WEST POINT, N.Y. – After two scoreless periods, the Army West Point hockey team exploded for four goals in the third period to earn the 4-0 victory to take the series lead over Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament quarterfinals on Friday Night at Tate Rink.

With the win, Army extended its winning streak to 12 games, which leads the nation. The Black Knights improved to 14-4-1 on the season and earned its ninth win at home. Army had four goals from four different goal scorers and Trevin Kozlowski stood tall in net with 30 saves for his second shutout this season.

“Coming out to start the third and scoring early was huge for us,” head coach Brian Riley said. “It kind of had that feel that whoever got the first goal was going to win this game. We’ve been in a lot of these games all year where it comes down to winning a third period. It’s great to get this first one, but it’s not a one-game series, it’s a best-of-three.”

Mitch Machlitt put Army on the board first in the third period with a nifty redirect in front of the net off an odd-angle pass from Thomas Farrell and the Black Knights were up 1-0, only 1:25 into the final frame. For Machlitt, it was his first career playoff goal in his first playoff appearance.

Four minutes later, Ricky Lyle Jr. joined Machlitt as one of two rookies to score in their first playoff game. He collected the puck on the side boards after a pass up ice from Lincoln Hatten and went in on Sacred Heart’s netminder Luke Lush and beat him on a nice move to put the Black Knights up 2-0 with 14:43 left on the clock.

Colin Bilek made it 3-0 with 6:52 left for his 17th tally of the season on a beautiful feed to the slot from behind the net by Mason Krueger. He slid the puck between the Sacred Heart defense and Bilek buried it to extend his goal scoring streak to six games and he has seven goals in those games.

Daniel Haider closed out the scoring 22 seconds later with another great redirect in front of the net after a feed from the corner by John Zimmerman and Army shut the door in the final minutes for the 4-0 win.

Neither team found the net on the power play on three chances each. The Black Knights outshot the Pioneers 34-30.

Game two of the series is set for a 5:05 p.m. puckdrop at Tate Rink with the game live on FloHockey.tv and the Army Sports Network.

HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES: 

• Army is unbeaten in its last 12 games with an 11-0-1 record.
• The unbeaten streak is the longest under Riley and longest since 1995-96 when Army went unbeaten in 12-straight games.
• Army is now 7-0-0 when scoring four or more goals in a game this season.
• Kozlowski is now unbeaten in his last 14 starts.
• Kozlowski is now eighth in the nation in goals against average at 1.86 and is sixth in the country in winning percentage.
• He recorded his third career shutout and first in the playoffs.
• Army scored four goals in a period for the third time this season.
• Bilek is second in the nation in goals with 17 on the season.
• He extended his point streak to 12 games and has at least a point in 16 of his last 17 appearances on the ice.
• Krueger recorded his 10th career multi-point game of his career with two assists.

(Army Hockey Photo)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) and senior defenseman Dan Willett(Bayville, N.Y.) were voted First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey-West honorees.

Calverley currently ranks third in the nation with 1.50 points per game while ranking first in Atlantic Hockey with 24 points and tied for second with 11 goals. He notched his 30th career goal in RIT’s 3-2 win over Canisius (Jan. 30) after compiling his second hat-trick of the season in the 6-4 win over Mercyhurst (Jan. 28). 

The Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month for December was credited with two assists in RIT’s 4-3 loss at Robert Morris (Jan. 3) after logging an assist in the 4-4 draw at Colgate (Dec. 29). Calverley was tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week on Dec. 16 after notching a goal and an assist in both of the Tigers’ games versus LIU. He also won the first Player of the Week honor of the season (Dec. 1) after scoring his first collegiate hat-trick in the Tigers’ 8-5 victory over then No. 9 Clarkson (Nov. 27) in the season-opener.   

Willett was tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 23 for his efforts in RIT’s sweep of then No. 19 Robert Morris. He totaled three assists and four blocked shots during the weekend, while anchoring a Tiger defense that limited the league’s top scoring offense to four total goals.

Willett leads RIT and is tied for 10th in Atlantic Hockey with 26 blocked shots. He is also tied for third for RIT with 12 assists and is fifth with 14 points. He enters the weekend leading all RIT players with 59 career assists and is second with 66 career points.

