Battle for Challenge Cup Continues in Kingston

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team is traveling to Kingston, Ontario, in search of its fifth-straight win over the Royal Military College on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the longest-running international collegiate rivalry.

The historic series dates back to 1923 and was first started with Brig. General Douglas MacArthur, the superintendent of USMA, writing a letter to Maj. Gen. Sir Archibald MacDonnell, commandant of RMC, suggesting they compete. This is the fifth-straight year they have faced off after taking a break from competition from 2006 to 2012. Army travels to Canada for the second time since 2012 and this will be the 80th battle for the Challenge Cup.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1420 WLNA-AM/1260 WBNR-AM
VIDEO • Not Available
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • Not Available
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Hockey

THIS WEEK: NORTH OF THE BORDER
Army renews the longest-running international collegiate rivalry on Saturday night with a visit to the K-Rock Center in Kingston, Ontario, for its annual matchup with the Royal Military College. This is the fifth-straight season the schools will take to the ice and Army is riding a eight-game unbeaten streak against the Paladins with RMC's last win coming on Feb. 9, 2002. Last season, the Black Knights scored four in the first period to cruise to an 8-0 win over RMC to take home the Challenge Cup. The Paladins are currently 3-19 on the season in the Ontario University Athletics conference. They swept Laurentian last weekend and face McGill this weekend.

NEXT WEEK: RESUMING LEAGUE PLAY AT NIAGARA
The Black Knights are back in Atlantic Hockey play next weekend with a visit to Niagara for a pair of clashes on Friday and Saturday night. The Purple Eagles currently sit at the bottom of the league standings with a 3-11-2 conference record and have gone winless in their last seven games. They are 3-16-3 overall with their wins coming against American International, Bentley and RIT. Niagara travels to Air Force this weekend before welcoming the Black Knights. The Purple Eagles are allowing 3.68 goals per game, which is the most in the league. They have averaged just over two goals a contest and their power play has nine goals on 99 chances.

LAST WEEK: ARMY WELCOMED LONG-TIME RIVAL
The Army hockey team had a visit from long-time rival Air Force last weekend and the Falcons took three league points by winning Friday night and skating to a 1-1 draw on Saturday. There was not a lot of scoring in front of sellout crowds both nights. The only scoring on Friday night came in the first period as the Falcons hung on for a 1-0 win. They also scored first in the opening period on Saturday night, but the Black Knights were able to even it up with C.J. Reuschlein scoring his fourth of the year in the second frame.

ON THE RADIO
Saturday's game will be live on the radio in the Hudson Valley on 1260 WBNR-AM in Beacon and 1430 WLNA-AM in Peekskill. Nikolai Busko has the call on the radio as well as on Knight Vision at GoArmyWestPoint.com.

STREAK AGAINST RMC
The Black Knights have seen a lot of success recently against their rivals from Canada. Army is unbeaten in its last eight games and has won the last four. Coach Brian Riley is unbeaten in seven games since the rivalry was renewed in 2012 after some time off. This is the second visit to Kingston for the Black Knights since 2012. The last matchup was a 5-2 win in 2014.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
The yearling class has not seen a drop in numbers this season after leading the team last year in class points. The sophomores have 50 points of Army's 179 this season with 17 goals and 33 helpers on the year. Conor Andrle and Tyler Pham lead the way with 17 and nine points respectively. Andrle continued his impressive play with another assist on Saturday night against Air Force.

SCOUTING THE PALADINS
The Royal Military College is 3-19-0 overall and plays all of its games in the Ontario University Athletics conference as part of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, which is its equivalent to the NCAA. The Paladins played one game last weekend and it was a 3-1 loss to McGill, but they have won two of their last three games after sweeping Laurentian on the weekend of Jan. 9-10. The team is averaging 2.23 goals per game, but has a team goals against average of 5.12. RMC has 13 power play goals on 88 chances for a 14.8 percent success rate.

Bruce Hornbrook leads the way with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists. Three of his tallies have come on the power play and he also has a hat trick this season, which came in a 6-5 loss to Brock. Eric Louis-Seize is second on the team with 16 points on eight goals and eight assists. He has two power play goals and a gamewinner. Scott Domenico has contributed 14 points on six goals and eight assists with three tallies on the man advantage.

In net, Matthew Murphy has seen the most time on ice with 12 games played and is 3-9-0. He has a .898 save percentage and a 4.07 goals against average. He has been good as of late with five goals allowed in his last three appearances.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 80th meeting between Army and RMC, dating back to the first game in 1923 with the Paladins winning 3-0 at West Point. The Black Knights have won four in a row and have gone unbeaten in the last eight. RMC's last win came in 2002 with a 3-2 overtime victory. The teams took a break from the series in 2006 until 2012. It was the first break in the matchup since World War II. The teams had played an annual game from 1949 until 2006. RMC leads the series when played in Kingston at 17-15-6.

Battle for Challenge Cup Continues in Kingston

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Players Mentioned

Conor Andrle

Tyler Pham

C.J. Reuschlein

Army West Point Athletics