Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Fueled by two goals by Dominic Franco in the first period, the Army West Point hockey team sailed past Sacred Heart, 4-1, Saturday afternoon.
Franco netted two goals in the opening period to gain an early lead. Sacred Heart answered back with a goal in the second, but scores by Zach Evancho and Tipper Higgins in the third helped keep the game out of reach for the Pioneers.
Trevin Kozlowski earned the win with 16 saves, while Jared Dempsey stepped in net for the third frame and made seven saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Black Knights started the game on a hot streak with two goals in the first period.
Franco posted back-to-back goals for Army.
The first came five minutes into the game on the power play.
Colin Bilek passed the puck down to Evancho who took a shot. Franco banged home the loose puck for the goal.
With six seconds on the clock, Franco scored a wrister from the slot to close out the first frame. Assists came from Trevor Fidler and Alex Wilkinson.
The goal was deemed the game-winner.
Sacred Heart tallied a goal in the second period, but two more goals by the Cadets in the third kept the game out of reach.
Eight minutes into the third stanza, Evancho scored on a cross-ice pass from Wilkinson and Dalton MacAfee on the power play.
Tipper Higgins netted an insurance goal with under three minutes to play.
Taylor Maruya got the puck on a long stretch breakout pass from MacAfee. Higgins recurved the pass from Maruya on a shot from the slot that beat Brett Magus clean.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
Franco scored twice for the Black Knights to mark the first multi-goal game in his career.
The junior now has four tallies this season and 25 in his career.
Franco has scored 12 power play goals so far in his three-years and 12 multi-point games.
The game-winner was just the second of his career.
Evancho tallied a goal and an assist for his ninth multi-point game in his career.
He has tallied five goals this season and nine points. The junior boasts 26 career goals and 47 points.
MacAfee also had two points on the day.
The senior captain has garnered seven multi-assist performances in his career.
MacAfee has now reached double-digit multi-point games with 10.
Wilkinson also notched two assists in the matinee game.
The junior has six multi-assist games in his career and 12 multi-point games.
Bilek, Higgins, Maruya and Fidler all garnered points in the game.
Kozlowski earned the win today by making 16 saves.
Dempsey stepped in relief during the third period and recorded seven stops.
UP NEXT
The Black Knights travel to Bentley next weekend for a two-game series.
