Hockey Drops Final Non-Conference Test Versus Merrimack

Friday, January 3

West Point, NY

7:00 PM

Army West Point

5-14-0

Merrimack College

6-10-1

Merrimack

Army West Point

Hockey Drops Final Non-Conference Test Versus Merrimack

January 03, 2025 | Hockey

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point hockey (5-14-10, 5-7-0 Atlantic Hockey America) fell 5-2 on Friday night to the Merrimack Warriors (6-10-1, 3-5-1 Hockey East) at Tate Rink in the Black Knights' first game of 2025.

Freshman goaltender JJ Cataldo made a career-high 45 saves for the Black Knights as the Warriors otushot Army 50-23 in the contest, with the final goal coming via the empty net in the closing munutes.

The Warriors' Max Lundgren held off the Black Knights with 21 saves between the pipes for Merrimack.

Army drew an early power play opportunity with a tripping call against the Warriors only 14 seconds into the game but despite a trio of shots for the Black Knights, the stalemate would not break so early.

Merrimack put Army on the penalty kill three minutes into the game, breaking open the scoring just 24 seconds later. The Warriors' Zach Bookman fired a wrister from just above the right side faceoff circle that flew between Cataldo's glove and left pad to find the back of the net and give Merrimack the 1-0 lead.

Mac Gadowsky evened the score two minutes later as he crashed the net and sent home a shot to complete the rebound from Hunter McCoy's saved shot on goal attempt. The goal marked the fifth of the season for Gadowsky as he the sophomore leads the team in scoring this season. McCoy and Stephen Willey earned assists on the goal.

After the Black Knights killed off a handling the puck penalty midway through the period, freshman forward Adam Marshall pushed Army into the lead for the first time as he finished off a breakaway with a shot perfectly placed into the top right corner of the frame to open up a 2-1 advantage for Army 12:39 into the game. The goal came off a feed from Sam Groebner after a blocked shot on the penalty kill from Ben Ivey.

The Warriors responded promptly, claiming possession of the puck and burying their first even strength goal of the night on a series of quick passes that snaked back and forth in front of the Army net and culminated in a goal from just outside the crease to bring the teams tied at two goals apiece.

Merrimack broke the stalemate with under a minute remaining in the first period as Ivan Zivlak sent a shot from the point low over the ice that slipped past Cataldo's left skate and into the net, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead that held through the first intermission.

The teams traded blows as the second period began but Merrimack would find a goal first when forward Michael Emerson buried the rebound off of his own previous shot to extend the Warriors' lead to two goals just shy of five minutes into the return to play.

The squads locked horns for the remainder of the period with Merrimack firing 39 shots on goal through the first two frames compared to 16 for the home side.

The third period saw the action slow down as Merrimack nursed its two-goal lead, with neither team taking a penalty for the second straight period. Army eventually pulled Cataldo with just under three minutes to play, with the Warriors converting on the empty net as Tyler Young found Antonio Venuto for the game-clinching goal.

Andrew Garby blocked a career-high five shots in the defensive effort for Army while Michael Sacco added three.

The Black Knights will return to conference play on Tuesday, traveling to AIC with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. on FloHockey.