Hockey Suffers 5-3 Defeat Against Canisius

Friday, January 7

West Point, NY

7:05 PM

Army West Point

7-9-3, 5-5-2

Canisius

10-8-2, 7-5-1

Canisius

Army West Point

Photo by: Army Athletics

Hockey Suffers 5-3 Defeat Against Canisius

January 07, 2022 | Hockey

Box Score

By: Phil Tor

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West point hockey returned to Atlantic Hockey action on Friday night when it met the Canisius Golden Griffin on the ice at Tate Rink. Army battled in a back-and-forth contest eventually falling to the Griffs by a score of 5-3.

Anthony Firriolo, Josh Bohlin and Joey Baez had the goals for Army who fell to 5-5-2-1 in conference play after the result.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Army came out strong on the defensive end to start the contest, holding Canisius to just two shots on goal in the first nine minutes of action. The Griffs were able to power through and get on the board first with a goal at the midpoint of the first period.

Army responded with a barrage of shots on the Canisius goaltender but couldn't find the net until Anthony Firriolo's drive went bar-down and in to put Army on the board. Firriolo was set up by Colin Bilek by way of Eric Butte, who won three straight offensive zone faceoffs to keep the pressure on Canisius. The game would go into the first intermission tied at a goal a piece.

Canisius scored the first of five combined second-period goals 4:39 into the frame when a bouncing puck squeaked across the goal line.

The Cadets answered quickly with a powerplay strike courtesy of Joey Baez. The plebe's fourth goal of the season was assisted by Marshal Plunkett and Daniel Haider at 7:21 in the period. The Griffin would come back with another goal a minute later to take a 3-2 lead.

The Black Knights found another equalizer at 14:32 in the period thanks to a phenomenal play from Josh Bohlin. The plebe corralled the puck behind the net and snuck one under the skate of the Canisius goaltender to tie up the game at three. The Griffs would answer again, taking the lead with a goal at 16:09 in the period.

Canisius withstood a barrage of Army shots in the third period. The Black Knights put 20 shots on goal on 45 attempts, looking for the tying score. The Griffs were able to hold off the Army attack, adding an empty net goal late in the period and steal a 5-3 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Army outshot Canisius 45-34 in the contest
The Black Knights had a season high 84 shot attempts
Eric Butte dominated in the faceoff circle tonight, winning 24 of 32 draws, a new career high
The total was also a season high for Army
The Black Knights won 49-of-73 faceoffs tonight, which is the best total and percentage this year
Anthony Firriolo scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season
His goal total is good for second in the nation amongst defensemen
Joey Baez now has four goals on the year
Josh Bohlin added a goal, his second of the season
Marshal Plunkett had the assist on the Baez goal which extended his point streak to a career-high five games
Colin Bilek also extended his point streak to five games with an assist on the Firriolo goal

COACH RILEY'S POST GAME REACTION

Coach Riley shares his thoughts after the back-and-forth battle with Canisius#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/L1WA9oOgXg
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) January 8, 2022

UP NEXT
Army will get another crack at the Golden Griffin tomorrow night when the two teams meet up at 4:05 at Tate Rink. For ticket information, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or visit www.goarmywestpoint.com/tickets.