AMHERST, Mass. – The Army West Point hockey team dropped a non-conference game Friday night against Massachusetts. The Minutemen took a 3-0 lead in the second period, but a two-goal response by the Black Knights kept them in the game.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
Army suffered its first loss this season to drop to 2-1-1, 2-0-0 on the year.
The Black Knights and Minutemen were knotted 25-25 in shots, but UMass pulled away in faceoffs (32-31).
Captain Ryan Nick and Clint Carlisle scored back-to-back goals for Army, both on the power play, after trailing 3-0.
It was the first goals of the season for the seniors as Tyler Pham, Taylor Fidler and C.J. Reuschlein were credited with assists.
Pham posted his third helper of the year, while Reuschlein recorded his second and Fidler his first.
Parker Gahagen recorded 22 saves in the game with a .880 saves percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After going seven consecutive periods of play without allowing a goal, the Minutemen snapped Army’s streak with a two-goal first period.
The Minutemen scored two minutes into the game and with 40 seconds left in the period.
Massachusetts notched another goal three minutes into the second period to pad its lead to 3-0.
Nick put Army on the board with 16:24 left to play. He netted the goal on a power play with assists from Fidler and Pham.
Then less than a minute later, Carlisle notched the second power play goal of the night for the Cadets after connecting with C.J. Reuschlein.
TURNING POINT
The Minutemen scored the first three goals of the game, but Army’s goals that were spaced one minute apart gave the Black Knights momentum going into the third and final period.
UP NEXT
The Cadets are on the road again next weekend as they travel to Robert Morris for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday nights.
