Army West Point Athletics
Friday, October 8
West Point, NY
7:05 PM
Army West Point
0-2-0, 0-1-0
3
vs
4
RIT
1-1-0, 1-0-0
1
2
3
F
RIT
1
1
2
4
Army West Point
2
1
0
3
Photo by: Army Athletics
Army Drops Contest with RIT, 4-3
October 08, 2021 | Hockey
WEST POINT, N.Y. - In the first game in front of Army West Point hockey fans in 597 days, the Black Knights (0-2-0, 0-1-0 Atlantic) dropped a close contest against the RIT Tigers (1-1-0, 1-0-0 Atlantic) by a score of 4-3.
Senior captains Colin Bilek and Eric Butte led the offensive charge for Army, as Bilek netted his first goal of the season while Butte recorded a pair of assists in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After taking the ice with the home fans at their backs for the first time in almost two years, the Army Black Knights used the energy from the crowd to build an early 2-0 lead. Freshman Josh Bohlin scored his first career goal and the first goal of the season for Army just a minute and 37 seconds into the action. Junior winger Brett Abdelnour picked up a point with an assist on the play.
Just a minute and 40 seconds later, Army threw another goal on the scoreboard thanks to its captain Colin Bilek. The Atlantic Hockey preseason player of the year's first goal of the 2021-22 campaign came off a pass from his linemate and fellow captain, Eric Butte.
RIT was able to put a goal on the board at the 17- minute mark to go into the first intermission down just a goal.
Anthony Firriolo found his way onto the scoresheet with a drive early in the second period courtesy of Butte and sophomore Mitch Machlitt. The defenseman's first goal of the season gave the Cadets a 3-1 lead with 35 minutes to go.
RIT would respond with a goal of their own late in the period to shrink the Army lead to a goal going into the second break in play.
After two Cadets were sent to the penalty box early in the third period, the Army special teams unit responded by killing off a 1:52 minute long 5-on-3 advantage to keep the score at 3-2. The kills were two of five on the night for Army.
The Tigers offense would go on to score a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to take the 4-3 lead and secure the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
Army will have another shot at the Tigers tomorrow afternoon. The Black Knights and RIT are slated to face off at 4:05 pm at Tate Rink.
Senior captains Colin Bilek and Eric Butte led the offensive charge for Army, as Bilek netted his first goal of the season while Butte recorded a pair of assists in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After taking the ice with the home fans at their backs for the first time in almost two years, the Army Black Knights used the energy from the crowd to build an early 2-0 lead. Freshman Josh Bohlin scored his first career goal and the first goal of the season for Army just a minute and 37 seconds into the action. Junior winger Brett Abdelnour picked up a point with an assist on the play.
Just a minute and 40 seconds later, Army threw another goal on the scoreboard thanks to its captain Colin Bilek. The Atlantic Hockey preseason player of the year's first goal of the 2021-22 campaign came off a pass from his linemate and fellow captain, Eric Butte.
RIT was able to put a goal on the board at the 17- minute mark to go into the first intermission down just a goal.
Anthony Firriolo found his way onto the scoresheet with a drive early in the second period courtesy of Butte and sophomore Mitch Machlitt. The defenseman's first goal of the season gave the Cadets a 3-1 lead with 35 minutes to go.
RIT would respond with a goal of their own late in the period to shrink the Army lead to a goal going into the second break in play.
After two Cadets were sent to the penalty box early in the third period, the Army special teams unit responded by killing off a 1:52 minute long 5-on-3 advantage to keep the score at 3-2. The kills were two of five on the night for Army.
The Tigers offense would go on to score a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to take the 4-3 lead and secure the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Army's three goals were the most in a game vs. the Tigers since 2017
- Colin Bilek scored his first goal of the 2021-22 season after an AHA leading 18 goals a season ago
- Bilek also put seven of his eight shots on goal
- Eric Butte picked up his 40th career point on an assist in the first period. The senior captain would dish out another in the second period to bring his career total to 25 assists
- Anthony Firriolo scored the ninth goal of his career and the first of his season
- Josh Bohlin scored the first Army goal of the season just 1:37 into the action
- Army killed off all five of its penalties in the contest
- The Black Knights outshot RIT 58-48 and put 28 shots on net
- Jake Felker went 14-5 in the faceoff circle, but Butte led the team with 18 wins
- Thomas Farrell led the team in blocked shots with three. Coby Mack also came up with a pair of blocks on the penalty kill and finished with two on the night
"The good news is we don't have to wait long to get back out there. Hopefully tomorrow we'll find a way to win and get those three points." - Coach Riley
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) October 9, 2021
Listen to coaches thoughts after the opener ??#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/IJl5HPzMsO
UP NEXT
Army will have another shot at the Tigers tomorrow afternoon. The Black Knights and RIT are slated to face off at 4:05 pm at Tate Rink.
Team Stats
RIT
AWP
Shots
23
28
PPG
0
0
SHG
1
0
Penalties
7
5
Penalty Mins
14
10
Faceoffs Won
40
38
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
-2
Goals
1
Sh
7
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
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