Hockey Falls in Overtime at Princeton After Late Goal From Baez

Tuesday, January 30

Princeton, NJ

7:00 PM

Army West Point

7-18-1

Princeton University

7-11-2

OT 1

Army West Point

Princeton

Photo by: Chris Shannon

Hockey Falls in Overtime at Princeton After Late Goal From Baez

January 30, 2024 | Hockey

Box Score

PRINCETON, NJ - Army West Point hockey (7-18-1, 5-12-1 AHA) fell by a score of 4-3 in overtime to Princeton (7-11-2, 5-7-1 ECAC) from Hobey Baker Rink on Tuesday night.

Army was behind late when Joey Baez scored with five seconds remaining to force the overtime period, as the Tigers eventually netted the winner with 22 seconds remaining before the shootout. The game marked the final non-conference and final midweek affair for Army on the schedule this season.

Princeton got out to an early lead at the 2:46 mark of the first period, with Kevin Anderson beating Gavin Abric from close-range on a rush from the Tigers. Jake Hewitt had a breakaway saved less than a minute later, as Barron Woodring also saw a good luck saved from Ethan Pearson in goal for the home side.

Army found the equalizing goal just over seven minutes into the frame, with Max Itagaki getting a takeaway behind the Princeton net which led to Michael Sacco feeding Brent Keefer who fired in his 11th goal of the campaign.

Army gave Princeton's second-ranked power-play nationally its first opportunity late in the period, as the Tigers scored almost immediately after going on the extra-man advantage. Jack Cronin deposited the goal with ten seconds remaining in the period, which gave Princeton a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Black Knights got their third power-play of the contest in the first minute of the second period, this time capitalizing as Ricky Lyle deflected in a shot from Mac Gadowksy for his ninth tally of the season.

The scoring continued to be back and forth, as Princeton got out to its third lead of the game at the 5:35 mark, with Kai Daniels finishing off a breakaway for his sixth career goal. Lyle had a chance minutes later on a breakaway to tie it, with Pearson standing tall to maintain the lead for Princeton.

The Tigers had the majority of the chances in the latter half of the frame, with Abric making 15 stops in the period to keep it a one-goal game. Army had a late power-play, but were unable to capitalize as the Tigers took a 3-2 lead into the third.

Army got back-to-back power-plays six minutes into the third, including a brief five-on-three opportunity as the Tigers held firm on the back end to cling onto the one-goal lead. Princeton continued to take penalties, as Army went to its seventh power-play of the game with just under eight minutes remaining. The Black Knights could not get one past Pearson once again, who ended the night with 27 saves.

With Army pulling Abric with 1:40 remaining, its last-ditch effort came to fruition as Joey Baez slammed home the game-tying goal with just five seconds remaining off a feed from Gadowsky. It marked back-to-back road games that the Black Knights tied a game in the final minute to force overtime.

Princeton had the lionshare of chances in the overtime, eventually scoring the winner with 22 seconds on the clock as Adam Robbins slotted home as Army fell to 0-3-1 in overtime games this season.

The Black Knights will return to conference play this weekend for a series at Bentley.