MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Army West point hockey team fell to #10 Minnesota 4-1 Saturday night to close-out the weekend series. The Gophers went ahead 4-0 before the Black Knights surged back with their first goal of the weekend.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
Army has been perfect on the penalty for the last three contests killing off all 13 opportunities.
Brendan Soucie netted Army’s lone goal of the game to mark the sophomore’s fourth of the year and 19th of his career.
John Laurito was credited with the first assist for the third point of his career and second assist.
Joe Shecter also had a hand in the play for his third point of the year and 11th in an Army sweater.
Jared Dempsey backed the Black Knights’ penalty kill unit and recorded 28 saves in tonight’s contest.
Tonight’s game marks the final out of league matchup for Army apart from its game at the Royal Military College at the end of January.
HOW IT HAPPENED
PERIOD ONE (Minnesota 2 – Army 0)
Army began the game with high energy and led the Gophers 8-7 in shots.
Mike Preston set up the Black Knights’ first opportunity, but Mason Krueger’s trickled wide left.
Ten minutes into the game, Minnesota went ahead 1-0 with a goal from Tyler Sheehy, his second on the weekend.
Taylor Maruya had a chance to tie things up three minutes later when he snagged the puck on a penalty kill, but his shot was stopped by Matt Robson who was hugging the close pipe for the Gophers.
Zach Evancho took a point-blank shot at the two minute mark, but it was picked up by Robson to help maintain Minnesota’s lead.
The Gophers had a lucky tip with 29 seconds remaining to push their lead to 2-0 as the two teams headed into intermission.
PERIOD TWO (Minnesota 3 – Army 0)
Minnesota kept things rolling in the second frame when Mike Szmatula took advantage of a bad bounce on the crease to score 1:17 in.
It was the Gophers’ second goal in a 1:48 minute stretch to go up 3-0.
The Black Knights did not lack opportunities however with Dominic Franco and Alex Wilkinson getting the puck through traffic and on goal, but Robson was there to make the stops.
Dempsey denied a goal to the Gophers halfway through the stanza with a shoulder save to keep the Black Knights on track.
Army closed-out the penalty with back-to-back power play opportunities, but could not convert.
PERIOD THREE (Minnesota 4 – Army 1)
Minnesota had a 5-on-3 advantage for a little over a minute in the final frame. Dempsey came up with two impressive saves as time was ticking down to help Army’s penalty kill unit prevail for the third straight game.
At the close of the penalty kill, the Black Knights had a 3-on-2 rush, but Robson came up with another save.
The Gophers found the back of the net again with 11:45 on the clock, but 1:08 later Army scored its first of the weekend.
Preston passed to fellow defender Shecter along the blue line who got a shot through on net. Laurito got a piece of it and the puck kicked out to Soucie in front of the open net.
Dempsey capped his impressive showing with a diving glove save at the one minute mark.
UP NEXT
The Black Knights will continue their streak on the road with an Atlantic Hockey matchup against Sacred Heart on Jan. 6. The game will be played at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, N.Y.
