Andrew Volkening earned his first shutout of the season, and the 12th of his career, as Air Force blanked Bentley, 3-0, in an Atlantic Hockey Association game, Saturday night, Nov. 7, at the Academy’s Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force took three of the four points in the series and remains in first place in the AHA with nine points. AFA is 4-5-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the league. Bentley fell to 2-4-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the league

Air Force drew first blood and it came on the power play. Midway through the first period, Derrick Burnett took a shot from the point that was saved and Kyle De Laurell’s rebound try was also saved. However, Jacques Lamoureux put in the rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

The power play was good to Air Force again in the second period as Burnett scored his first of the season. Scott Mathis and Tim Kirby played catch out front and Burnett took a wrister from the left circle that deflected off of the leg of a Bentley player and went in for a 2-0 lead at 7:18.

With 2:25 left in the third, Bentley pulled its goaltender. However, Matt Fairchild forced a turnover and Jeff Hajner scored his fourth of the season into the empty-net.

Air Force outshot Bentley, 29-27 in the game. The Falcon special teams were stellar, killing all seven Bentley power plays. Meanwhile, AFA was 2-for-6 on the man advantage. Volkening made 27 saves while Kyle Rank made 26 for Bentley.

“Our play is starting to resemble what it needs to be,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “We didn’t allow an outnumbered situation, but they didn’t either. The game had a playoff feel to it because it came down to defense and special teams. Our defense played better tonight. Now we need to work on our consistency and play like this every night.”

Air Force plays its next four games on the road, starting with a two-game series at Holy Cross, Nov. 13-14, in Worcester, Mass.