Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
12-16-4, 11-11-2
Mercyhurst University
9-20-3, 8-13-3
Hockey Tripped Up on Senior Night to Mercyhurst
February 18, 2023 | Hockey
WEST POINT, NY – Army West Point hockey (12-16-4, 11-11-2 AHA) fell in game two to Mercyhurst (9-20-3, 8-13-3 AHA) by a score of 7-3 on senior night as the Lakers poured in three goals in the final three minutes to tilt the scoreline.
Max Itagaki continued his dominant freshman season, assisting on all three of Army's goals to bring his conference-leading total to 28. Joey Baez and Anthony Firriolo continued their fine seasons, each scoring on the power-play while Andrew Garby tallied his first goal of the season.
Mercyhurst got the scoring started early, with Mickey Burns scoring on a walkout in front just 2:08 into the game. With each team having big chances throughout the period, as the teams combined for 29 shots on target in the opening twenty minutes. The Lakers took a 2-0 lead through Eric Esposito with another even strength goal at the 15:21 mark. Army responded to the multi-goal deficit, with Anthony Firriolo firing home a wrister to make it a 2-1 game just over two minutes later. Tyler Harmon eventually made 16 stops in the first period as the Lakers took a lead to the second period.
Two goals in under a minute moved the score to 3-2 in favor of Mercyhurst, as Esposito netted his second of the game at the 5:19 mark and Army answered immediately. Andrew Garby tabbed his first goal of the season as his shot was deflected in off a Mercyhurst skate to give Army back the momentum. Getting another power-play late in the period, Joey Baez deposited his tenth power-play score of the season, off a feed from Itagaki who logged three assists in the opening two periods.
Army had a vital chance to go ahead at the beginning of the third period, after heading to a five-on-three opportunity for 109 seconds. The Black Knights were unable to capitalize, and Mercyhurst immediately got back on track with another goal from Burns less than five minutes into the period. As Army looked to fight back, penalties continued to be an issue to stymie another comeback effort. With 5:30 remaining and facing a one-goal deficit, the Black Knights took a five-minute major penalty to immediately lessen the expectation to tie the game late.
The Lakers scored the dagger with 2:43 remaining to bring the score to 5-3, as the Lakers piled in two more goals in the closing minute to alter the scoreline to a 7-3 final. Shots on goal were even at 38 for the game, as Mercyhurst claimed four points in the series.
Up Next
Army will travel to Bentley for a two-game series to close out the regular season next weekend (February 24-25).
