Hockey Does It Again in Overtime

Saturday, February 20

West Point, NY

7:05 PM

Army West Point

11-5-1

Bentley

4-11-0

OT 1

Bentley

Army West Point

Hockey Does It Again in Overtime

February 20, 2021 | Hockey

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Daniel Haider was the overtime hero again against Bentley as the Army West Point hockey team defeated the Falcons, 2-1, in overtime on Saturday night at Tate Rink.

With the win, the Black Knights secured a first-round bye in the upcoming Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Army will host a quarterfinal series on March 12-14 at Tate Rink.

The Black Knights are now heading into the final week of the season with points in 10-straight league games and a nine-game unbeaten, which currently leads the nation. It hasn't been easy with three of the last four games ending with overtime victories.

"Really pleased with the outcome," head coach Brian Riley said. "It seems like we've been in these games all year and that's what we talked about going into the third period, being comfortable in this type of game. It had a playoff feel to it."

Haider was the hero in the extra frame for the second time in the last three games. He sent Army home from Bentley with a win on February 12 and did it again tonight. With just 3:29 on the clock Eric Butte slid a great pass from the left dot over to Haider, who was waiting at the opposite circle. He connected on the one-timer and beat Jason Grande low for the gamewinner.

"Haider and Butte are guys you want out there because of their speed and they were able to make a nice play and Haider was able to one-time that shot," Riley said.

Trevin Kozlowski made 20 saves in net, but needed to make a few huge stops in the third period to keep the game tied. Kozlowski has now won 10 games and hasn't lost in net since a 4-3 overtime loss to AIC on Jan. 7.

The Black Knights got down early in the game with Bentley scoring in the first few minutes with Michael Ziffante finding the back of the net with assists to Will Schlagenhauf and Ethan Harrison.

Army answered with its Hobey Baker Award nominee Colin Bilek shoveling the puck past Jason Grande in the slot after a nice feed from Anthony Firriolo. The defenseman got the puck behind the net and spotted Bilek in traffic and he slipped it past the left pad of Grande to tie the game at 1-1.

"This is what it's going to be like when playoffs come by, so it's good for us to be in these types of games," Bilek said. "Obviously it's nice to go into the third period with a little bit of a cushion, but this is the way the playoffs are going to be and good wins like this are going to be good for our confidence."

The Black Knights are back in action on Tuesday night against Holy Cross at Tate Rink.

HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES:

Army is unbeaten in its last 10 league games.
Army moved to the second spot in the league standings with 30 points and leaped over Robert Morris, who lost to RIT.
The Black Knights are riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, which is the longest since the 2007-08 season.
Kozlowski is now unbeaten in his last 11 starts.
Kozlowski has given up two or less goals in his last 10 starts and Army is 9-0-1 in those games.
He now leads Atlantic Hockey with a 2.03 goals against average and his .918 save percentage is third.
Bilek is now third in the nation in goals per game at 0.76 and leads Atlantic Hockey with 13 on the season.
He extended his point streak to nine games and has at least a point in 13 of his last 14 appearances on the ice.
Army has won its last three overtime games.

UP NEXT: Army will take on Holy Cross for a 5:05 p.m. start on Tuesday night.