WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point hockey team suffered a 4-0 deficit to Holy Cross Saturday night at Tate Rink.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
The Crusaders snapped Army’s 11-game unbeaten streak in the series.
The Black Knights held a 24-21 advantage in shots over Holy Cross, but the Crusaders notched 26 blocks to Army’s 14 in the game.
Mike Preston led the Black Knights with three blocked shots on the night.
Cole Bruns made 17 saves in net for Army in 58:25 minutes played.
Kevin Dineen tallied a team-leading four shots, while Brendan Soucie added three in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
PERIOD ONE (1-0 HC)
Alex Wilkinson had Army’s first chance of the game with a hard shot on Paul Berrafato’s stick side, but went wide.
Bruns made a glove save on Holy Cross to bring the game to the first media timeout at 14:12.
The Crusaders jumped ahead 14:41 into the game with Danny Lopez taking advantage of a mishandled puck on Army’s blue line.
The Black Knights had two power play opportunities in the period, but did not convert on either.
PERIOD TWO (2-0 HC)
The second period mimicked the first with plenty of back-and-forth aggressive action.
Tipper Higgins saw an opportunity with six minutes left fading to the open right side, but Berrafato got there in time to cover the net.
Michael Laffin of the Crusaders netted a goal 18:22 into the period off the bench to put Holy Cross ahead 2-0.
PERIOD THREE (4-0 HC)
The Crusaders scored their third goal when Peter Kessel’s shot found the back of the net 5:25 into the final period.
The middle of the frame was undisciplined for both teams as they skated for a stretch of 6:27 with players from either team in the box.
Following that stretch, the two sides played 5-on-5 for just 43 seconds before Holy Cross’ Danny Lopez was assessed a holding the stick penalty.
The Crusaders added an empty netter with 1:53 left in the game to force a 4-0 lead.
UP NEXT
The Black Knights will travel to Sacred Heart for a Tuesday night tilt before returning to Tate Rink for two games against Canisius.
