Army Extends Unbeaten Streak to Five

Monday, February 8

Fairfield, CT

7:05 PM

Army West Point

7-5-1

Sacred Heart

4-6-1

Army West Point

Sacred Heart

Army Extends Unbeaten Streak to Five

February 08, 2021 | Hockey

Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Junior forward Eric Butte potted two goals to extend the Army West Point hockey team's unbeaten streak to five games with a 3-1 victory on Monday night against Sacred Heart at Webster Bank Arena.

Army has now earned league points in its last six conference games after tonight's win. The Black Knights have also earned points in the last five games away from Tate Rink.

"Great win for us to come on the road against a really good Sacred Heart team," head coach Brian Riley said. "I thought it was a real solid 60-minute effort for us. We had done something we hadn't done in a while and that was scoring the first goal. We had a great start to the second period with two goals in the first two minutes and then our guys just settled in."

After a scoreless first period, the Black Knights came out buzzing with two goals in the first few minutes of the second frame to get out to a 2-0 lead. The opening tally came from Mason Krueger on a beautiful tip home on a great feed from Mitch Machlitt 19 seconds into the second.

The Black Knights added to the lead with Butte burying a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 with Lincoln Hatten. Hatten scooped up the puck in the neutral zone, creating an odd-man break and flipped a pass to Butte and he found the back of the net from the right circle for the 2-0 advantage.

Less than a minute later, the Pioneers got on the board with Kevin Lombardi jamming home his sixth goal of the season with an assist from Ryan Steele.

Butte continued his great play with a beautiful tip from the slot on a shot from Noah Wilson to give Army a 3-1 lead with 10:44 left on the clock in the second period. Butte came in on a change and went to the slot and redirected the Wilson shot over the right shoulder of Josh Benson for his second of the night, which was a career high.

"I was able to capitalize on the opportunities that my line mates and I had," Butte said. "We've been working hard in practice on doing the little things right and it felt great to be rewarded tonight. Hopefully we can take this momentum into tomorrow and continue to play well and generate chances."

The Black Knights were able to hold off the Pioneers down the stretch and earn the victory heading back to West Point.

HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES:

Army is unbeaten in its last six league games.
The Black Knights have earned league points in its last five road contests.
Butte recorded his first multi-goal game of his career and tallied his first shorthanded goal.
Butte's shortie was the second of the season for Army with the first coming from Bilek.
Bilek extended his point-scoring streak to five games and has at least a point in nine of his last 10 games with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points.
Kozlowski is now unbeaten in his last seven starts.
Kozlowski has given up two or less goals in his last six starts and Army is 5-0-1 in those games.
Bilek extended his point-scoring streak to five games and has at least a point in nine of his last 10 games with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points.
Tonight was Army's first game in February and first on a Monday night since the Ledyard Classic at Dartmouth against UMass in 2008.

UP NEXT: The Black Knights and Pioneers are back on the ice tomorrow evening at Tate Rink for a 5:05 p.m. faceoff.