No. 10/11 Army Downs Boston U for Another Home Win

Saturday, April 17

West Point, NY

2 PM

Army West Point

6-2, 4-1Patriot

Boston University

6-3, 4-2Patriot

Boston University

Army West Point

No. 10/11 Army Downs Boston U for Another Home Win

April 17, 2021 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y – The No. 10/11 Army West Point men's lacrosse team remained undefeated at home with a 14-8 victory over Boston University at Michie Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Knights (6-2, 4-1 Patriot League) finished with 10 different goal scorers, led by Danny Kielbasa's hat trick and Nickolas Edinger and Gunner Philipp added two goals apiece. Brendan Nichtern was electric with five points on a goal and four assists. Stevie Grabher was impressive at the faceoff winning 15-of-22 and picking up eight ground balls.

Wyatt Shupler stopped 10 shots in the win. Liam Davenport finished with seven ground balls and Doug Jones picked up six ground balls.

"I was really impressed with us throughout offensively and it started on the defensive end and we cleared the ball well against their 10-man pressure," head coach Joe Alberici said. "A really balanced attack and I thought their goalie played outstanding. Defensively, we could have been a little better at toward the end of the game, but overall a really good performance."

It took about a minute for the Black Knights to get into the game as Boston U. fired home the first goal of the game, just 46 seconds into the contest. Army answered by Grabher winning the draw and putting the ball in the back of the net six seconds after the Terriers' first goal.

From there, the Black Knights took over.

Army scored the next five goals and went into the locker room with a 6-1 lead. One of the highlights of the first half was Matthew Horace's first career goal coming during a clear when he caught the Terrier goalie out of position and bounce one from the midline and into the net. Horace, Edinger and Bobby Abshire also had tallies in the first half, while Doug Jones put home his second of the season as well.

The Terriers chipped away at the lead with two of the first three goals of the third quarter to make it a 7-3 game. Nichtern's long goal of the game came at 14:11 of the third quarter.

The Black Knights answered again with three-straight tallies with Philipp, Kielbasa and Andrew Kelly scoring to increase the lead to 10-3 with 2:20 left on the clock in the third. Kielbasa added to his total with his second of the coming on the man-up to make a 11-4 game at the end of the third frame.

The fourth quarter opened with a 3-1 run by Army to give the Black Knights a 14-5 lead with 10:08 left. Kielbasa got the hat trick and Edinger and Philipp added their second goals of the day. Boston U. finished out the scoring with the final three goals, but Army came way with the 14-8 victory.

Army had a 41-33 advantage in ground balls and forced the visitors into 19 turnovers and was 3-of-6 while a man-up.

"Stevie Grabher did a really nice job in the middle of the field and answered their goal," Alberici said. "our short stick midfielders James Pryor, Matthew Horace, Doug Jones and Liam Davenport were outstanding on the ground. They were really making plays all over the place as well as scoring some goals."

The Black Knights return to action next Saturday at Navy in the Star Series, presented by USAA, which will be live on CBS Sports Network at 12 p.m. from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES

The Black Knights are now 3-0 at home at Michie Stadium and have now won nine in a row at home dating back to the 2019 season.
Army has held all opponents at home to eight goals or less.
The 55 overall shots and the 31 on goal were season highs.
The 41 ground balls were also a season's best.
The Black Knights swept the series during the regular season with two wins over the Terriers.
Kielbasa tallied his first career hat trick for the Black Knights in the win.
Nichtern has now scored five or more points in seven of eight games this season.
Nichtern's four assists was one of his season high.
The 14 goals scored were the most at Michie Stadium this season and the most since the 18-11 win at No. 4 Syracuse.