WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point hockey team shutout Sacred Heart, 4-0, in its home opener Friday night fueled off a two-goal first period. Parker Gahagen earned the win with 33 saves and tabbed his first career shutout against the Pioneers.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
The Black Knights improved to 1-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in Atlantic Hockey Contests.
Michael Wilson notched his first career goal, while Dominic Franco tallied the first assist of his career.
Taylor Maruya recorded three helpers on the night and had assists to Conor Andrle and Brendan McGuire.
Clint Carlisle closed-out the scoring for Army with an empty net goal also from Maruya.
Maruya is the first Black Knights to dish out three assists in a single game since Tyler Pham did opposite Holy Cross in the 2014-15 season.
It is the first time since 2014 that the Cadets have scored four unanswered goals. The last occurrence was on Jan. 3, when Army defeated American International 4-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Army got on the board with just over three minutes left in the first period when Wilson scored while falling off a pass from Franco across the ice.
Then approximately two minutes later, Pham and Maruya connected with Andrle to give Army a two-goal advantage heading into the second period.
The Cadets carried their momentum into the next period and scored 5:44 in when McGuire snuck one past Sacred Hearts’ goalie. Maruya and Carlisle were credited with the assists.
Carlisle had a breakaway with the empty net opportunity in the final two minutes of play to pad the Cadets’ lead to 4-0.
TURNING POINT
The two back-to-back goals in the first period fueled Army’s momentum for the rest of the contest.
Army outshot the Pioneers 15-7 in the first period alone which set the Black Knights up for the 2-0 advantage.
UP NEXT
The Black Knights play host to the NHL exhibition game between the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Oct. 8. Army will be in action at Tate Rink next Friday (Oct. 14) once again versus the Pioneers.
