Army West Point Athletics
Army Hockey Faces Mercyhurst Saturday at 4:05
March 15, 2008 | General
ROCHESTER, N.Y. The Army hockey team will play Mercyhurst, Saturday at 4:05 p.m. in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament at the Blue Cross Arena.
Army is the top-seed after winning the regular season title and carries a 19-13-4 record into the contest. Mercyhurst is 14-18-7 after beating Sacred Heart, 4-1, Friday night in the “play-in” game. Mercyhurst is the No. 5 seed and moved on with win against No. 4 Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart beat Connecticut in its first-round series but it took all three games, the lone series to require all three contests.
No. 2 RIT and No. 3 Air Force will play in the second semifinal Saturday at 7:35 p.m. The winners will meet Sunday at 7 p.m. for the conference crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.
Mercyhurst, which beat Army twice during the regular season, swept Canisius in its first round series.
The Black Knights, who lost to Air Force in the finals of the tournament last year, have been idle since beating American International last Saturday to end that series.
Thursday night at the league banquet, goalie Josh Kassel was named the Atlantic Hockey Association Player of the Year and Zach McKelvie was named the Defenseman of the Year. McKelvie and Kassel were also on the first-team all-conference squad, along with forward Luke Flicek giving Army three of the six players on the first team. In addition, head coach Brian Riley was named the AHA Coach of the Year for the third straight season and Owen Meyer was a second-team forward.
Fans will have plenty of opportunity to follow the action on Saturday if not making the trek to Rochester. Tony Morino will call the action in the Hudson Valley on WLNA and WBMR and on www.goARMYsports.com through the Knight Vision subscription package. The Army Athletic Communications staff will provide a live game blog of all of the action from Blue Cross Arena that can be viewed at www.goARMYsports.com.
The official web site of Army Athletics will be posting video reports from Rochester, beginning with Friday’s on the all-conference selections and continuing after every game. A video stream of the game is also being offered on the B2 Networks available through the league Web site at www.atlantichockeyonline.com.
