired home his second of the series at the 4:00 mark of the first period. That tally would stand up until late in the frame, when Matt Rickard found Blake Bennett coming out of the penalty box. He entered the attacking end with Grounds on a two-on-none and fed Grounds in front for a strike at 16:21; the goal was Grounds' first of the year.

Right around the midway point of the middle frame, Grounds struck again. He finished a net-front battle at 10:01 following a tremendous shift where he and linemates Eric Otto and Austen Long generated enormous pressure to keep the puck in the zone and in AIC's control. The latter two earned assists on Grounds' second of the season.

That trio iced the game early in the third. A shot in from Grounds hit a body in front, and Long poked it to Otto for a one-timer through a screen for his first of the season just 1:05 in.

Neither team scored again; both did put the puck in the net, but an Air Force goal that would have made it 3-2 was challenged successfully for being offside, and a potential empty-netter for a hat trick for Grounds late was called back as the puck had gone out of play. 

In net, Jarrett Fiske continued his stretch of impressive play, stopping 28 of 29 shots, including each of the last 26, helping AIC kill the last six penalties it took, including a five-minute major in the second. He improves to 3-2-3 with the win.

The Yellow Jackets next face Bentley University at home on Thursday, December 1 at 7:05 p.m.