Hockey Set for Huge Series with Bentley

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team closes out its regular season this weekend with a home-and-home series with Bentley and the Black Knights will honor its seniors on Friday night at Tate Rink.

Army is set to honor Joe Kozlak, Christian Pomarico, Josh Roberts, Shane Hearn, Luke Jenkins and manager Max Bosselaar, in a pregame ceremony.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1420 WLNA-AM/1260 WBNR-AM
VIDEO • EverSport.tv ($)
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • Friday: sidearmstats.com/army/mhockey / Saturday: BentleyFalcons.com
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Hockey

ON THE RADIO
Both games will be live on the radio in the Hudson Valley on 1260 WBNR-AM in Beacon and 1430 WLNA-AM in Peekskill. NIkolai Busko will have the call for both nights.

LIVE STREAM THROUGH EVERSPORT
EverSport is back as the web stream provider of the Atlantic Hockey Association. Games throughout the season, both home and away, will be live on EverSport.tv by searching Atlantic Hockey. EverSport allows payment per game and season.

OH, THE POSSIBILITIES
The Black Knights are in the thick of a race to host a first-round playoff series in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. All 11 teams in the league earn a spot in the tournament with top five earning a first-round bye. The Black Knights sit in ninth, which is one place out from hosting, with 22 points and two games to go. Army plays Bentley, who is one point ahead of the Black Kngihts and tied with Sacred Heart in the eighth position. An important factor also is tiebreakers and the Falcons currently hold it over the Black Knights, while Army has the upper hand over the Pioneers.

D-FENSE, D-FENSE
Since the arrival of 2015, the defensive prowess has been exceptional for the Black Knights. They are allowing 1.9 goals per game in their last 13 games and are 4-5-4 in those games. Special teams is also a part of it with an 86 percent success rate on the penalty kill, which is well above the season average of 78 percent. Parker Gahagen is a big reason for the success, but he also credits his defense for giving him the lanes to see the puck.
GAHAGEN CLIMBING RANKINGS
Junior Parker Gahagen continues to be solid in net for the Black Knights and has solidified his spot as the primary goaltender. He has not allowed more than two goals in 13 of his last 14 games and continues to add to his career best total in single season wins at nine. He has not allowed more than two goals in his last 10 starts. Gahagen pushed aside 39 shots in Friday's win over Robert Morris and then recorded a season high 43 in Saturday night's loss. He ranks second in the league in both goals against average and save percentage.

OVERTIME GRINDERS
The Black Knights have played in a program record 12 overtime games this season after they settled for the 2-2 tie last Friday. The Black Knights are 1-3-8 in overtime this season. The previous record was accomplished back in 2001-02 under head coach Rob Riley and Army was 1-4-6 in overtime that season.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The key to beating Bentley is simple; stop the top line of Andrew Gladiuk, Max French and Kyle Schmidt. The trio has 112 of Bentley's 228 total points and 48 of its 82 goals this season. The Falcons are currently on a four-game winless streak.

French leads the way with 40 points on 18 goals and 22 assists. The 18 goals is a team-best and he has 36 of his 40 points in league play. Schmidt is second on the squad with 37 points on 14 goals and a team-high 23 assists. Schmidt's five power play goals is the most on the team. Gladiuk has added 36 points on 16 goals and 20 assists. Matt Blomquist leads the blueliners with 21 points on four goals and 17 assists.

In net, Jayson Argue has earned four of the last five starts, but is 1-3-0 in those games. He has a 4-9-2 overall record with a .908 save percentage and a 3.22 goals against average. Gabe Antoni has appeared in 19 games and was the starter on Wednesday night at AIC. He is 7-7-3 with a shutout and saw his first action since Jan. 30.

SERIES HISTORY
The two teams have met 57 times since the first meeting back in 1982. Army holds a slim 24-22-11 advantage in the series as Bentley has gone unbeaten in five of the last six. The Black Knights own a 16-9-5 record at home against the Falcons, but Bentley has gone unbeaten in the last seven at Tate Rink. The teams skated to a tie in the first meeting this season and then the Falcons won 6-2 at the Barclays Center on Nov. 1.

Hockey Set for Huge Series with Bentley

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Players Mentioned

Parker Gahagen

Shane Hearn

Luke Jenkins

Joe Kozlak

Christian Pomarico

Josh Roberts

Army West Point Athletics