ANDRLE NETS WINNER IN FINAL SECONDS OF OVERTIME
Black Knights Defeat Crusaders 5-4 in Thriller
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Rookie Conor Andrle would not be denied with 10 seconds left and jammed the puck past Matt Ginn for his first collegiate goal to give the Army hockey team a 5-4 overtime win on Friday night at Tate Rink.
The Black Knights had an offensive zone faceoff with less than 30 seconds to go in overtime and C.J. Reuschlein and Clint Carlisle worked the puck along the boards. Andrle picked up a loose puck around the net and drove in front of Matt Ginn. He took a couple of swipes at the puck and one of them connected and the puck squeezed across the line for the 5-4 win.
Army (3-6-1, 3-5-1 AHA) also got great games from Tyler Pham, who finished with a career-high three assists. Carlisle finished with two points on a goal and assist, while Maurice Alvarez scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Goalie Parker Gahagen made 32 saves and stopped 17 in the third period alone when Holy Cross stepped up the pressure.
Holy Cross (3-5-3, 3-1-3 AHA) suffered its first conference defeat of the season and went to overtime for the fourth time this season. Ryan Ferrill led the way with a goal and two assists for three points. Jake Youso had a pair of helpers and Sean Gustin scored the tying goal in the third period to knot the game at 4-4. Matt Ginn made 27 saves in the loss.
The goals came fast and furious with each team scoring on their first shot from the ice. Ferrill opened the scoring 46 seconds into the game with Erik Ouellette earning the assist. Army answered 31 seconds after Holy Cross took the advantage. Brendan McGuire collected the puck in the neutral zone and went into the zone alone and beat Ginn on the stick side to tie the game at 1-1 with his third of the season.
The Black Knights took their first lead just over three minutes later with Carlisle redirecting the puck from the slot off a shot from Joe Shecter. The puck came in from the slot and with his back to the goal, the sophomore tipped the puck past Ginn for the lead.
Brett McKinnon knotted the score for the second time with his third of the season for the Crusaders with 8:08 left in the first period. He jammed home a rebound off of a Ferrill shot that Gahagen pushed aside, but couldn’t corral the puck and it looked like the teams were entering the intermission tied at 2-2, until Alvarez blasted one from the high slot.
The defenseman now leads the Black Knights with four goals on the season and all four have come from the point. This time it was slid over to him along the blueline from Ryan Nick. He wasted no time getting the puck off his stick and his low shot made it through traffic for the 3-2 advantage with 12 seconds. Pham was given a helper on the play as he slipped a pass out to Nick.
After a wild first period, the teams settled down for the middle frame to score only one combined goal. It came from the stick of Zak Zaremba to give Army a 4-2 lead. Pham got the puck along the boards from Josh Richards and before he got behind the net, he shoveled the puck out front to Zaremba and he fired it home for the two-goal lead.
That lead was lost in the final period with the Crusaders scoring a power play goal on the lone man advantage of the night for either team. Matt Scarth put home a one-timer from the slot after nice passing between Mike Barrett and T.J. Moore. The game became tied with six minutes left in regulation with Gustin tallying his second of the season with assists to Ferrill and Youso.
Army controlled much of the play in the extra period and had a 5-0 shot advantage and Andrle picked a great time to put home his first collegiate goal to send the Black Knights to a 5-4 win.
The Black Knights and Crusaders return to the ice tomorrow night for another 7:05 p.m. faceoff. Tickets are still available and can be purchase an hour prior to the game at the Holleder Center ticket office.
Photo of Conor Andrle by Bruce Adler.
