Box Score Scott Holm and George Michalke III clicked for third-period goals on Tuesday, lifting Air Force to a 3-1 victory over Colorado College at the World Arena and earning the Falcons the inaugural Pikes Peak Trophy.
 
It was just the ninth triumph for the Falcons in 70 all-time meetings with CC, and they avenged last season's 6-2 loss at the Cadet Ice Arena.
 
The Tigers finished with a 35-29 advantage in shots on goal, but ran into another hot netminder in senior Jason Torf, who made 15 of his 34 saves in the final 20 minutes.
 
"We generated 35 shots and we had some good skirmishes," said Scott Owens, Colorado College's head coach, after seeing his team fall to 1-7-1 for the season. "We had a couple good shots and looks, but not nearly enough.
 
"I do think you've got to give Air Force some credit. They got better as the game went along. They adjusted. They skate well. They came at us pretty good and they persevered."
 
Still, the Tigers held a 1-0 lead through 39 minutes of play on a highlight-reel goal by freshman defenseman Gustav Olofsson just 1:44 into the contest. Olofsson, a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild last summer, skated out of the right corner, stickhandled into the goalmouth and used his long lefty reach to wrap the puck around Torf just inside the far upright to provide the early advantage.
 
Freshman center Sam Rothstein earned his team-leading fourth assist of the season on Olofsson's first career tally.
 
CC goaltender Josh Thorimbert, who finished with 26 saves, made a big one on Falcons left winger Scott Holm after only 17 ticks on the clock and remained sharp all night.
 
He had no chance with 51.8 seconds left in the second frame, however, when Ben Carey pulled the visitors even at the end of a power play. After the Tigers killed 44 seconds of a 5-on-3, and looked like they'd get out of the period still ahead, the puck squirted out of traffic near the left post to Carey in front. With a wide-open net, the sophomore center from Centennial, Colo., made no mistake and tied the contest heading into the final frame.
 
"That was a killer goal," Owens said. "We'd done so well killing power-play opportunities, and it just ended up wearing us down. They score one with 50 seconds to go and it set the tone a little bit for them, gave them a little spring in their step for the third period, and then they made a couple plays."
 
Colorado College had a great chance on its first shift of the third stanza, but Torf stood his ground and kept the tie intact.
 
Then, at 2:50 of the period, Holm converted from a scramble in front after Thorimbert stopped Chad Demers and Cole Gunner from in close, and Air Force had its first lead of the night.
 
At 12:26, after a turnover in the CC end, junior winger George Michalke III soloed in to beat Thorimbert with a deke to the backhand and upped the count to 3-1.
 
The Tigers had a 5-on-3 of their own late in the period, but could not capitalize.
 
"When we had the opportunity in the third period to step up and make a couple offensive plays, we didn't do it," Owens said.  "We've got some guys that are kind of young still and we've got some older guys that just haven't found their range and aren't comfortable in that role yet. So, until that happens, it's going to be tough."
 
Colorado College travels to St. Cloud State this weekend for a two-game series with the No. 2-ranked Huskies.