JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The battle between the air and land services continued this year as two hockey powerhouses met in an on-ice contest to decide who would hoist the trophy.
The fifth annual face-off between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Army and Air Force teams took place at Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska, Jan. 13, 2018.
“Everyone comes with the hype of winning, and it has been a healthy rivalry between both teams over the years,” said Cody Ikkala, Army hockey team captain. “At the end of the day we are all service members, on the same team, fighting the same fight.”
The Army entered the game as the favorite, bolstering a two-year winning streak. Coming into this game, the series was deadlocked at two wins a piece, giving this year’s victor the edge in the series along with another year of bragging rights.
The Army came out hot, scoring a goal within the first minute of the first period by Rick Metcalf. With the tension on the ice seemingly tangible, the Air Force team fired back shots almost immediately, and Ben Ferreira evened the score in less than 30 seconds.
After being held scoreless last year, the Air Force players brought ferocity to this year’s game.
With 1:40 left on the clock in the first period, the Air Force’s 4-1 lead meant months of practice and preparation was paying off.
“Leading up to this year’s game, we had a lot of practice time and scrimmages, some were good and some were bad,” said Bobby Dubinsky, Air Force hockey team captain. “We knew we had to really bring our A-game if we didn’t want to relive last year’s 5-0 loss.”
With competitive fire between the teams, both sides geared up for this year’s brawl.
“Preparing for this game meant we started getting ice sheets in August and held practices weekly, and as we got closer we practiced two to three times a week,” Ikkala said. “Since a lot of our players had never played competitively, we worked on teaching them systems and how to see the ice.”
During the second and third periods, Army fought hard to score but to no avail. With the Air Force dominating the scoreboard repeatedly with what seemed like one blow of the air horn after another, the game finished with an 11-1 victory.
During the game, Jacques Lamoureux and Ben Ferreira, each scored a hat trick, which totaled six of the game’s goals.
“Coming out and putting up those points today felt awesome,” Dubinsky said. “We played our systems, worked hard as team, and it all paid off today.”