HOCKEY EARNS DRAW AGAINST ROBERT MORRIS
Nick’s Tying Goal Was First of Career
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Ryan Nick chose a great time to score his first collegiate goal as he helped the Army hockey team earn a 3-3 tie against Robert Morris on Saturday night at Tate Rink.
Army (2-3-1, 2-3-1 AHA) battled all night long against the Colonials, who came into Saturday night’s game with an undefeated record. Maurice Alvarez, Josh Richards and Nick were the goal scorers for the Black Knights. Andy Faust assisted on Richards’ goal for his first point in an Army uniform. Parker Gahagen pushed aside 27 shots in the tie.
Robert Morris (4-0-1, 3-0-1 AHA) got all of its goal scoring from one player, Cody Wydo. The senior recorded a hat trick, while Linemate Zac Lynch finished with two assists. Terry Shafer was peppered throughout the night with Army earning a 40-30 shot advantage.
“The guys skated really hard tonight and had a great effort all the way through overtime,” head coach Brian Riley said. “RMU was a big challenge for us, but we have a lot of depth this year and it really showed with the effort from all our guys. Even though we were down a goal, we kept pressing and getting shots on the net.”
Robert Morris took the early lead with Wydo scoring his fourth of the season. Linemate Zac Lynch interrupted an Army breakout in the neutral zone and connected with Wydo at the blueline. He took the puck into the Black Knight zone and beat Gahagen for the 1-0 with 11:36 remaining in the first period. Army did get the first power play of the game and Clint Carlisle had a golden chance. He tried to pick the top corner on the glove side of Shafer, but sailed it wide of the mark. Robert Morris had a 9-8 shot advantage in the first frame.
The second period was full of action with a combined four goals scored as the Colonials took a 3-2 lead going into the final frame.
Army fought back to tie the game twice during the period and the first goal came from Alvarez with a blast from the point. Nick DeCenzo carefully drew the defense down between the circles and slid a pass to Alvarez for the one-timer, which was his second of the season.
Robert Morris regained the lead with Wydo scoring his second of the night, going coast-to-coast to give the Colonials a 2-1 advantage. The Black Knights, however, didn’t go away with Richards firing a wrister from just outside the face-off circle. The shot found its way through traffic to tie the game at 2-2. Andy Faust won the draw back to Richards and he wasted no time putting it on net.
Wydo struck again to earn the hat trick late in the middle stanza with a power play goal. The goal was probably not his prettiest score of the night. The shot was an odd angle shot that went past Gahagen to give the Colonials a 3-2 lead with two minutes left in the second period.
The Black Knights didn’t let Wydo’s third goal disrupt the momentum in the game as they came out on fire and finished with a 12-6 advantage in shots in the third. One of those shots came from Nick as he tallied the first goal of his career. He collected the puck in the neutral zone and skated into the slot. He fired a shot that looked to mix up Shafer and it hit the back of the net to send the crowd into a frenzy and send the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Army continued to get chances with three in a row coming in the final two minutes, but Shafer was able to steer them wide of the net and the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Black Knights are back at Tate Rink on Halloween night as they wrap up a month-long homestand with Brown coming to West Point for a 7:50 p.m. face-off.
To order your tickets, visit www.goARMYsports.com/tickets, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or stop by the Army Ticket Office located at Gate 3 of Michie Stadium. Visit goARMYsports.com/tickets for more information.
ROBERT MORRIS 3, ARMY 0
RMU 1-2-0–3
ARMY 0-2-0–0
First Period:
RMU – Wydo (Lynch) 8:24.
Second Period:
ARMY – Alvarez (DeCenzo, Carlisle) 3:18 PPG.
RMU – Wydo (unassisted) 7:00.
ARMY – Richards (Faust) 14:58.
Third Period:
RMU – Wydo (Rey, Lynch) 17:52.
ARMY – Nick (unassisted) 12:51.
Shots: RMU 30 (9-13-6-2); Army 40 (8-17-12-3)
Saves: RMU 37 (Shafer, 65:00, 8-15-11-3); Army 27 (Gahagen, 65:00, 8-11-6-2)
Power Plays: RMU 1-2; Army, 1-3.
Penalties: RMU, 4-8; Army, 3-6.
Attendance: 1,214
