WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team is set for a Saturday matinee with Bentley at Tate Rink, followed by a Sunday morning matchup against the Falcons at the Barclays Center as part of the Brooklyn Hockey event.
Saturday’s game will start at 3:05 p.m., while the Sunday game is early at 11:05 a.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Both games will be live on the radio on 1260 WBNR/1420 WLNA and also online on Knight Vision. Fans can also view the games live on EverSport.tv.
THIS WEEK: BENTLEY AT THE BARCLAYS CENTER
The Black Knights will be back at home on Halloween for a 3:05 p.m. matinee as Army hosts Bentley at Tate Rink. The two teams are then scheduled to head to the Barclays Center for BROOKLYN HOCKEYTM on Sunday morning for an 11:05 a.m. faceoff. The game kicks off a full day of hockey at the new home of the New York Islanders with Notre Dame and Connecticut making up game two of the college portion of the day, while the Islanders play later that night. Bentley comes into the weekend with two-straight wins and the Black Knights are in search of getting in the win column for the first time this year.
NEXT WEEK: BACK AT TATE FOR TWO VS. RIT
Army is back at Tate Rink next week for a two-game clash with RIT. The Atlantic Hockey Tournament champions have had a rough start to the season with a five-game winless streak and was swept by Colgate last weekend in a home-and-home with the Raiders. The Tigers will look for that first win with a visit to American International for its next two contests. RIT lost two of its top three scorers from last season as Matt Garbowsky and Brad McGowan graduated, and this year so far they are led by rookie Gabe Valenzuela with three points and sophomore Mark Goldberg with a trio of points as well.
LAST WEEK: FIDLER, ANDRLE CONTINUE HOT START FOR ARMY
Sophomore Conor Andrle and rookie Trevor Fidler continue to put up points early on this season with four points in the first three games. The two have skated together on the second line all season and are out on the power play unit as well. Andrle’s points have all come as assists as he had aided three of the four goal scores at Mercyhurst. Fidler scored once last weekend and added two assists on Friday night in the 4-2 loss at the Lakers. The Black Knights dropped the second game by a 5-2 score with Ryan Nick scoring the second goal after Fidler put Army on the board in the first period. Joe Kozlak found the net for the first time this season in Friday night’s game with a power play goal. Army peppered Mercyhurst all weekend with 39 shots in the first game and 35 in the second.
ROOKIES MAKING EARLY IMPACT
The Class of 2019 has had great early strides this season with five members playing in at least two games and three registering at least one point. Trevor Fidler leads the way with four points on two goals and two assists, while Taylor Maruya and Nash Worden added their first collegiate points at Mercyhurst last week. Fidler is riding a three-game point streak, which rivals Tyler Pham’s four-game points streak to start his first campaign with the Black Knights. Fidler’s two tallies have come on the power play.
POWERING THE POWER PLAY
The Black Knights have scored at least one power play goal in all three games this season and are currently fifth in the conference in power play percentage at 18.8 percent. Army has scored three in 16 opportunities with Fidler scoring twice and Kozlak adding the other man advantage goal.
REACHING A MILESTONE
Army saw one of its players reach an important milestone last Friday night at Mercyhurst as senior forward Shane Hearn skated in his 100th career game as a Black Knight. The tough centerman is one of two players on this year’s squad to reach the mark as Joe Kozlak did it in the final game of 2014-15. He has 32 career points on 11 goals and 21 assists.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Bentley enters the weekend with a 2-2-0 mark overall and an 0-2-0 Atlantic Hockey record. The Falcons were picked to finish second in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll after a 14-9-5 mark in conference and returning their top two scorers. The season started off with a pair of losses to Mercyhurst at home on Oct. 9-10, but Bentley rebounded with a home-and-home sweep of Hockey East’s Northeastern. The Falcons got a 3-2 win at Matthews Arena on Oct. 17 and then cruised to a 4-1 victory at home the next night. Bentley is averaging 2.5 goals per game and giving up just over two per contest, and the Falcons are 4-for-18 on the man advantage.
Andrew Gladiuk is the top returning player for Bentley and he is already off to a great start. He has four goals on the year with three of them coming on the power play, which leads the conference. Overall, he has 112 career points in 110 games played with 59 goals and 53 helpers. Senior Matt Blomquist, sophomore Kyle Schimdt and rookie Tanner Jago are all tied with Gladiuk for the team lead in points with four. Blomquist and Jago have four assists from the blueline, while Schmidt has a goal and three helpers.
In goal, Jayson Argue is one of the top netminders in the nation with a 1.68 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. He has allowed only five goals on 120 shots in the three games he has started. He is 2-1-0 overall and has not given up more than two goals in a game this season.
SERIES HISTORY
The two teams have met 55 times since the first meeting back in 1982. Army holds a 24-21-10 advantage in the series, but Bentley has gone unbeaten in three of the last four. Army did halt a six-game losing streak last November with a 2-1 victory on the road. The Black Knights own a 16-9-5 record at home against the Falcons, but Bentley has gone undefeated in the last six meetings at Tate Rink. Sunday’s game at the Barclays Center will be the first against Bentley at a neutral site.
