MILFORD, Conn. – The Army hockey team opened its best-of-three series on Friday night against Sacred Heart and the Pioneers took the series lead after handing the Black Knights a 2-0 loss on Friday night.
Army (8-21-4) saw Parker Gahagen make 26 saves in net in the loss and Army managed 20 shots on net in the game.
“Neither team really generated much offensive tonight,” head coach Brian Riley said. “I think we need to do a better job tomorrow of adjusting to the rink and getting pucks deep and have more of a grind it our style of play, instead of trying to make the pretty plays and come away with nothing.”
Sacred Heart (12-17-6) was led by goal scorers Alec Butcher and Evan Jasper with both goals coming on rebounds in front. Zach Lucyk, Erlich Doerksen and Zach Sabatini were given assists, while Alex Vazzano made 20 saves to earn his second shutout of the season.
The teams came out fast with the opening minutes ticking down without a stoppage. The first period ended without a goal on the board, but it didn’t lack in entertainment with big hits on both sides. Each team also had a power play, but couldn’t capitalize.
The Pioneers took the first lead of the game with Butcher scoring on a rebound in front. An initial shot was blocked in front and during a scrum in from Butcher was able to tuck it past Gahagen for the 1-0 advantage. Army outshot the Pioneers in the period at 9-6 and had two power plays, but couldn’t get a shot behind Vazzano.
The Black Knights had one great chance with Conor Andrle getting free on a 3-on-2. He fired a wrister from the left side and Vazzano was able to just get enough of it to knock it wide of the mark. Sacred Heart almost went up by two in the final minute as Evan Jasper got behind the Army defense on a change by the Black Knights. He ended up with a breakaway, but shot the puck into Gahagen’s chest.
The Pioneers got the all-important insurance goal with 3:55 left in the game on a rebound in front. Gahagen made the first stop on Sabatini, but Jasper got ahead of the Army defensemen on the rebound and put it through the pads of Gahagen for the two-goal advantage.
The Pioneers had a 28-20 shot advantage in the game, while both teams were scoreless on the power play as Army had two chances and Sacred Heart had two.
“They were able to score on a couple of scrambles in front and we didn’t cash in when we had those chances,” Riley said. “I thought it was a pretty even game for both teams, but we needed to be a little more desperate tonight in the third period and tomorrow we need to start the game with a sense of urgency because we are not going to be given anything.”
The same two teams will do battle tomorrow night in game two of the best-of-three series, beginning at 7:50 p.m. at the Milford Ice Pavilion.
Game Notes: This was the first meeting for Army and Sacred Heart in the postseason … Sacred Heart leads the overall series at 26-23-6 … the two teams split the first two games this year back at West Point on the first weekend of the 2014-15 season … Army went down 1-0 in the series against Robert Morris and forced a game three.
