It was a record-breaking evening as Army West Point Hockey (7-16-0, 7-8-0 Atlantic Hockey America) defeated Mercyhurst (2-19-3, 2-12-2 Atlantic Hockey America) by a score of 13-1 from Tate Rink on January 11. The 13 goals set a new Atlantic Hockey record as the previous mark stood at 12. Army poured in seven goals in the second period alone, which matched the Atlantic Hockey record that was last accomplished in 2008. Army outscored the Lakers 22-2 in total throughout the series to earn all six points on the weekend.
CDT Nik Hong ’27 registered his second career hat trick to help lead the offensive onslaught, also adding two assists as ten Black Knights in total logged multi-point efforts. For the second straight game, all 12 forwards got on the scoresheet while 17 in total posted points for Army. Hong’s hat trick made him just the third Black Knight in the AHA era to record multiple hat tricks in their career. CDT Nils Forselius ’28 registered five assists to go along with a goal which marked the highest single-game point total from an Army skater since 1993. He is also the first skater in the country this season to record a six-point game.
CDT Mac Gadowsky ’27 added two goals and two assists to give him a seven-point weekend as the cadet has now tabbed 13 points in four career games against Mercyhurst. CDT JJ Cataldo ’28 got the start in net for Army, making 13 saves while allowing one goal in two periods of action before CDT Jacob Biron’28 shut out the Lakers in the third period with five saves. Biron added an assist as a puck that he poked away went directly to Hong who went the length of the ice for his third goal of the contest. CDT Brent Keefer ’27 scored a pair of goals while logging an assist as CDT Hunter McCoy ’25 tallied a career-high three assists in the effort.
Army outshot the Lakers 45-19 in total while being three-for-six on the power-play while only taking one penalty of its own. It marked Army’s second conference sweep of the season and the first to come at home. The Black Knights will now ready for Air Force who are set to travel for a pair of games at Tate Rink this upcoming January 17 and 18.
Excerpt and image taken from https://goarmywestpoint.com.
