Hockey Skates Away with 5-1 Win Over Mercyhurst

Saturday, February 5

West Point, NY

4:05 PM

Army West Point

11-13-3, 9-8-2

Mercyhurst

7-17-4, 5-11-4

Mercyhurst

Army West Point

Photo by: Army Athletics

Hockey Skates Away with 5-1 Win Over Mercyhurst

February 05, 2022 | Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Phil Tor

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Bouncing back in a big way, Army West Point hockey cruised to a 5-1 win over the Mercyhurst Lakers at Tate Rink on Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights put 45 pucks on net in the contest and scored five goals while being backed up by goaltender Justin Evenson who saved 39 shots in his second career win.

Eric Butte scored a pair of goals and is now tied for the team lead with nine. Colin Bilek and Andrew Garby also notched multi-point games with two assists each.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Army stormed out of the locker room focused on controlling the game from the first puck drop. It didn't take long for the Cadets to assert their dominance as Thomas Farrell put a goal on the board just 34 seconds into the game. Exactly three minutes later, Army got another tally from Chris Konin who hammered home a brilliant feed from Hunter McCoy, who recorded his first career point on the play. Justin Evenson saved 12 shots in the first period to give Army a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Eric Butte boosted the lead for Army early in the second period with his seventh powerplay goal of the season. Mercyhurst finally broke through the Army defense at 13:38 in the period scoring its only goal of the game to make it 3-1 for the time being. Evenson pushed away the 14 other shots he faced in the period to preserve a 3-1 Army lead after 40 minutes played.

Michael Sacco restored the three-goal 10:33 into the second period to make it 4-1 Army. Butte picked up his second goal of the game with under two minutes remaining to seal the win for the Black Knights. Colin Bilek's rush down the ice setup Butte's now team-leading ninth goal of the season. Evenson ended the night with 39 saves to lead Army to the victory that netted them three points in Atlantic Hockey play.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Eric Butte scored two goals in the game and is now tied for the team lead with nine
Colin Bilek added two more assists to his team-leading total of 16
Andrew Garby notched his first multi-point game with two assists on the night
Justin Evenson earned his second career win after a 39-save outing
The 39-save total was a career high for Evenson
Hunter McCoy recorded his first career point with an assist on Chris Konin's goal
Army outshot the Lakers 45-40 in the contest
The Black Knights scored two goals in the third period
Army is now outscoring opponents 31-18 in the final frame
John Keranen led the Cadets with 16 wins in the faceoff circle

COACH RILEY REACTS

Coach Riley reacts after the 5-1 result #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/fBXuNfTQVb
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) February 5, 2022

CADET QUOTE

Junior goaltender, Justin Evenson, talks about his 39-save effort in goal tonight ??#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/ldFco5A42D
— Army Hockey (@ArmyWP_Hockey) February 5, 2022

UP NEXT
Army will have a quick turnaround as it will have just five days to prepare for a clash with Atlantic Hockey's top team, AIC, on Thursday. Army will take on the Yellow Jackets in a home-and-home series that will make its way to Tate Rink on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 6:05 PM.