Army West Point Athletics
Monday, Feb. 1 - Heck Of A Hockey Weekend
February 01, 2010 | General
New month, new blog format. Ryan Yanoshak at the keyboard this morning as we debut a new look to BKB.
Since I work primarily with the hockey and wrestling teams in the winter, it was a great weekend from my standpoint.
The wrestling team won two matches in two states, taking down Brown (27-6) in Providence, R.I., and then topping Harvard, 35-11, later in the day in Cambridge, Mass. A good weekend for coach Chuck Barbee and his squad who compete this weekend at the All-Academy Championships in Annapolis, Md.
And then there was the hockey team. I am pretty sure the more than 5,000 fans that packed Tate Rink got their money's worth. And then some after Friday's 4-2 win and Saturday's 3-3 overtime tie.
Let's recap.
Game-winning goals: Check. Drew Pierson scored with five minutes left in Army's 4-2 win on Friday. Pierson's first goal of the season came at a huge time and knocked the Falcons out of first-place.
Physical Play: Um yes. It seemed like every few seconds someone said wow or the crowd cheered as another check sent a player sprawling.
Entertainment: Check. Whether it was the sumo wrestlers on ice, Chuck-A-Puck or the in-game blogs on Friday and Saturday, this weekend had plenty to offer Army hockey fans.
Dramatic conclusions: Eric Sefchik knows a little about that. The senior captain won several key faceoffs, logged plenty of ice time and had two goals and two assists over the weekend. It was his score on Saturday though that almost blew the roof off of Tate Rink. Air Force jumps out to a 2-0 lead, Army rallies to tie it. Air Force scores again and seems to have all the momentum on its side. Army calls its timeout, pulls goalie Jay Clark and sends out an extra skater. Sefchik wins a faceoff in the Air Force zone, John Clark gathers the puck, works it behind the net to Owen Meyer. Meyer feeds Sefchik in front, Army goal, 11 seconds left in regulation. The one point Army earned for the tie could be huge when the playoff pairings are determined and showed the determination of this team. Would have been easy to mail it in after falling behind early and then when the Falcons went back on top. Instead, Sefchik, the team captain, made a huge play.
Big-Timers: Legendary hockey coach Jack Riley dropped the ceremonial first puck Saturday and every time I saw the former Army coach he was smiling and telling stories about his 542 wins at Army or the 1960 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team he led to a gold medal. The 1960 squad, which beat both the Russians and Canadians was truly the first "Miracle on Ice" and is finally getting some of its due. The DVD "Forgotten Miracle" is now available at forgottenmiracle.com. I have yet to watch it but Coach Riley said it was well done, except for the end where it inaccurately reports the number of missions he flew.
For a more current hockey fan, ESPN's John Buccigross was in attendance. A true, passionate hockey fan with a rink in his backyard, Buccigross can usually be seen on Sports Center in the afternoon.
Pageantry: One of the great things about the Army and Air Force hockey rivalry is what happens after the series ends. The two teams gather around the center circle for a combined stick salute. Then the seniors from both teams stand on the blue line as both alma maters are played. Really a special part of the rivalry and a nice end to a great weekend of hockey.
That's it for me, time to turn my attention to hockey's next opponent, at Holy Cross this weekend and the All-Academy Wrestling Championships.
Thanks for reading.
