Army West Point Athletics
Saturday, January 2
West Point, N.Y.
7:05 PM
Army West Point
vs
Massachusetts
Hockey Starts 2016 Against UMass
December 31, 2015 | Hockey
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team will ring in 2016 on Saturday night as the Black Knights host their final non-conference game of the season with a visit by Hockey East foe Massachusetts for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop at Tate Rink.
HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1420 WLNA-AM/1260 WBNR-AM
VIDEO • EverSport.tv ($)
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mhockey
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TICKETS • Hockey Tickets
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Hockey
THIS WEEK: ARMY WELCOMES UMASS TO WEST POINT
The Black Knights welcome Massachusetts for the final non-conference game of the season on Saturday. Like Merrimack, Army's last opponent, the Minutemen started off the season with a 4-1-1 mark, but have hit a rough stretch. Massachusetts is winless in its last nine games with a 0-6-3 record. The Minutemen have lost five straight coming into the matchup at West Point. They last hit the ice on Dec. 18 against the USA Junior Team and lost 4-0 and their last regular season game was on Dec. 11 against Union, which the Dutchmen won in overtime by a 4-3 score.
NEXT WEEK: BLACK KNIGHTS RING IN NEW YEAR
Army starts the second half of the league slate on Friday and Saturday next week with a home-and-home series with Sacred Heart. The weekend starts at Tate Rink on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and then the two teams head to Connecticut for Saturday's puck drop at 7:05 p.m. at the Milford Ice Pavilion. The Pioneers and Black Knights met less than a month ago with Army earning the weekend sweep in early December with a 4-3 win on the road and a 5-2 victory at home. The Pioneers are in action at home against Niagara this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT: HOCKEY UPENDS #20 MERRIMACK ON TUESDAY
Army returned home following its holiday break and started the second half of the season with a bang as the Black Knights upended 20th-ranked Merrimack with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night. Army saw Trevor Fidler pick the pocket of a Merrimack defender and beat goalie Drew Vogler on a breakaway with the eventual gamewinner with less than eight minutes to go in the game. Nick DeCenzo and Conor Andrle added goals as well in the win. Parker Gahagen made his 14th start of the season and pushed aside 35 shots in the win. He recorded 18 stops in the third period to seal the deal for the Black Knights. It was Army's first win over Merrimack in 15 tries and the first since 1986.
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 is on the call for each game this weekend. The games are also live on Knight Vision at GoArmyWestPoint.com.
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.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Black Knights will play their final non-league game on Saturday and Army enters the game with a 2-1 mark against non-conference opponents. All the games have come against Hockey East teams and will continue on Saturday night with UMass coming to West Point. Army has beaten UConn in Hartford and Merrimack at home. The lone loss came against No. 1 Boston College in the season opener.
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 42 points of Army's 106 this season with 16 goals and 26 helpers on the year. Surprisingly, Conor Andrle is the only sophomore in the top six in scoring for the Black Knights and each skater in the class has a point.
CONSISTENCY FROM CONOR
Sophomore Conor Andrle leads the Black Knights with 13 points on three goals and 10 assists. All three of his goals have been on the power play, including a snipe on Tuesday against Merrimack. He has points in seven of the last nine games for Army and the Black Knights are 4-2-2 during the stretch.
AMONG LEADERS
Rookie Trevor Fidler has remained at the top of list of rookie scorers in Atlantic Hockey and sits tied for fourth in the league with 11 points. He is averaging 0.65 points per game and has five goals and six assists. He scored the gamewinner on Tuesday night against Merrimack with a beautiful move on a breakaway in the third period to put the Black Knights up 3-1.
TAKING ADVANTAGE
The Army power play has been extremely effective this season as the Black Knights are averaging just under a goal a game on the power play. They are third in the league in efficiency at 19.7 with 15 goals on 76 opportunities. The 15 tallies are second in the conference, which is led by Robert Morris with an impressive 26 goals with the extra skater. Andrle is the top point-getter on the power play with eight points, which is tied for fifth in Atlantic Hockey.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
Massachusetts comes into the game on Jan. 2 with a 6-8-4 record overall and a 2-4-4 mark in conference play. The Minutemen have lost their last five games and are winless in their last eight contests dating back to Nov. 7. Prior to the tough stretch, UMass was 6-2-1 and earned votes in the national poll. The Minutemen scored four or more goals in seven of their opening nine games, but have averaged 1.75 goals a game since that stretch.
Dennis Kravchenko is the team leader in points with 18 on the year with seven goals and a team-best 11 assists. Shane Walsh has found the net 12 times for tops on the team. Kravchenko and Ray Pigozzi are second with seven tallies. Steven Iacobellis is second on the team in assists with 10, while Kravchenko, Walsh and Austin Plevy, are tied at the top of the list for power play goals with two each.
In net, rookie Nic Renyard has appeared in 15 games with 13 starts. He is 4-6-4 on the year with a .906 save percentage and 3.25 goals against average. Henry Dill has started five games as a sophomore and is 2-2-0 with a 3.74 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 30th meeting between Massachusetts and Army and first since the 2010-11 season. Army holds an 18-11-0 advantage over the Minutemen and got a 5-2 win on Nov. 5, 2010 in their last meeting. The teams first took to the ice in 1948 at West Point with Army winning 4-0. The Black Knights hold a 13-5-0 record on the banks of the Hudson River.
HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1420 WLNA-AM/1260 WBNR-AM
VIDEO • EverSport.tv ($)
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mhockey
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TICKETS • Hockey Tickets
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Hockey
THIS WEEK: ARMY WELCOMES UMASS TO WEST POINT
The Black Knights welcome Massachusetts for the final non-conference game of the season on Saturday. Like Merrimack, Army's last opponent, the Minutemen started off the season with a 4-1-1 mark, but have hit a rough stretch. Massachusetts is winless in its last nine games with a 0-6-3 record. The Minutemen have lost five straight coming into the matchup at West Point. They last hit the ice on Dec. 18 against the USA Junior Team and lost 4-0 and their last regular season game was on Dec. 11 against Union, which the Dutchmen won in overtime by a 4-3 score.
NEXT WEEK: BLACK KNIGHTS RING IN NEW YEAR
Army starts the second half of the league slate on Friday and Saturday next week with a home-and-home series with Sacred Heart. The weekend starts at Tate Rink on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and then the two teams head to Connecticut for Saturday's puck drop at 7:05 p.m. at the Milford Ice Pavilion. The Pioneers and Black Knights met less than a month ago with Army earning the weekend sweep in early December with a 4-3 win on the road and a 5-2 victory at home. The Pioneers are in action at home against Niagara this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT: HOCKEY UPENDS #20 MERRIMACK ON TUESDAY
Army returned home following its holiday break and started the second half of the season with a bang as the Black Knights upended 20th-ranked Merrimack with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night. Army saw Trevor Fidler pick the pocket of a Merrimack defender and beat goalie Drew Vogler on a breakaway with the eventual gamewinner with less than eight minutes to go in the game. Nick DeCenzo and Conor Andrle added goals as well in the win. Parker Gahagen made his 14th start of the season and pushed aside 35 shots in the win. He recorded 18 stops in the third period to seal the deal for the Black Knights. It was Army's first win over Merrimack in 15 tries and the first since 1986.
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 is on the call for each game this weekend. The games are also live on Knight Vision at GoArmyWestPoint.com.
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.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Black Knights will play their final non-league game on Saturday and Army enters the game with a 2-1 mark against non-conference opponents. All the games have come against Hockey East teams and will continue on Saturday night with UMass coming to West Point. Army has beaten UConn in Hartford and Merrimack at home. The lone loss came against No. 1 Boston College in the season opener.
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 42 points of Army's 106 this season with 16 goals and 26 helpers on the year. Surprisingly, Conor Andrle is the only sophomore in the top six in scoring for the Black Knights and each skater in the class has a point.
CONSISTENCY FROM CONOR
Sophomore Conor Andrle leads the Black Knights with 13 points on three goals and 10 assists. All three of his goals have been on the power play, including a snipe on Tuesday against Merrimack. He has points in seven of the last nine games for Army and the Black Knights are 4-2-2 during the stretch.
AMONG LEADERS
Rookie Trevor Fidler has remained at the top of list of rookie scorers in Atlantic Hockey and sits tied for fourth in the league with 11 points. He is averaging 0.65 points per game and has five goals and six assists. He scored the gamewinner on Tuesday night against Merrimack with a beautiful move on a breakaway in the third period to put the Black Knights up 3-1.
TAKING ADVANTAGE
The Army power play has been extremely effective this season as the Black Knights are averaging just under a goal a game on the power play. They are third in the league in efficiency at 19.7 with 15 goals on 76 opportunities. The 15 tallies are second in the conference, which is led by Robert Morris with an impressive 26 goals with the extra skater. Andrle is the top point-getter on the power play with eight points, which is tied for fifth in Atlantic Hockey.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
Massachusetts comes into the game on Jan. 2 with a 6-8-4 record overall and a 2-4-4 mark in conference play. The Minutemen have lost their last five games and are winless in their last eight contests dating back to Nov. 7. Prior to the tough stretch, UMass was 6-2-1 and earned votes in the national poll. The Minutemen scored four or more goals in seven of their opening nine games, but have averaged 1.75 goals a game since that stretch.
Dennis Kravchenko is the team leader in points with 18 on the year with seven goals and a team-best 11 assists. Shane Walsh has found the net 12 times for tops on the team. Kravchenko and Ray Pigozzi are second with seven tallies. Steven Iacobellis is second on the team in assists with 10, while Kravchenko, Walsh and Austin Plevy, are tied at the top of the list for power play goals with two each.
In net, rookie Nic Renyard has appeared in 15 games with 13 starts. He is 4-6-4 on the year with a .906 save percentage and 3.25 goals against average. Henry Dill has started five games as a sophomore and is 2-2-0 with a 3.74 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 30th meeting between Massachusetts and Army and first since the 2010-11 season. Army holds an 18-11-0 advantage over the Minutemen and got a 5-2 win on Nov. 5, 2010 in their last meeting. The teams first took to the ice in 1948 at West Point with Army winning 4-0. The Black Knights hold a 13-5-0 record on the banks of the Hudson River.
Players Mentioned
vs. Sacred Heart
Saturday, November 10
Test
Wednesday, November 07