Army West Point Athletics
Saturday, March 15
Worcester, MA
7:00 PM
Army West Point
16-20-2
1
at
5
#1 Holy Cross
24-13-2
1
2
3
F
Army West Point
0
1
0
1
Holy Cross
2
2
1
5
Hockey Closes Season with AHA Semifinal Defeat at Holy Cross
March 15, 2025 | Hockey
WORCESTER, MA – Army West Point hockey (16-19-2, 14-10-2 Atlantic Hockey America) fell 5-1 in game two of the AHA Semifinals to Holy Cross (23-13-2, 19-5-2 Atlantic Hockey America) as the Crusaders won the series 2-0.
Holy Cross jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and an eventual 4-0 lead which proved insurmountable on their home ice. The Crusaders advance to the AHA Championship game next Saturday where they will host Bentley.
Army got a goal late on in the second period from Nik Hong, but were unable to get it back within two goals.
The scoring chances were slimmer in the opening stages of the contest compared to game one, as there few chances until the Crusaders got the first power play of the game midway through the period after an Army trip.
Precise passing around the net on the power play gave Holy Cross the first goal of the game at the 10:51 mark as Matthew Kursonis finished off a feed from Matt DeBoer into the empty net.
Less than four minutes later, it was an even strength strike for the Crusaders as a two-on-one break led to the goal from Michael Abgrall as John Gelatt returning a pass in front of the net back to Abgrall.
Shots on goal were even at eight apiece through the opening twenty minutes as Holy Cross held the two-goal lead.
Holy Cross built on its lead to begin the second period as Jack Seymour made it 3-0 six minutes into the period with an even strength goal.
The Crusaders took a penalty three seconds after the goal, but were able to score a pivotal shorthanded tally as Ty Gagno finished a centering pass from Abgrall to make it 4-0 seven minutes into the frame.
Army put Holy Cross on a five-minute power play later on in the second but the penalty kill held strong throughout to give the Black Knights momentum. The Black Knights got on the board with 1:17 remaining in the second as Nik Hong as there in front of the net to tip in a pass from Pierce Patterson.
Holy Cross then took a penalty late in the frame, giving Army 1:31 on the power play to begin the third while trailing by three goals.
Army surged early in the third looking for its second goal, but Thomas Gale refused to let anything past him as the Holy Cross netminder finished with 29 saves with just the one goal allowed.
Army pulled Cataldo late on, as Holy Cross tabbed one more goal on the empty net to bring the final score to 5-1.
The season ends with Army finishing 16-20-2 despite a 5-15-0 start as the Black Knights secured the fifth seed in the conference after being predicted to finish tenth in the preseason coaches' poll.
The season marks the end of the Brian Riley era which spanned the past 21 seasons, as Riley amassed 258 wins, the fifth-most in Atlantic Hockey history while being named the conference's Coach of the Year a record four times.
Holy Cross jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and an eventual 4-0 lead which proved insurmountable on their home ice. The Crusaders advance to the AHA Championship game next Saturday where they will host Bentley.
Army got a goal late on in the second period from Nik Hong, but were unable to get it back within two goals.
The scoring chances were slimmer in the opening stages of the contest compared to game one, as there few chances until the Crusaders got the first power play of the game midway through the period after an Army trip.
Precise passing around the net on the power play gave Holy Cross the first goal of the game at the 10:51 mark as Matthew Kursonis finished off a feed from Matt DeBoer into the empty net.
Less than four minutes later, it was an even strength strike for the Crusaders as a two-on-one break led to the goal from Michael Abgrall as John Gelatt returning a pass in front of the net back to Abgrall.
Shots on goal were even at eight apiece through the opening twenty minutes as Holy Cross held the two-goal lead.
Holy Cross built on its lead to begin the second period as Jack Seymour made it 3-0 six minutes into the period with an even strength goal.
The Crusaders took a penalty three seconds after the goal, but were able to score a pivotal shorthanded tally as Ty Gagno finished a centering pass from Abgrall to make it 4-0 seven minutes into the frame.
Army put Holy Cross on a five-minute power play later on in the second but the penalty kill held strong throughout to give the Black Knights momentum. The Black Knights got on the board with 1:17 remaining in the second as Nik Hong as there in front of the net to tip in a pass from Pierce Patterson.
Holy Cross then took a penalty late in the frame, giving Army 1:31 on the power play to begin the third while trailing by three goals.
Army surged early in the third looking for its second goal, but Thomas Gale refused to let anything past him as the Holy Cross netminder finished with 29 saves with just the one goal allowed.
Army pulled Cataldo late on, as Holy Cross tabbed one more goal on the empty net to bring the final score to 5-1.
The season ends with Army finishing 16-20-2 despite a 5-15-0 start as the Black Knights secured the fifth seed in the conference after being predicted to finish tenth in the preseason coaches' poll.
The season marks the end of the Brian Riley era which spanned the past 21 seasons, as Riley amassed 258 wins, the fifth-most in Atlantic Hockey history while being named the conference's Coach of the Year a record four times.
Team Stats
AWP
CHC
Shots
30
21
PPG
0
1
SHG
0
1
Penalties
4
4
Penalty Mins
19
8
Faceoffs Won
33
24
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
D
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