MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Junior netminder Parker Gahagen stopped 39 shots and held the third-best scoring team in the nation to one goal as Army defeated Robert Morris, 3-1, on Friday night at 84 Lumber Arena.
Army (10-11-7, 7-9-7 AHA) increased its unbeaten streak to six games, which was currently the fifth-longest streak in the nation at the conclusion of the game. It is the longest unbeaten streak since 2007-08.
“Obviously a great team effort tonight and the guys battled hard for 60 minutes,” head coach Brian Riley said. “We did a lot of the little things that you need to do to win a hockey game. It is not an easy task to come on the road and beat the top team in our league, but our guys played really well tonight.”
The Black Knights got goals from Blake Box, Brendan McGuire and Nick DeCenzo. McGuire finished with a two-point night as he assisted on Box’s tally. Gahagen had double-digit stops in each period with 16 coming in the opening frame. The Buffalo, N.Y., native has a 1.56 goals against average in his last 10 starts and a .953 save percentage.
“Parker was once again calm in goal and stopped all the ones he was supposed to, plus a couple more,” Riley said. “He has been great since we got back from Christmas and when he plays the way he has been playing, he has a calming effect on everybody in front of him.”
Robert Morris (17-8-4, 14-5-4 AHA) was led by Brandon Denham, who scored a power play goal in the final two minutes of the game with assists to Matt Cope and Zac Lynch. Terry Shafer finished with 28 saves, including 13 in the second period.
After a scoreless first period, Army earned the first lead of the game with Box scoring his first of the season with a wrister through traffic. He was late into the zone, but it worked perfectly as McGuire dropped the puck back to Box. He wasted no time getting it on net as the Black Knights took the first lead for the sixth-straight game.
Army got some much-needed insurance late in the third period with McGuire scoring on the power play with his sixth of the season. The goal came just seconds into the man advantage. He redirected a Reuschlein shot through traffic and it somehow got past Shafer, who was upset that something happened in front of the net prior to the shot.
The Colonials shaved the lead down to one with a power play goal from Denham. There were a ton of bodies in front of the net, but somehow Denham found his way through and beat Gahagen to make it a one-goal game with 2:01 left.
DeCenzo put the cap on the victory with an empty net goal with eight seconds remaining with an assist to Pham and Army held on to beat Robert Morris by a 3-1 score. The win ended a five-game unbeaten streak the Colonials had on the Black Knights.
Robert Morris held a 40-31 shot advantage in the game. Each team had a power play goal on the night as Army went 1-for-4 and the Colonials tallied one on four chances. Robert Morris came in with the top power play in the league with 37 goals with the man advantage.
“We knew coming in that the penalty kill had to be big for us,” Riley added. “Guys were blocking shots and they were able to get one late, but it was a 6-on-4 goal. You hope your special teams guys are difference makers and tonight I thought they were.”
With the win, the Black Knights move into eighth place with 21 league points. They surged ahead of Sacred Heart as the Pioneers are not in action this weekend. Bentley sits one point ahead of Army and Canisius is a reachable two points after tonight’s win.
The same two teams do battle tomorrow night at 7:50 p.m.
Ice Shavings: This was the 16th meeting between Army and Robert Morris since the series started in 2011 … This was the third meeting this season … Gahagen made his 23rd start of the season and 58th of his career … Gahagen has a 1.56 goals against average in his last 10 games and has a 5-2-3 record and his save percentage is .953 … he made 30 or more saves for the 12th time this season … he has not given up more than two goals in nine of his last 10 starts … Box tallied his third career goal … tonight’s win was the second victory at Robert Morris for the Black Knights in eight games … McGuire leads the team in goals with eight, while DeCenzo pulled even with Andrle for second on the squad with seven goals.
