Hockey Travels to Mercyhurst for Two

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point hockey team opens the 2015-16 Atlantic Hockey season with a trip to Mercyhurst for a pair of 7:05 p.m. games this weekend as the Black Knights are in action for the first time since Oct. 9.

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THIS WEEK: OPENING ATLANTIC HOCKEY SLATE ON THE ROAD
Army will open the 2015-16 Atlantic Hockey slate with one of its longest road trips of the season with a visit to Mercyhurst on Oct. 23 and 24. The Lakers were picked to finish eighth in the coaches' preseason poll last month, but Mercyhurst is still historically one of the most successful programs in the league. Last year, the Lakers won all four matchups between the two schools, including a high-scoring game early in the year with Mercyhurst winning by a 7-5 score. Head coach Brian Riley will be looking for his first win against his son Jack Riley, who is a sophomore forward at Mercyhurst.

NEXT WEEK: BENTLEY AT THE BARCLAYS CENTER - GET TICKETS HERE
The Black Knights will be back at home on Halloween for a 3:05 p.m. matinee next Saturday as Army hosts Bentley at Tate Rink. The two teams are then scheduled to head to the Barclays Center for BROOKLYN HOCKEY^TMon Sunday morning for a 11:05 a.m. faceoff. The game kicks off a full day of hockey at the new home of the New York Islanders with Notre Dame and Connecticut making up game two of the college portion of the day, while the Islanders play later that night.

LAST TIME OUT: BLACK KNIGHTS FALL TO #1 BOSTON COLLEGE AT TATE RINK
Army began the 2015-16 season on Oct. 9 with a visit from Boston College. The Eagles scored two goals apiece in the final two periods to pull away from a hungry Black Knight squad. Rookie Trevor Fidler started his career in style with is first collegiate goal in the third period. Junior netminder Parker Gahagen started the game in net and made 35 stops with double-digits in each period. The Eagles had a 40-24 shot advantage in the game and both teams scored on the power play. Boston College went 2-for-10 with the extra skater, while Army finished 1-for-6. The teams combined for over 95 penalty minutes in the game with Army earning 58, while Boston College was tagged for 40 minutes.

ROOKIE SHINES IN GAME ONE
Rookie forward Trevor Fidler impressed many with his ability against the Eagles and he scored his first collegiate goal with a strong play in front of the net. Fidler jammed away at the puck and got it past Thomas Demko to make it 4-1 in the third period. He was the first rookie to score in his first game since Zak Zaremba '15 found the net in 2011.

NEW FACES IN THE LINEUP
The Black Knights had four newcomers in the lineup against the Eagles, including forwards on the top three lines. Tommy Besinger was on the top line at the right wing along with C.J. Reuschlein and was centered by Tyler Pham. Fidler made the lineup as a winger on the second and Ian Mansfield on the left on the third line. Nash Worden was the lone rookie among the six defensemen.

ALL-FIRSTIE LINE
Head coach Brian Riley went with a all-senior fourth line with Josh Roberts and Joe Kozlak centered by Shane Hearn. The line contributed to multiple scoring opportunities during the matchup with the Eagles.

ARMY PART OF BROOKLYN HOCKEY
The Barclays Center, the new home of the New York Islanders, is hosting a college doubleheader on Nov. 1 and the Black Knights are part of the action. Army will take on Bentley in an Atlantic Hockey showdown at 11 a.m., followed by a Hockey East matchup pitting Notre Dame against UConn. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online via Ticketmaster by visiting www.barclayscenter.com or www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst comes into the weekend with six games played already in the 2015-16 season, which is among the top in the nation. The Lakers started off the season with a split at home against nationally-ranked Colgate and then went on the road and swept Bentley in the Atlantic Hockey opening weekend for both squads. The Lakers were last in action at Michigan for a pair of contests and lost both, but gave the Wolverines all they could handle. Mercyhurst is averaging 3.83 goals per game, while giving up four and is 6-fo-24 on the man advantage for a 25-percent success rate.

Kyle Cook leads the way for the Lakers with eight points in the first six games on a goal and seven assists. Taylor Best is the co-leader in goals with four and has two assists for a total of six points. Jack Riley has six points as well early in the season. He has posted a goal and five assists with his tally coming on the power play at Michigan. Jonathan Charbonneau is tied with Best for the top spot with four goals with two coming as gamewinners, while Lester Lancaster has a team high two power play tallies.

In net, Brandon Wildung is back as the top netminder for Mercyhurst following the graduation of Jimmy Sargeant. He has started five of the first six games and has a 3-3-0 mark. Wildung has a 3.37 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. He made 40 or more saves in both games at Michigan last weekend, including 42 on Sunday afternoon.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday night will be the 49th meeting all-time between Army and Mercyhurst with the Lakers holding a 35-9-4 advantage in the series. The Lakers have been unbeaten in the last 20 games and are riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the weekend. The first game in the series was on Dec. 9, 2000 and Mercyhurst took home a 2-1 victory. The Lakers swept both series last season in Erie, Pa., and at West Point.

Hockey Travels to Mercyhurst for Two

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Players Mentioned

Tommy Besinger

Trevor Fidler

Parker Gahagen

Shane Hearn

Joe Kozlak

Ian Mansfield

Tyler Pham

C.J. Reuschlein

Josh Roberts

Nash Worden

Zak Zaremba

Army West Point Athletics