WEST POINT, N.Y. – Clint Carlisle scored the game-tying goal in the second period and Parker Gahagen shut the door in the third period and overtime to help Army skate to a 1-1 tie with Bentley on Friday night at Tate Rink.
Army (7-19-3, 7-15-3 AHA) saw Carlisle score his third of the season with Joe Kozlak earning the assist. Parker Gahagen made nine saves in the final 25 minutes of the game, including two huge stops in overtime. He finished with 34 saves between the pipes. The penalty kill was especially good, killing off all seven power plays for the Falcons in the win. The unit gave up 10 shots, but it didn’t allow anything on the scoreboard.
“Both teams played extra hard,” head coach Brian Riley said. “Obviously we had to kill a lot of penalties tonight. The credit goes to the special teams and Parker has been doing really well lately for us. We will have to come back hard tomorrow and hopefully come out with a win.”
Bentley (16-11-4, 14-7-4 AHA) scored its lone goal in the first period and it came from Tyler Deresky with Kyle O’Brien getting the assist. It was the first of the year for Deresky. Jayson Argue was able to fight off a third period and overtime charge from the Black Knights and he made 17 stops in the final 25 minutes of the game to hold on for the tie. He ended up with 33 total stops.
The Falcons took the first lead of the game at the 14:34 mark of the opening period. A 2-on-1 chance developed in the neutral zone and Deresky picked up the puck at the red line and skated down the right side. He took it all the way and fired a wrist shot past Gahagen’s glove. The shot rang off the iron and in for the 1-0 lead.
The Black Knights knotted the game with 8:01 remaining in the second frame as Carlisle scored his third of the season to make it 1-1. He made a strong move to the front of the net and put the puck on net on his forehand. The Bentley netminder got a piece of the shot with his stick and blocker, but the puck floated over his shoulder and into the net. The goal was reviewed after it was initially called no goal. Kozlak was given the assist on the play.
Both teams had golden opportunities on the power play in the third period. Army had four chances with the extra skater and just couldn’t get one past Argue. The same was said for the Falcons as they had two of their seven in the third frame and got the only power play of overtime in the final minutes and couldn’t convert.
Bentley had the best chance in overtime as two men up front connected on a cross-ice pass. Gahagen was able to make it across his crease in time and denied the potential gamewinner with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Army remains alive to host a first-round series in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Sacred Heart lost to Holy Cross by a 1-0 score. The Black Knights are five points behind the Pioneers for eighth in the conference with three games to go.
Army takes on Bentley tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. and the game is sold out. The game will be live on AtlanticHockey.tv for those fans not able to make the game.
Ice Shavings: This was the 54th meeting between the two teams … Army leads the series at 23-21-9 …The two schools split the first two meetings of the season over Thanksgiving Break at Bentley … Kozlak’s assist in the second period was his 50th point of his Army career … he has 22 goals and 28 assists in three-plus seasons … Carlisle has five points in his last seven games … Army is now 2-0-1 in its last three games on Friday night … It was the fifth overtime game of the year and the Black Knights are 1-1-3.
