Hockey Rolls to 4-1 Win Over Niagara

Saturday, November 20

Niagara Falls, NY

5:00 PM

Army West Point

4-5-2, 2-2-2

Niagara

2-6-2, 2-2-2

Army West Point

Niagara

Photo by: Army Athletics

Hockey Rolls to 4-1 Win Over Niagara

November 20, 2021 | Hockey

Box Score

By: Phil Tor

LEWISTON, N.Y. – Army West Point hockey head coach, Brian Riley, has made it a point of emphasis that his team (4-5-2, 2-2-1-1 Atlantic Hockey) must win the battle on special teams in order to be successful. Tonight, the Black Knights' penalty kill and power play units did just that, as both turned in a strong effort to lead the Cadets to a 4-1 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles.

Army earned three key point in the physical, hard-fought win in Niagara Falls tonight thanks to an all-around offensive effort that was supplemented by 40 saves from its goaltender, Gavin Abric.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Army carried its strong second and third periods from last night into the start in the second game against the Eagles, bringing the offensive intensity in the first period.

The Black Knights took advantage of an early powerplay opportunity as John Keranen scored his second goal in as many games to give Army an early 1-0 lead that they would not surrender.

Ricky Lyle added to the lead 10 minutes later with a tip-in – and eventual – game-winning goal. Gavin Abric saved 11 shots in the first frame to give Army the 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The defense put together another great outing in the contest, blocking 13 shots in front of Abric and holding off the Purple Eagle attack for a majority of the second period. Niagara came out of the first break firing, putting 11 attempts in front of the Army defense in the first four minutes of the second period. Abric saved eight of those shots and the three others were blocked by the Cadets backline.

Despite the Army backchecking effort, Niagara was able to put a puck in the back of the net to temporarily cut the lead. The score would remain at 2-1 going into the second intermission thanks to 11 more Abric saves and five blocked shots from five different Black Knights.

The physicality escalated in the third period as both teams were trying to score the deciding goal. Army was able to slow the game down, playing smart and patient while waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Niagara was able to hold off the Cadets until 14:18 in the period, which was when Colin Bilek scored a key insurance goal for Army with a brilliant bar down shot that put Army up 3-1.

The Army penalty kill capped off its fantastic effort with a kill late in the third period to crush the hope of a Niagara comeback.

Anthony Firriolo got the empty-net goal that would seal the win and give Army a 4-1 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Army scored another powerplay goal in the contest which gives them a tally in the past four contests and seven total goals in the past six games.
John Keranen has scored a goal in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to six games
The Army PK unit killed off all four Niagara opportunities
Anthony Firriolo scored a goal and registered an assist to now lead the Cadets in points with 10
Firriolo also extended his point streak to five games in the victory
Colin Bilek scored his fifth goal in the past four games
Daniel Haider dished an assist in his 100th game as a Cadet
Brett Abdelnour also notched an assist to extend his point streak to four games
Coby Mack led the Cadets with three blocked shots in front of Abric
Ricky Lyle scored his third goal of the season to give the 8-9-10 line it's fifth goal in the past six games
Gavin Abric saved 40 shots to boost his save percentage back up to an Atlantic Hockey best .944
Army remains unbeaten in its last five contests (4-0-1)
Patrick Smyth notched his first point of the season with the primary assist on the Firriolo empty-netter
Eric Butte led the Cadets in the faceoff circle with 14 wins on the dot

COACH RILEY'S POST GAME REACTION

ROAD WARRIORS

Here what Coach Riley thinks of Army's win tonight on the road against Niagara ??#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/QIYmvDEtl6
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) November 21, 2021

CADET QUOTES
"That was a great way to take three more points this weekend. It wasn't our prettiest performance, but good teams find ways to win no matter what and we're starting to get that feeling and that momentum back in our locker room again." – Senior Captain, Colin Bilek

"Tonight was a great team win. Everyone played a role in the victory and we all stuck togethers when the puck wasn't bouncing our way. In the end, we all came together to pull out a big win." – Junior defenseman, Anthony Firriolo

UP NEXT
The Cadets will have the week to prepare for another Atlantic Hockey series at Bentley next weekend (Nov. 26-27). Army will spend Thanksgiving together while traveling up to the greater Boston area before dropping the puck on Black Friday at 4:05 PM.