Hockey Puts Up a Fight, Drops Game 2 at Wisconsin

Friday, October 15

Madison, WI

8 PM

Army West Point

0-4-1

Wisconsin

2-2-0

Army West Point

Wisconsin

Photo by: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Hockey Puts Up a Fight, Drops Game 2 at Wisconsin

October 15, 2021 | Hockey

Box Score

By: Phil Tor

GAME 5
SCORE	Army West Point Black Knights 0 Wisconsin Badgers 1
RECORDS	Army West Point (0-4-1, 0-1-1 Atlantic) Wisconsin (2-2-0, 0-0-0 BIG 10)
SCORERS	Wisconsin – 17:00, 3rd - Tarek Baker
LOCATION	Kohl Center - Madison, Wisc.

MADISON, Wis. - The second game between the Badgers and the Army West Point hockey team came down to one play 57 minutes into a scoreless game. That one play ended up in favor of the Wisconsin Badgers, who were able to convert on one of the only chances the Black Knights defensive unit allowed all night.

The Badgers came away with the series sweep, but the Cadets made them work for it throughout all 120 minutes the two teams played against each other on the ice at the Kohl Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Black Knights came to the Kohl Center ready to work on Friday night. The Cadets came out of the locker with a new lineup that brought the energy with them, as the team hit the ice flying, firing off seven shots in the first four minutes of play. Jake Felker and Patrick Smyth had the best chances to score early in the first period, but were held off the scoreboard by the Badgers defense.

The Black Knights played a physical brand of hockey against the Badgers and stood tall, blocking six shots in front of their goaltender, Gavin Abric who made __ saves in the contest.

The excitement carried over into the second period, as the Wisconsin Badgers turned up the offensive pressure and put several good shots on net that were all fought off by Abric and the Army defense. The Cadets got their first power play opportunity 2:43 into the second period, but the only shot put on net by Daniel Haider was punched away by Wisconsin.

After the penalized Badger was released from the box, Chirs Konin's drive on net rang off the pipe in what was the best shot on goal the Cadets had up to that point. Ricky Lyle and John Keranen followed up with a few good looks of their own that were both deflected wide.

The Army penalty kill came up clutch in a big moment yet again a the tail end of the second period, keeping the Badgers off the board and the sheet clean going into the second intermission. Abric came up with a few highlight reel saves to keep the Badgers off the board.

The intensity continued to rise at the start of the third period, as the 10,000 fans at the Kohl center got loud as the puck was dropped and the final 20 minutes got underway. Freshman forward Michael Sacco was inches away from silencing that crowd two minutes into the period, but he wasn't able to get enough of his stick on a bouncing puck in the Wisconsin crease.

Army had another power play opportunity at 3:31 in the third period when a Badger tripped up a Cadet. The Black Knights would ring shots off the crossbar twice on the two-minute power play; the first shot coming off the stick of Colin Bilek and the second off of Daniel Haider's.

The battle raged on after Wisconsin killed the penalty, but they're PK team would be called on once more with just 4:18 remaining in the game. Army fired off a few quick shots to start off the power play, but Wisconsin was able to pick up an errant puck for a breakaway attempt after a collision between a pair of Black Knights at the blue line. The Badger forward beat Abric for the only goal in the game off one of the only mistakes the Black Knights made in the contest.

The Wisconsin goaltender fought off four more attempts from Army in the final 90 seconds as the Badgers escaped with a 1-0 victory and the series sweep.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Gavin Abric had another stellar game between the pipes, making 31 saves
Ricky Lyle, Eric Butte and Anthony Firriolo all shared the team lead with three shots on net
Noah Wilson played a great game for the Cadets on the blue line, blocking four shots and delivering a few heavy hits to the Badgers
John Keranen had a strong showing in the faceoff circle, winning 7 of 12 draws
The Black Knights penalty kill stood tall in the series, killing off 6 of seven Badger power plays

COACH RILEY'S REACTION

Post-game thoughts and reaction from Coach Riley. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/wvcAqpvWHq
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) October 16, 2021

UP NEXT
The Cadets will return to Atlantic Hockey play with a home-and-home series against the American International Yellow Jackets. The first game is slated to take place in Springfield on Thursday night with the Friday contest taking place at Tate Rink at 7:05 PM. Both contests will be streamed live on FloHockey.