RIT is seeded third in the West pod for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament and will travel to second-seeded Canisius for a best-of-three quarterfinal series this Friday-Sunday (March. 12-14). Friday and Saturday’s games will face-off at 7:05 p.m. while Sunday’s if-necessary game is slated for a 5:05 p.m. start. 

Atlantic Hockey has announced the members of the 2020-21 All-Conference and All-Rookie Teams.

Due to the nature of the season, where the league was split into east and west pods, the AHA felt the only way to do awards this year was within the pods. Even though Air Force was placed in the east pod for the playoffs, the Falcons played all but one team in the west and therefore, the coaching staffs from both Air Force and the rest of the west teams were more equipped to assess the performance and vote accordingly.

Each pod has two All-Conference Teams and one All-Rookie Team this year, with a total of 37 honorees across the six teams.

Atlantic Hockey East Pod

First Team All-Conference

Forward – Colin Bilek

Forward – Tobias Fladeby

Forward – Marc Johnstone

Defense – Brennan Kapcheck

Defense – Thomas Farrell

Goalie – Trevin Kozlowski

Second Team All-Conference

Forward – Elijah Barriga

Forward – Chris Dodero

Forward – Braeden Tuck

Defense – John Zimmerman

Defense – Matt Slick

Goalie – Stefano Durante

All-Rookie

Forward – Lincoln Hatten

Forward – Aaron Grounds

Forward – Eric Otto

Defense – Nico Somerville

Defense – Drew Bavaro

Goalie – Nick Grabko

Atlantic Hockey West Pod

First Team All-Conference

Forward – Will Calverley

Forward – Nick Prkusic

Forward – Keaton Mastrodonato

Defense – Nick Jenny

Defense – Dan Willett

Goalie – Jacob Barczewski

Second Team All-Conference

Forward – Randy Hernandez

Forward – Jon Bendorf

Forward – Carson Briere

Defense – Joseph Maziarz

Defense – Brendan Michaelian

Goalie – Noah West

Goalie – Zach LaRocque

All-Rookie

Forward – Randy Hernandez

Forward – Carson Briere

Forward – Austin Heidemann

Defense – Brian Kramer

Defense – Josef Mysak

Goalie – Noah West

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point hockey team was well-represented on the Atlantic Hockey All-Conference Teams.
 
The league separated the awards this season to honor players from both the East and West pods.
 
Army saw Trevin Kozlowski, Colin Bilek and Thomas Farrell all earn first team All-Atlantic Hockey honors for the East pod and John Zimmerman was named to the second team. Lincoln Hatten joined them by being selected to the conference’s All-Rookie Team.
 
“It’s a great day for Army hockey to see these players receive All-Conference recognition,” head coach Brian Rileysaid. “They are all deserving of this recognition because of the outstanding seasons they have had up to this point of our season. I also know each of them would be quick to say that they wouldn’t be receiving this recognition today if it wasn’t for their teammates. We are all very proud of them.”
 
Kozlowski earned postseason honors for the first time in his career. He led the conference in the regular season with a 1.97 goals against average and was second in save percentage. Kozlowski was the lone goaltender in the league to have double digit victories this season with 12 and had a .781 winning percentage. He ended the regular season on a 13-game winning streak.
 
Bilek was the league’s leading goal scorer with 16 tallies in 19 games and was five goals ahead of the three-way tie in second place. He finished the regular season with three multi-goal games, including a hat trick against AIC on Jan. 10. He is currently riding a 11-game point streak and has at least one point in 15 of his last 16 games. The Brighton, Mich., native also led Atlantic Hockey with eight power play goals.
 
Farrell finished the regular season with 10 points on three goals and seven assists. He was also third on the team with 26 blocks. Of his three goals he tallied a shorthanded goal and netted a game winner as well.
 
Zimmerman was Army’s top defenseman in scoring with 14 points on a goal and 13 assists. He also leads the team with 29 blocked shots and was a +3 in the regular season. Zimmerman has three multi-point games this season, including a three-assist game on Senior Night against LIU. He also ranks fourth in the conference in defenseman scoring.
 
Hatten earned his first postseason honor after recording 10 points on four goals and six assists in 19 games played. Nine of his 10 points have come during the 11-game unbeaten streak and his first career point was a goal against Bentley in a 2-0 win on Dec. 5 at Tate Rink.
 
The Black Knights are back in action this weekend for a best-of-three series with Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament quarterfinals with puck drop coming at 5:05 p.m. each night.
 

Canisius goaltender Jacob Barczewski and forward Keaton Mastrodonato were both recognized as the Atlantic Hockey Association announced its all-league teams.

Both sophomores were named to the first team of the league’s western pod, which featured Air Force, Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT and Robert Morris.

A native of O’Fallon, Mo., Barczewski appeared in seven games for the Golden Griffins this season, compiling a 2.25 goals against average and a .928 save percentage in 400 minutes of work. His save percentage led all Atlantic Hockey goaltenders while his goals against average ranked him fourth on the circuit. Barczewski recorded 30 or more saves in all but two of his seven outings during the regular season, highlighted by a 35-save shutout against RIT at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 13.

Mastrodonato earned All-AHA distinction for the first time in his career after leading Canisius in scoring during the regular season with 14 points as he tallied eight goals and six assists in 13 games. The Powell River, British Columbia, product finished the regular season tied for eighth in the league’s scoring race and was third among league players in goals scored. Mastrodonato also finished tied for first in the AHA with two game-winning goals, as he scored decisive tallies in victories against Mercyhurst on Jan. 3 and Feb. 16.

Canisius (8-5-0), the No. 2 seed in the western pod, will host No. 3 seed RIT in a best-of-three series at LECOM Harborcenter this weekend in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 AHA Tournament. Game one of the series is slated for Friday at 7 p.m., while game two will take place the following evening at 7 p.m. If necessary, a winner-takes-all game three is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m.

(AHA Hockey Photo)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team won a teeter-totter United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) matchup on the road against Nazareth College on Wednesday night, 4-3. With the win, Elmira (3-2-1, 2-1-1 UCHC) completed the regular-season series sweep of Nazareth (0-5-0, 0-4-0 UCHC).

Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 opened the game with a power-play goal at 5:27 of the first period. An outlet pass from Elmira’s defensive zone by Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24 connected with Domitrovic in the neutral zone, setting up an odd-man rush for the Soaring Eagles. Domitrovic carried the puck along the right side, before backhanding it on net and past Raphael Provencher for the goal.

Shawn Kennedy ’24 made it a 2-0 Elmira lead at the 19:28 mark of the second period. A pass from Marty Kapoian ’22 set up a 3-on-1 rush for the Soaring Eagles, led by Kennedy out in front. Kennedy raced into the zone and dished it to Jake Russo ’23 on the right side. From there, Russo centered a pass to Kennedy in the slot, where he redirected the pass over the shoulder of Provencher and into the net.

Kennedy picked up right where he left off in the third period, as the rookie forward netted his second goal of the game to put Elmira on top, 3-0. On the rush, Kapoian slid a pass to Kennedy, who carried it into the slot. With a shuck of the shoulders, Kennedy was able to get Provencher to lean the wrong way, before beating the Naz goalie stick-side for the goal just 34 seconds into the final frame. Adam Eby ’21 was also credited with an assist on the tally.

(Elmira College Men’s Hockey Photo)

ASTON, PA. – The Manhattanville College men’s hockey team fell to Stevenson University, Wednesday, March 10. The 5-2 loss came in the Valiants (0-2) first game since their season opener on Feb. 18. The team’s two goals came from sophomore defenseman Nick Prestia (Niagara Falls, Ont./Salisbury School) and junior forward Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)).

The first period was competitive as both teams traded goals early in the game. The Mustangs (5-2) struck first just one minute into the game and then Prestia scored five minutes later to even the game at 1-1. Senior forward Braeden Cross and sophomore forward Dylan Pollak (New Fairfield, Conn./South Kent School) each assisted on the play. Stevenson scored once more before the period ended, with just 1:42 left on the clock to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Mustangs extended their lead in the second period. They scored three times in the second. One short-handed, one even-strength and one on the power play. The Mustangs would take a 5-1 lead into the final period of play. The final goal came from Manhattanville in the third period. Rowella found the back of the net with five minutes to play in the game. Junior forward Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) and sophomore forward Glynn Robitaille (Northville, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) were credited with assists on the play.

The Valiants return to the ice, Sunday, March 14, at home against Wilkes University. Puck drop is set for 4:45 P.M. at Westchester Skating Academy in Elmsford, N.Y.

(Manhattanville Men’s Hockey Photo)