Air Force scored all three of its goals in the opening period, the last two coming just 12 seconds apart in the final 24 seconds of the stanza. Up a man thanks to an Army penalty for too many men on the ice, Air Force cashed in when Brendan Connelly scored from the right point on a floater through traffic. Just a dozen ticks later Jimmy O'Reilly jammed the puck past Corey Winer for a 3-0 lead.

Army's best chance to dent the scoreboard came with 20 seconds left in the second period, when defenseman Josh Morino struck the crossbar with a shot from between the circles.

Nels Grafstrom opened the scoring just 3:58 into the contest when he stole the puck from Mike Fairman in the Army zone, walked in alone and beat Winer for his 12th goal of the year.

Winer made several outstanding saves in the final two periods and finished with 28 in the game, as Air Force outshot the Cadets 31-20 and swept the two-game series.

The Falcons are unbeaten in their last eight games (7-0-1) against Army, and lead the series 17-11-2.

Army's season is now complete. The Cadets finish 13-18-2 and 1-9-0 in their first and final year in College Hockey America, as Army will move to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Hockey League in 2000-2001. Army also saw its string of five straight seasons at .500 or better come to an end.

Air Force (18-16-2, 6-10-0) clinched the CHA's No. 4 seed and will face Findlay at next weekend's CHA tournament in Huntsville, Ala.