WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team erased an early deficit against Holy Cross and advanced to the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals in Rochester with a 2-1 win to sweep the series on Saturday night at the Hart Center.
The Black Knights (14-14-9) got a goal from Ryan Nick with 14:08 remaining in the third period to go ahead 2-1 and that was all Parker Gahagen needed. The junior netminder made 36 saves between the pipes to earn his 14th win of the season. Taylor Maruya also scored for the Black Knights with his goal coming shorthanded to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period.
Holy Cross (18-13-5) finishes its season with Castan Sommer leading the way with his eighth of the season to put the home team up 1-0 in the first period. Paul Berrafato wasn’t tested for stretches and made 18 saves in total on the night.
The Crusaders took the first lead of the game with a goal from Sommer. He followed his own shot and beat Gahagen. Sommer’s initial shot was stopped by the netminder with his stick, but Sommer was quicker to the rebound and jammed it home for the 1-0 lead. Brett Lubanski and Scott Pooley were given assists on the play.
Army answered with a shorthanded goal from Taylor Maruya. The momentum was all on Holy Cross’ side as Army was called for a five-minute major, but the rookie had other ideas. He picked the pocket of the defenseman at the blueline and broke in all alone on Berrafato. He tucked it underneath the pads to tie the game at 1-1 going into the third period. Army has netted two shorthanded goals this season and both have been by Maruya.
The Black Knights took the lead with 14:08 remaining in the game with Nick scoring his seventh of the season. He shot the puck from the left point and it didn’t have a ton of speed, but had the eyes to get through traffic. Josh Roberts provided the screen in front as he was being hit. That was just enough to distract Berrafato, who never saw the puck and Army lead 2-1.
Holy Cross put a lot of pressure in the final minutes with long possessions and forced Army into multiple icing calls. However, Parker Gahagen and the team defense came up huge to hold on for the 2-1 victory.
Army will await its opponent for next week as Robert Morris forced a game three with Bentley. If the Colonials win, the Black Knights will skate against RMU.
Ice Shavings: This will be Army’s first trip to the AHA Semifinals since 2008 … Army has won two series for the first time in the history of the program … Parker Gahagen has allowed four goals in five playoff games and has three shutouts … this was the first playoff meeting between the two teams since 2011-12 and second time they have met in the postseason overall … Holy Cross and Army played in a one-game playoff when they were both a member of the MAAC … Maruya has five goals on the season and two are shorthanded goals.
