Black Knights Travel to Boston University

Saturday, April 9

Boston, Mass.

1 PM

Army West Point

Boston University

Black Knights Travel to Boston University

April 07, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's lacrosse team looks to get back in the win column this weekend with a visit to Boston University in a Patriot League showdown at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • None
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
LIVE STATISTICS • GoTerriers.com
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TWITTER • ArmyWP_MLax

THE OPENING FACEOFF
The Army West Point men's lacrosse team looks to rebound after dropping its first league contest last weekend with a visit to Boston University on Saturday afternoon. The opening draw is set for 1 p.m. and it is Army's third all-time meeting against the Terriers. Both teams are coming off tough 8-7 losses last Saturday as the Terriers fell to Lehigh at home. Saturday's game features the top two faceoff teams in the league as Army leads at .667 percentage and Boston University is second at a .654 winning percentage. This game also has Patriot League Tournament implications. Army can clinch a spot with a win, while the Terriers can get back into the thick of the hunt for a semifinal berth.

LAST TIME OUT
Army went into last Saturday's game with a chance to clinch a spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, but Bucknell earned the 8-7 victory. The two goalies were stellar with Bucknell's Christian Klipstein making 14 saves in the win and AJ Barretto stopping a season high 12 for the Black Knights. Ted Glesener led the way for Army with two goals, which tied a career high. Cole Johnson was held to two points on a goal and an assist after scoring 35 points in his last five games. With the loss, there are no undefeated teams left in the Patriot League heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.

THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
Army continues its goal of making the Patriot League Tournament, and with a win on Saturday, the Black Knights will clinch a spot in the six-team field. The main story this week will be the battle at the faceoff "x" between Sam Talkow of the Terriers and Army's Alex Daly and Dan Grabher. The trio is among the top faceoff specialist in the nation. Last year, Grabher won 8-of-10 draws against Talkow and finished with 15 wins on 24 chances in the game. Talkow leads the league with a .698 winning percentage and averages 7.27 ground balls per game, which is tops in the league.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Black Knights is back at Michie Stadium for the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. The game time is set for 12 p.m. on April 16 and will be live on CBS Sports Network. The game could be a Patriot League Championship preview as both teams are among the top teams in the conference headed into the weekend. The Mids are on a roll with five-straight wins.

ARMY-NAVY GAME PRESENTED BY USAA
The Army-Navy Game presented by USAA is set for April 16 at Michie Stadium. The game will be live on CBS Sports Network and tickets are still available. Tickets can be purchased online at GoArmyWestPoint.com/tickets, by calling 1-877-TIX-ARMY or in person at Gate 3 of Michie Stadium.

PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
The Black Knights can clinch a tournament berth with a win on Saturday or with a Colgate loss at Navy. Army sits at 4-1 in league play with three games remaining on its schedule. With a win, the Black Knights can't finish worse than 5-3 and if there was a loss by the Raiders, they would slip to 1-5 into the seventh spot. Army owns all tiebreakers against the bottom three teams, including Colgate.

JOHNSON ON A ROLL
Cole Johnson has enjoyed his best offensive stretch of his career with 37 points in his last six games, including seven points at Colgate on March 26. He has 28 goals and 22 assists for 50 points and leads the Black Knights in all three categories. He is three points away from his career high of 53, which came in 17 games last year. He has already hit his highest mark in assists.

SETTLING IN
Goalie AJ Barretto has appeared in all 10 games and has started nine in his first season in the cage for the Black Knights. He has made double-digit saves in three games this season, including a season high 12 against Bucknell on April 2. He ranks eighth in the nation in goals against average at 7.04 and ninth in save percentage at .568.

MILESTONE ALERT
Head coach Joe Alberici is two wins away from 100 in his career. He is 98-79 in 12 seasons as a head coach and 90-73 overall with the Black Knights. He has two 10-win seasons under his belt in his career at Army, including last year's 10-7 mark. He has at least eight victories in his last four seasons.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Boston University sits at 8-3 overall coming into Saturday's game at Nickerson Field. The Terriers are 3-2 in conference play after falling to Lehigh at home on April 2 by an 8-7 score. Boston University has gotten some big wins this season with victories over Navy, Colgate and Harvard with losses to Hartford and Bucknell prior to the Mountain Hawks. The Terriers are averaging 9.91 goals per game and are giving up 8.55 goals per contest.

Jack Wilson leads the way with 29 points on 20 goals and nine assists, while James Burr has contributed 20 goals as well to go with four helpers. Cal Dearth is a great all-around player with 11 goals and 13 assists. Wilson and Dearth are tied for the team lead in man-up goals with two apiece. A major factor for the Terriers is faceoff specialist Sam Talkow. He has a .698 winning percentage, which leads the Patriot League, and has 80 ground balls.

In net, Christian Carson-Banister has started all 11 games and has a 8.30 goals against average and a .554 save percentage in over 650 minutes of action. He stopped five shots in the loss to Lehigh.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the third all-time meeting between Army and Boston University since the first meeting in 2014. The Black Knights have won the first two games, including an 8-7 victory in the series starter.