Army Completes Sweep, Advances to Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 9

Erie, PA

7:05 PM

Army West Point

11-18-7

Mercyhurst

13-19-5

Army West Point

Mercyhurst

Army Completes Sweep, Advances to Quarterfinals

March 09, 2019 | Hockey

Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – After scoring three goals in under three minutes, the Army West Point hockey team completed its sweep of Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Hockey First Round with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Lakers on Saturday.

The Lakers tallied the first score of the night, but five unanswered by Army pushed the team past the higher-seeded opponent.

Army went 5-0-1 against Mercyhurst this season. Heading into the year, the Black Knights had only won one contest at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. This season, the Cadets went 4-0 on the road.

Mason Krueger and Brendan Soucie led the team with three points apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mercyhurst scored the opening goal of the night 11:43 into the action on the man advantage.
The Black Knights answered back exactly two minutes later with a power play goal of their own.
Alex Wilkinson controlled a pass along the perimeter working the puck to Dalton MacAfee along the blue line. MacAfee fired a shot and Dominic Franco was waiting on the doorstep to jam the puck home for the score.
The goal was scored 31 seconds into the power play.
The flood gates opened in the second period when Army netted three goals in under three minutes to jump ahead 4-1.
Krueger tallied two of the scores and Daniel Haider netted one.
The first of Krueger's was on the power play with assists from John Zimmerman and Soucie.
Zimmerman aimed for Garrett Metcalf, but Krueger took advantage of the blocked shot and tapped it in at the 10:55 mark.
Haider's goal was clocked 1:18 later when John Laurito swung the puck around the boards to Marshal Plunkett. He took an awkwardly angled shot which deflected to the front and, vertical on the ice, Haider swatted it past Metcalf.
In a span of 59 more seconds, the Black Knights registered their third of the period and fourth of the game.
Wilkinson sent the puck up the ice with Brendan Soucie who took the first shot and Krueger came in on the slow break for the score.
To close out the night, Trevor Fidler went on a breakaway after taking a pass from Soucie and Krueger at his own blue line. He capitalized on Metcalf's over-aggressiveness as the netminder missed on a poke check near the hash marks and saw the puck trickle into the net behind him.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Matt Penta had yet another outstanding performance making 26 saves in net.
The Black Knights had three players with a multi-point performance.
For the second time in three games, Krueger had a two-goal performance.
He added an assist on the final goal tonight.
Krueger set a new career-high in points with three.
It was the sophomore's second multi-goal game in his career and fourth multi-point performance.
Krueger has reached the double-digit mark in goals this season with 10 and 19 points.
He has netted 12 scores throughout his career and has 23 points.
Soucie recorded three helpers on the night for a career-high.
The sophomore notched his third multi-assist game in his time in an Army sweater and his eighth multi-point game.
He now has two multi-point games this season.
Soucie jumped up to 11 helpers on the year after his performance tonight and totals 19 points.
The junior now has 25 career assists and 55 career points.
Tonight was the fifth time this season Wilkinson recorded multiple helpers. He has nine in his career.
Wilkinson boasts eight multi-point games on the year and 16 in his three-year career.
The junior has 22 assists on the year and 26 points to rank third on the team.
Wilkinson's career stats line consists of 50 assists and 63 points.
Franco scored for the second time this weekend for his 14th tally this season and 22nd point.
In his 105 career games, Franco has produced 35 goals and 74 points total.
Haider and Fidler also notched one goal apiece on the night.
Haider is second among freshman for goals with five and 10 points.
Fidler's tally was his 5th this year and 24th in his career.
The senior boasts 12 points this season and 55 total.
MacAfee registered his third point of the weekend with a helper tonight.
The senior captain is first on the team in assists with 25 and 33 points.
He has eclipsed 55 helpers in his career and 70 points.
Zimmerman notched assist five of the year to bring his career total to 17.
Plunkett and Laurito increased their assist count to three each.
The Black Knights scored two power play tallies in the game to increase the season's count to 37.
Army is now tied for second nationally in power play tallies and fourth in power play percentage (.261).
The Black Knights rank behind No. 2 Massachusetts (38) and are tied with No. 5 Quinnipiac (37).
Army outshot the Lakers 51-27. It was a season-high for the Black Knights.
The last time the Cadets took over 50 shots was against Bentley in February of 2013.
It was the second time this season Army scored five unanswered against the Lakers.
The teams have now met 21 times in the last five seasons.
It will be the Black Knights' fourth-straight year to make the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals.