WEST POINT, N.Y. – Down 3-1 in the second period, the Army West Point hockey team rallied for three unanswered, including two in the third period, to advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals with a 4-3 win over Mercyhurst in game three on Sunday night.
Trevor Fidler scored the tying goal 57 seconds into the final frame and then Mike Preston threw a backhander that made it through traffic and into the back of the net for the gamewinner with nine minutes on the clock.
The Black Knights will play second-seeded Air Force in the semifinals on Friday night at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
Army makes a return appearance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals after making it last year with a series sweep on the road against Holy Cross.
The Black Knights improved to 19-16-5 this season and Army finishes 13-4 at home in 2016-17, the most home victories in a season since 2007-08.
Tonight’s win was the first this year for the Black Knights when trailing after two periods. Army was 0-8-2 when trailing going into the third period ahead of tonight’s game.
Preston scored his first of the season and third of his career. It was also his first gamewinner in an Army uniform.
The Black Knights won its second-straight home playoff series with a game three victory after doing the same against AIC in the first round last year.
Head coach Brian Riley is now 2-1 in a win or take all third game in the postseason.
The Black Knights played their first Sunday game of the season.
Army is now 13-0-1 when scoring four or more goals after scoring four tonight and six in game one. Army is 8-0-0 when scoring four goals this year.
The Black Knights improved to 14-4-3 on the year when scoring first.
Gahagen finished with 40 saves on the night in 51 minutes of action.
Cole Bruns came into his fourth game of the season and only the second time in relief of Gahagen. Bruns finished with nine stops and all were after Preston’s winning midway through the third.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Black Knights started strong on the penalty kill early in the game and killed off a 5-on-3 within the first ten minutes.
On a delayed penalty, Evancho dinged the crossbar from the left circle, but it gave Army some confidence heading into the power play and second stanza.
To start off the second, the Black Knights killed off another 5-on-3 when Blake Box and Mike Preston were sent to the box.
Army snapped the 0-0 tie 7:16 into the second stanza. Reuschlein scored on Colin DeAugustine’s glove side after the shot was setup by Wilkinson and Andrle.
The lead was short lived however as Mercyhurst netted three straight to take a 3-1 lead. The goals were scored in a 3:23 span.
Evancho snapped the run when he tipped in a spinning pass from Andrle on the back post.
It looked as though Wilkinson found the back of the net, but it was on the wrong side of the twine so the score remained at 3-2 in favor of the Lakers.
Fidler evened the score after stealing the puck in Mercyhurst’s defensive zone and beating DeAugustine high just 57 seconds into the third frame.
Preston netted the go-ahead goal with 8:58 left in the game. Maruya and Mansfield worked together to get the puck up front and as the puck sat in the slot, Preston backhanded it home for his first goal of the year.
TURNING POINT
The Black Knights had tied the game late in the third period, but Tyler Pham was called for a five-minute major with just over four minutes to go in the game, which allowed Mercyhurst to pot the gamewinner 33 seconds into overtime.
UP NEXT
Army and Mercyhurst are back at Tate Rink tomorrow night for the deciding third game of the series. The winner will move onto the Atlantic Hockey semifinals in Rochester, N.Y., next Friday night.
