Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
13-16-4, 12-11-2
Bentley University
10-21-2, 7-16-2
Army Never Trails in Crucial 5-3 Victory Over Bentley
February 24, 2023 | Hockey
WALTHAM, MA – Army West Point hockey (13-16-4, 12-11-2 AHA) took game one of its weekend series at Bentley (10-21-2, 7-16-2 AHA) by a score of 5-3. Army moved to 3-0-0 against the Falcons this season, and into fourth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with one game to play in the regular season.
Brett Abdelnour provided a pair of goals for the Black Knights, while Anthony Firriolo scored and assisted for a two-point night. Justin Evenson was steady in net for the Black Knights, making 28 saves for his fifth win in six starts.
Army got off to a rapid start with John Keranen hitting pipe less than 90 seconds in featuring more end-to-end action. The Black Knights got off and running with a goal from Abdelnour less than seven minutes in, slamming home a loose puck off the boards for his eighth tally of the season. Army killed off a power-play in the middle of the period and eventually took 1–0 lead into the second period after outshooting Bentley 13-9 in the first.
With a power-play opportunity early in the period, Army capitalized with Abdelnour finding the back of the net again. Firriolo fired a wrister on net, with Abdelnour poking the puck in from in front to give Army a two-goal lead. Bentley had the chances over the next ten minutes, eventually getting on the board with a tally from Pat Lawn at the 13:07 mark. With the scoreline now 2-1, Army responded immediately with a goal less than a minute later. Max Itagaki skated in and eventually found the puck off a blocked pass in front of net, firing into the roof of the net for the goal that restored a two-goal Army lead.
Justin Evenson made 21 of 22 saves through two, as Army entered the third period with a lead to protect. Army then made it a 4-1 lead after Anthony Firriolo fired in off a deflection in front, for his fifth score of the season. The goal came with 16:18 to play, and the Black Knights continued to stay out of the box for the remainder of the game, taking just one penalty in total.
Bentley scored with 10:53 to play off a top-shelf goal from Matt Thomson, giving late life to the Falcons. Army held off long enough for force an empty net opportunity, but Bentley did the job and made it a one-goal game with 100 seconds even left to play. After a winning the puck back, Joey Baez deposited his first empty net goal of the year and 19th overall to put the game to rest and earn Army an important three points and a 5-3 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- John Keranen continued his dominant form in Atlantic Hockey play, adding two assists. He has posted 13 points in his past nine games while his points per game mark of 1.08 in conference games leads all of Atlantic Hockey.
- Brett Abdelnour secured his second multi-goal game over Army's past five games. His nine goals ranks fourth on the Black Knights.
- Justin Evenson made 28 saves to improve to 7-4-1 this season.
- Patrick Smyth registered his second milti-point game of the season with two assists. Smyth dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 15 of 20 draws.
- Noah Wilson added two assists while moving his team-high plus-minus rating to +3.
- Andrew Gilbert and Sean Vlasich each blocked four shots.
- Max Itagaki scored his fourth goal of the season and ranks second in the conference with 32 points.
- Joey Baez scored his 19th goal of the season which ranks second in Atlantic Hockey and third in the country among sophomores.
Up Next
Army will close out the regular season tomorrow at 4:00 at Bentley, with a chance to clinch home ice for the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals.
