Army Shuts Out RIT in 6-0 Win

Saturday, December 11

Rochester, NY

5 PM

Army West Point

6-7-2, 4-4-2

RIT

9-6-2, 5-4-2

Army

RIT

Army Shuts Out RIT in 6-0 Win

December 11, 2021 | Hockey

Box Score

By: Phil Tor

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Army West Point Hockey team picked up a huge Atlantic Hockey result with a 6-0 thrashing of the RIT Tigers. Six different Cadets scored goals and 13 recorded points as Army shut out RIT for the first time in program history. Kendrick Frost, Daniel Haider and Eric Huss all registered two points to lift the Black Knights to the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cadets got off to a slow start, surrendering three shots on goal in the first five minutes of game action, but Gavin Abric was there to stop all three and keep the sheet clean. The tides began to turn after Mitch Machlitt blocked back to back shots to give the Cadets the spark it was looking for.

Marshal Plunkett's first goal of the season gave the Cadets the lead at 8:36 in the first period. The senior's strike came off helpers from Daniel Haider and Chris Konin. RIT attempted to answer but couldn't find the back of the net after Abric stopped ten more shots and Cadet-defenseman blocked another five in the period.

Anthony Firriolo's drive from the blue line put Army up 2-0 at 3:38 in the second period. Thomas Farrell and Colin Bilek had the helpers on Firriolo's team-leading sixth goal of the season. The second period would end with the Cadets up a pair of goals.

The Black Knights stormed out of the locker room in the third period, scoring back-to-back powerplay goals just 55 seconds apart to cushion the lead to 4-0. The goals from Eric Butte and Brett Abdelnour boosted the Army advantage at a critical point in the contest.

Patrick Smyth and Kendrick Frost added the final two tallies as the Army offense rolled to a 6-0 win over the Tigers.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Gavin Abric recorded the second shutout of his career and the first shutout over RIT in program history after making 20 saves in the contest
Army's six-goals ties its season high and was the most ever scored against RIT
Army outshot RIT 25-20 and 45-42 in overall shots. The Cadets won the shot battle in the second and third period by a margin of 17 (37-20)
Kendrick Frost scored his third goal of the season which now gives him goals in back-to-back games
Eric Huss recorded his first two points of his collegiate career with a pair of assists
Patrick Smyth scored the first goal of his season in the third period
Anthony Firriolo scored his team-leading sixth goal and led the team with three blocks
Eric Butte, Brett Abdelnour and Firriolo's goals all were scored on the powerplay.
Marshal Plunkett's goal ended up being the eventual game-winner, the first of his career

COACH RILEY'S REACTION

Coach Riley reacts after the 6-0 shutout victory over RIT #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/BGIH4NPj5G
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) December 12, 2021

CADET QUOTES
"It was great for the boys to get a big win like that. This weekend is really important for us and we want to get some momentum going moving into Winter break, so it was great getting the first half of the job done tonight. I was super excited I was able to contribute with a goal but our whole team contributed to the win tonight" – Senior defenseman, Marshal Plunkett

"Tonight was a good win. I thought we got better and better as the game went on and the third period was evidence of that. Tomorrow we'll have to be focused from the start because we're going to be playing a motivated and energetic team from the jump." – Senior Captain, Eric Butte.

UP NEXT
The Cadets will take the ice again tomorrow night for round two with the RIT Tigers. Another three points in Atlantic Hockey play are on the line tomorrow as the Cadets look to go into Winter Break on a positive note.