Hockey Claims 5-2 Win Over Crusaders

Friday, October 24

West Point, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Army West Point

3-1-1, 1-1-0

Holy Cross

1-5-0, 1-1-0

Holy Cross

Army West Point

Hockey Claims 5-2 Win Over Crusaders

October 24, 2025 | Hockey

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point hockey (3-1-1, 1-1-0 Atlantic Hockey America) took on the Holy Cross Crusaders (1-5-0, 1-1-0 Atlantic Hockey America) in the first game of a two-game series at West Point on Friday Night.

In the first meeting between Army and Holy Cross since the Crusaders ended Army's postseason hopes last season, the Black Knights seized the momentum in the first period and did not relent as they claimed their first Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) win of the season in a 5-2 victory on their home ice.

Sophomore netminder JJ Cataldo returned in goal for Army with 25 saves against 27 shots faced for a .926 save percentage.

Across the ice, the Crusaders first posted Louden Hogg in goal and after eight saves and three goals allowed Connor MacKenzie took to the ice where he delivered 16 saves and allowed one goal.

After a heavy opening barrage from the Crusaders, senior defenseman Owen Nolan began opened the scoring for Army in the first period to give Army the first goal of the game for the fourth time this season.

Nolan recorded his first collegiate goal with seven and a half minutes left on the clock in the first period.

Army made a deep run into the Crusaders' defensive zone and, with the visitors' attention deep in the zone at the boards, Nolan skated across the blue line unchallenged to rip a shot from the point that found its new home in the back of the net over Hogg's blocker.

Nolan's goal gave Army the one-point advantage going into the first intermission, but the Black Knights got right back down to business as the second period began and Vincent Salice just 22 seconds into the period.

Hogg played a puck behind the Holy Cross net but a quick rush from Adam Marshall interrupted the Crusaders' connection and gave Salice the chance to swoop behind the net and lift the puck into the back of the net.

Holy Cross came back with a slate of shots against Cataldo, but the sophomore netminder remained as cool as ever to maintain Army's 2-0 edge. The Black Knights extended their advantage midway through the period as Lukas McCloskey netted his second goal of the season.

The Black Knights had been haunting the Crusaders' defensive zone for an opportunity when McCloskey fired a shot from the point that ricocheted through traffic and into the back of the net to give the Black Knights a 3-0 lead.

Six minutes later, the Crusaders got on the board as they capitalized on a power play opportunity to prevent an Army shutout.

The Black Knights refused to relent, however, and captain Barron Woodring scored a power play goal for Army as he redirected a shot from Pierce Patterson to slip the puck past Connor Mackenzie for a 4-1 Army lead with just 11 seconds left in the second period.

The contemptuous contest continued to heat up in the third period with a flurry of shots from Holy Cross in the opening minutes of play as the final frame began but quick reactions held the visitors to one goal.

Lucas Kanta and Nik Hong put shots on MacKenzie, but the Crusaders would cut Army's lead to two just five minutes into the action as a trio of successive shots from the edge of the crease gave Holy Cross' Dax Williams the opportunity to slip a shot past Cataldo.

The two teams battled for control with penalties handed out to both teams late in the frame, but the Black Knights kept the pressure high and were rewarded for their efforts with an empty net goal for Ben Ivey just four seconds after the Crusaders pulled their goalie to attempt an extra-man advantage with two and a half minutes left on the clock.

The Black Knights held out through the final whistle and Army secured its first league victory of the season and its first win over Holy Cross at Tate Rink since January 2024.

Friday's contest marks the first five goal game for the Black Knights against the Crusaders since February 2023 and their second game with at least five goals this season.

After trailing in shots on goal after the first two periods, Army put 12 shots on target in the third period to edge ahead in shots as a team with 29 overall shots on goal to Holy Cross' 27. Brent Keefer led all skaters with a career-high six shots on goal.

Four Black Knights logged multi-point nights as Lukas McCloskey (1g-1a), Nils Forselius (2a), Sam Groebner (2a), and Adam Marshall (2a) helped Army total 14 points on the night.

Army worked together to hold off the Crusaders, totaling 13 blocked shots in the contest with two blocked shots each from Forselius, Brock Jones, and Jude Brower.

UP NEXT
Army will return to Tate Rink for game two against the Crusaders on Saturday, October 25^th. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on FloHockey.