The victory sends the Falcons into Saturday's championship game against New England College.

The Falcons put their intensity on display early against their visitors from the East Coast. Jace Anders got the Falcons on the board early with a goal two minutes into the first period as the sophomore defenseman collected a loose puck just inside the blue line and drilled his fourth goal of the season.

A pair of goals midway through the period seemed to take the wind out of the Vikings' sails. Following a hooking penalty on Salem Sate, Grafstrom scored a power-play goal at 11:06. Grafstrom's seventh tally of the season came on a rebound of a Bradley shot from the point. Two minutes later, Rodgers scored his fourth goal of the year to open the lead further.

Trailing 3-0, Salem State came out skating with new life in the middle of the period. After a defensive turnover at the Falcon blue line, the Vikings got on the board thanks to Mike O'Brien, who stole a pass and skated in uncontested on Air Force goalie Marc Kielkucki for his fourth goal of 1999-2000.

Grafstrom and Rodgers lit the lamp early in the third period to put a scrappy Viking team away. Grafstrom's was a power-play goal, as was Rodgers'.

Andy Berg scored the sixth Air Force goal unassisted before Salem ended the scoring with a Ryan Shaughnessy goal.

Air Force, 8-7-2, will seek its first-ever tournament championship in school history on Saturday. In 30 previous years, the Falcons have only been to three championship games, while this season head coach Frank Serratore has guided Air Force to two consecutive title tilts, the first being at the Festival of Lights Tournament in Lowell, Mass., two weekends ago.