Hockey Travels to Holy Cross for Quarterfinals

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army hockey team will look to advance in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament this weekend with a visit to Holy Cross for the quarterfinal round, which is a best-of-three series.

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

THIS WEEK: ATLANTIC HOCKEY QUARTERFINALS AT HOLY CROSS
The Black Knights have reached the conference quarterfinals for the first time since 2009 as Army heads to Holy Cross for a best-of-three series. The quarterfinals start Friday night at 7:05 p.m., followed by a Saturday matchup at the same time and a possibly Sunday night faceoff. The two teams played just over a month ago at West Point with Army taking 3-of-4 league points with a win and a tie. This is the first visit to Holy Cross for the Black Knights in two seasons. They played one game in late February in 2014 and Army won that game by a 5-2 score.

ATLANTIC HOCKEY TOURNAMENT UPDATE
Eight teams remain in the conference tournament with Robert Morris earning the top seed. The Colonials will play host to eighth-seeded Bentley, while seventh-seeded Canisius goes to No. 2 Air Force. Mercyhurst and RIT earned the bye and will have played each other in the No. 4-No. 5 series. All three first-round series went three games, but all matchups were decided by three or more goals in the deciding games. Next week is the final three games of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament as Rochester plays host to the conference semifinals and championship at the Blue Cross Arena. The semifinal games are set for March 18 with the championship following the next day.

LAST WEEK: ADVANCING WITH
SERIES WIN OVER AIC
The Black Knights claimed their first series win since 2008 with 2-1 series victory after Sunday night's shut out of American International in the deciding game. Junior goalie Parker Gahagen recorded two shutouts in the series with a 31-save effort on Friday night, while stopping 19 in Sunday's win. The Army offense came alive in the opening game with five goals, which was one off the season high. Rookie Ian Mansfield led the way with three points on two goals and an assist. Mansfield's two goals were the first two of his career. After the Yellow Jackets won game two in overtime, the Black Knights came out and scored three goals in the first period and cruised to a 4-0 win in the third game. Christian Pomarico scored his first of the year in the opening period to get things started.

ON THE RADIO
The entire series this weekend 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 the first round

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 has two payment options for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Fans can purchase one game for $10.99 or the entire tournament for $36.

SIXTH SEED
Since beating the Royal Military College in late January, the Black Knights were 5-2-3, which earned them the sixth seed, which is the highest finish since the 2008-09 season. Army sealed the sixth spot after Canisius and Sacred Heart both got swept in their last regular-season weekend in late February.

SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
Junior netminder Parker Gahagen was named to the Atlantic Hockey Second Team after posting a 2.23 goals against average and a .931 save percentage in league play. He finished the second half of Atlantic Hockey play with an incredible 1.67 GAA and a .950 save percentage. Those numbers came in the final 14 games and he was 5-4-5 in those games. He gave up two or less goals in each of the 14 games.

SERIES VICTORY
The Black Knights earned their first series victory in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament since 2008 with a 4-0 shutout win last Sunday over American International. Current assistant coach Zach McKelvie was a junior defenseman on that squad that went 19-14-4 overall and 17-8-3 in league play. That group also got a win over AIC and it came in the quarterfinals.

D-FENSE, D-FENSE
Since the arrival of 2016, the defensive prowess has been exceptional for the Black Knights. They are allowing 1.9 goals per game in their last 15 games and are 5-5-5 in those games. Special teams are also a part of it with an 88 percent success rate on the penalty kill, which is well above the season average of 80 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 a top goaltender in Atlantic Hockey. He went into last weekend with two career shut outs and came out with two in three games. He has climbed to fourth in the nation in save percentage at .933, which is higher than seven NHL drafts, including two of his hometown club, the Buffalo Sabres. He ranks 20th nationally in goals against average at 2.12, which is a career best. He is trying to have the lowest GAA in a season since Josh Kassel had a 1.92 GAA in 2007-08. Gahagen also came into the season with a career goals against average of 3.14.

OVERTIME GRINDERS
The Black Knights have played in a program record 14 overtime games this season after AIC took game two by a 3-2 score. The Black Knights are 1-4-9 in overtime this season. The previous record of 11 was accomplished back in 2001-02 under head coach Rob Riley and Army was 1-4-6 in overtime that season. In the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, overtime ties are a thing of the past as each game needs a winner. Teams will play full 20 minute periods if the game is tied after three frames.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross earned a first-round bye in the tournament with a 16-7-5 mark in conference play this season. The Crusaders currently have an 18-11-5 over record. They finished the regular season with four-straight wins, outscoring opponents 18-4 in the four games. Holy Cross had a tough stretch in January and early February with a 2-5-4 mark in 11 games, including a loss and a tie at West Point on the weekend of Feb. 5-6. The Crusaders are averaging 3.18 goals per game and allowing 2.5. The power play has struggled at 16 percent with 21 goals in 131 chances.

T.J. Moore leads the way for the Crusaders with 28 points on 15 goals and 13 assists. He is one of six skaters with 20 or more points on the team. Mike Barrett has chipped in with 26 points on 13 goals and 13 helpers, including a team high seven power play goals. Rookie Michael Laffin has had a good campaign with 23 points. He has eight goals and 15 helpers, while Joe McNamara is the leading defensemen scorer with 21 assists for all of his 21 points.

In net, Paul Berrafato has been one of the top goalies in the league all season. He has a 17-9-5 mark and three shutouts in 30 starts. He has a 2.15 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Army and Holy Cross have met 75 times since the first meeting in 1956. The Crusaders hold a 33-32-10 advantage in the series. They have met once in the AHA playoffs with the Crusaders winning the first-round series, 2-0, back in 2012. The two also met back in 2003 when they were playing the MAAC and Holy Cross won 3-2 in a quarterfinal game.

Hockey Travels to Holy Cross for Quarterfinals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Parker Gahagen

Ian Mansfield

Christian Pomarico

Army West Point Athletics