Army Meets Air Force in Atlantic Hockey Semifinals

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For the second straight season, the Army West Point hockey team won a playoff series to advance to Rochester, N.Y., for the Atlantic Hockey Championships. The No. 3 Black Knights will face No. 2 Air Force Friday night for the semifinals at the Blue Cross Arena.

HOW TO FOLLOW
VIDEO • Time Warner Cable
VIDEO • AtlanticHockey.TV ($39 post-season package or $12 per game)
RADIO • 1260 WBNR-AM/1420 WLNA-AM
AUDIO • GoArmyWestPoint.com/watch
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mhockey
GAME NOTES • GoArmyWestPoint.com

THIS WEEK: ON TO ROCHESTER

Army vs. Air Force is the second game of the night. It is slated to start exactly an hour after the No. 4 Robert Morris vs. No. 1 Canisius contest, which puts game time at approximately at 8:05 p.m.
The two winners will then face each other Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena for the championship.
Fans can follow the games in a variety of ways including on Time Warner Cable and via the AtlanticHockey.TV stream. Those who wish to follow the video feed must purchase a post-season package of $39, or single-game viewings for $12 each. The regular season packages do not roll over.
Army's flagship radio stations 1260 WBNR-AM and 1420 WLNA-AM will also air the action each night.
As always, the audio feed can be listened to on devices by visiting GoArmyWestPoint.com/watch and live statistics are free for all fans at sidearmstats.com/aha/mhockey.

LAST WEEK: WIN TO SURVIVE

It was all too familiar. The Black Knights went 1-1 with Mercyhurst in the first two games of the weekend and needed a deciding game three to determine who would be headed to the AHA Semifinals.
The Black Knights went down 3-1 after a three-goal second period by the Lakers. But a goal by Zach Evancho with five minutes to go in the second stanza kept the Black Knights' hopes alive.
Then to start off the third, Trevor Fidler picked the pocket of an unexpectant Mercyhurst defender to tie things up at 3-3.
Mike Preston netted his first goal of the season and first game-winner of his career halfway through the final period.
Army was able to hold off the Lakers for the final 11:02 of the game with help from Cole Bruns who stepped into net for the final 8:58.
He made nine crucial stops in that span to secure Army's trip to Rochester and to keep the season alive.

SEASON LEADERS

The Black Knights have spread the wealth in the offensive zone this season as 14 players have tallied double-digit points.
Conor Andrle leads the charge with 28 on 14 goals and 14 assists. Evancho follows with 13 goals and 10 helpers for 23 points.
Brendan Soucie boasts four contests with more than one goal, and netted a hat-trick back in December.
Taylor Maruya has been a solid play maker for Army and has notched two games with three assists.
Andrle leads the team with seven multi-point games, while Evancho has six with Alex Wilkinson and Tyler Pham posting four each.
In their three-year careers, Andrle and Pham both possess 16 multi-point performances.
Over the weekend, Army notched 100 goals this season and 265 total points for the season.

POSTSEASON PERFORMANCE

Throughout the team's three games this postseason, the Black Knights have combined for 31 points.
Soucie and Andrle lead the effort with four each. Soucie has posted three goals and an assist, while Andrle boasts one goal and three assists.
Evancho, Franco, Ryan Nick and Fidler are also up there with three points each.
The Atlantic Hockey Association has pledged to donate to the Veteran's Outreach of Rochester and Powers Funding Group, a Rochester-area Veteran's charity or outreach program, for each goal scored in the 2017 Atlantic Hockey Tournament.

RENEWING THE RIVALRY

The Army-Air Force rivalry in hockey dates back to 1969 when the two teams first met in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Black Knights showed dominance in the early years, but the Falcons have since taken over the series with a 40-23-6 advantage.
Earlier this season, the Black Knights snapped Air Force's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 3-1 win at Tate Rink on Nov. 4.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

Air Force remains in the national rankings for the sixth straight week. The Falcons are currently slated at 17th on the USCHO.com Poll.
This will be the fifth meeting between the two service academies in 2016-17, the most meetings in a single season since the rivalry began in 1969.
The Falcons are backed by Shane Starrett who is a semifinalist for the Mike Richter award along with Army's Parker Gahagen and Canisius' Charles Williams.
Air Force leads the nation on the penalty kill with a .896 efficiency, while Army ranks sixth (.865).

For up-to-date information about Army hockey, please follow @ArmyWP_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram.

Army Meets Air Force in Atlantic Hockey Semifinals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Conor Andrle

Cole Bruns

Zach Evancho

Trevor Fidler

Parker Gahagen

Taylor Maruya

Ryan Nick

Tyler Pham

Mike Preston

Brendan Soucie

Alex Wilkinson

Army West Point Athletics

Army Meets Air Force in Atlantic Hockey Semifinals

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Conor Andrle

Cole Bruns

Zach Evancho

Trevor Fidler

Parker Gahagen

Taylor Maruya

Ryan Nick

Tyler Pham

Mike Preston

Brendan Soucie

Alex Wilkinson

Related Videos