WORCESTER, Mass. – The Black Knights got a 31-save effort from junior goaltender Parker Gahagen as the Army hockey team took the lead in the best-of-three series with a 3-0 victory over Holy Cross on Friday night at the Hart Center.
In addition to Gahagen’s effort, the Black Knights killed off five Holy Cross power plays, including a 5-on-3 late in the game. Army got goals from three different skaters, while Tyler Pham and Ryan Nick posted two assists to lead the team in points on the night.
“We talked a lot about special teams being a key factor coming into the series,” head coach Brian Riley said. “We ended up scoring a nice power play goal, but our penalty kill came up really big for us tonight.”
Conor Andrle, Josh Roberts and Trevor Fidler were the goal scorers for the Black Knights. Andrle scored his team-leading 13th of the season with a beautiful redirection in front. Roberts put the game out of reach in the third with his fourth of the year.
“Obviously I feel really good for our guys,” Riley said. “It was a very physical game between two teams that I think play very similar. Both teams make it hard for you to move the puck when you get it.”
Holy Cross (18-12-5) couldn’t find a way to get one past Gahagen as the Crusaders had a 31-30 shot advantage. Paul Berrafato made 27 saves between the pipes with 13 in the second period.
Army (14-14-9) took a 1-0 lead with 14:11 left in the second period as the Black Knights cashed in on their first power play chance of the night. It took Army 14 seconds into the man advantage to get on the board. Nick got the puck at the left point and Pham was open and tapped his stick at the opposite point. Nick slid the puck to him and he connected on a beautiful slap pass to Fidler. The rookie put a slight redirection on the puck to hit the back of the net and Army led 1-0.
The gates opened in the third period with Andrle scoring his third of the tournament, which has been four games so far for the Black Knights. He put Army up 2-0 with 12:14remaining in the game with a redirection in front. Nick fired a shot from the left point and Andrle got the blade of the stick on the puck and he tipped it over the shoulder of Berrafato.
Roberts increased the Army advantage to 3-0 with his fourth of the season, coming 1:10after Andrle’s tally. The goal was a gritty one from Roberts as he battled hard for a loose puck and beat Berrafato for the three-goal lead. Ian Mansfield and Shane Hearn were given assists on the play. For Mansfield, it was his fourth point of the playoffs.
The two teams are back in action tomorrow night in game two from the Hart Center. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
Ice Shavings: This is the first playoff meeting between the two teams since 2011-12 and second time they have met in the postseason overall … Holy Cross and Army played in a one-game playoff when they were both a member of the MAAC … first game at the Hart Center for the Black Knights since 2014 … Army scored on the power play for the first time in the tournament after going 0-for-15 against AIC … Andrle leads the Black Knights with five points in the playoffs on three goals and two assists … Mansfield has four points in four games after tallying two points in the regular season … Roberts scored his second goal of the playoffs … Gahagen has three shutouts in his last four games, adding to his career high four on the season.
