Late Push Falls Short, Hockey Falls 6-4 at Niagara

Friday, November 14

Niagara Falls, N.Y.

6 p.m.

Army West Point

3-4-3, 1-4-2

Niagara

4-6-0, 1-4-0

Army West Point

Niagara

Late Push Falls Short, Hockey Falls 6-4 at Niagara

November 14, 2025 | Hockey

Box Score

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Army West Point hockey (3-4-3, 1-4-2 Atlantic Hockey America) traveled to Niagara Falls to face the Niagara Purple Eagles (4-6-0, 1-4-0 Atlantic Hockey America) Friday night.

The Purple Eagles utilized their home-ice advantage to amass a 5-1 lead over the Black Knights that saw the home team through to a 6-4 victory.

JJ Cataldo took up his post between the pipes once more for Army, recording 17 saves against Niagara's 23 shots on goal.

Niagara placed Tomas Anderson in goal where he put up 16 saves against Army's 20 shots on goal.

The Purple Eagles opened the game's scoring six and a half minutes into the action and dominated possession for the remainder of the period, tallying eight shots on goal to Army's two in the first 20 minutes of action.

The Black Knights had the man-advantage to start the second period after a late penalty for the Purple Eagles in the end of the first frame, but Niagara would be the first to score in the second period just two and a half minutes into the return to play.

Niagara extended its lead to a 3-0 lead 13 minutes into the action with their first power play goal of the night after Army had held off three power play opportunities for the Purple Eagles in the first period.

The Black Knights picked up their own pace in the second period, putting ten shots on goal in the second frame and finding the back of the net for the first time with just under five minutes left on the clock before the second intermission.

Nils Forselius made good on a set up from Jack Ivey and Ben Ivey to give Army a breath of life after a quick grab of the puck along the boards to feed Forselius on open ice in front of Niagara's goal.

The Purple Eagles reasserted their home ice advantage as the third period began, scoring a power play goal just 16 seconds into the third frame after Lukas McCloskey was awarded a penalty just eight seconds into the period to expand their lead to a 4-1 gap.

Niagara expanded its lead to a 5-1 advantage just after the seven-minute mark with another power play goal, but the Black Knights kept the heat high as Nik Hong fired a wrister that found the back of the net at the 15-minute mark to give Army its second goal of the game.

The home team responded with its sixth goal of the night less than a minute later, but the Black Knights continued to battle and Hong recorded his second goal of the night on Army's power play opportunity with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation as he completed a push from McCloskey and Vincent Salice.

Brent Keefer scored a final goal for Army with just 24 seconds left on the clock to cut Niagara's advantage to two in a rush with assists to Easton Zueger and Barron Woodring, but the Purple Eagles' defense closed in, and their two-goal advantage kept them ahead through the final whistle.

Despite the dominant control Niagara had in the first period, the two teams recorded similar stats with 20 shots on goal for Army and 23 for Niagara, two power play goals for Army and three for Niagara, and seven power play opportunities for Army and eight for Niagara.

Blocked shots and faceoff wins proved to be the difference makers Friday night as Niagara won 42 of 72 faceoffs and logged 14 blocked shots to Army's five.

UP NEXT
Army and Niagara will return to Dwyer Arena at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 for the second game of the series.