ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Mercyhurst scored two goals in each of the first and third periods to beat Army, 4-2, Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament at the Blue Cross Arena.
Mercyhurst, which beat Sacred Heart 4-1 on Friday night, will play in the conference tournament finals against the winner of the Air Force and RIT contest which began at 7:40 p.m. Saturday evening. The winner of that game will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Army ends its season at 19-14-4, winning 19 games for the second consecutive season.
Mercyhurst, the No. 5 seed is now 15-18-7 after scoring all of its goals at the same end of the ice.
Aaron Anderson and Bryce Hollweg scored goals for the Black Knights who ended the season with a 13-2-1 mark in its last 16 games. Will Ryan, Joey Ammon, Cody Omilusik and Luke Flicek all registered assists.
Army goalie Josh Kassel made 23 saves, including 14 in the second period to keep the game tied at 2 after two periods. Mercyhurst won its fourth straight with two goals in the final period.
Four different players scored goals for Mercyhurst, which went 3-0 against Army this season.
In the first Atlantic Hockey Association matchup between these two teams, Mercyhurst led 1-0, 2-1 and then 3-2 before securing its 15th win of the season.
Mercyhurst goalie Matt Lundin made 36 saves, including 28 in the first two periods.
Army had scoring changes early in the game as Cody Omilusik, Joey Ammon, Eric Sefchik, Drew Pierson and Bryce Hollweg all had shots in the first five minutes of the game.
Mercyhurst jumped out to an early lead with a power play score seven and a half minutes into the contest. Matt Pierce tipped in a shot from Matt Fennell to make it 1-0 with 12:31 remaining in the first period.
Anderson tied the game with 5:37 left. After battling for the puck along the boards with Ryan, Army regained possession and knotted the game. Ryan tried to knock the puck off the goalie and Anderson was there to stuff in the rebound. Ammon and Ryan were credited with the assists on Anderson’s second goal of the season. It was Ammon’s first assist of his career and Ryan’s fifth. Ryan ended the season with a three-game scoring streak.
Less than a minute later, during a four-on-four situation, Mercyhurst took its second lead. Mike Gurtler took a long shot from outside the circle. Kassel made the initial save but the puck trickled in with 4:36 left and a 2-1 Mercyhurst lead.
The Black Knights held an 11-7 advantage in shots on goal during the first period but still trailed 2-1. Mercyhurst was whistled for two penalties late in the period and Army opened the second period with 5-on-3 advantage for 1:54.
Army didn’t waste the two-player opportunity with Hollweg scoring 1:49 into the second period. Good puck movement and five shots on goal opened the power play, then Hollweg knocked home his 11th goal of the season. Flicek moved the puck to Omilusik who fed Hollweg for the tying goal. It was Hollweg’s third straight game with a goal.
Kassel was stellar in the second period and made sure the game remained tied at two after 40 minutes. Army held a 19-14 advantage in shots during the second period but Kassel seemed to use every bit of equipment to keep Mercyhurst off the scoreboard during the second period.
The Lakers were short-handed to start the third period but Nick Vandenbeld slid a pass to Chris Risi who was in front of the net and scored his 15th goal of the season 25 seconds into the final period to put Mercyhurst on top 3-2.
Mercyhurst took the biggest lead of the game with 14:19 left in the contest. Neil Graham netted his fifth goal of the season, sliding the puck in the back of the net for a 4-2 Mercyhurst lead.
Army kept the pressure on and spent the majority of the third period in the Mercyhurst end of the rink. Owen Meyer, Omilusik, Flicek and Hollweg all had shots on net as did Eric Sefchik and Ken Rowe.
Riley pulled Kassel with two minutes to go during a 4-on-4 situation but the Black Knights could get no closer but took solace in winning the program’s first regular season title.
Game Notes: Athletic Director Kevin Anderson, Deputy Athletic Director Gene Marshall, Senior Woman Administrator Major Kim Kawamoto and Special Assistant to the Athletic Director Lt. Col. Boe Barinowski were among the crowd ... Army’s traditional home warm-up CD was played during pre-game warmups ... Aaron Anderson has four career goals in eight games against Mercyhurst. Bryce Hollweg’s score was his first against Mercyhurst in 12 games ... The RIT fans were out in full force for the Army contest. The fans greeted the starters from both teams with the traditional “you suck” but added “sir” at the end of each of the Army starters’ names ... The start of each the second and third period was delayed briefly as the officials waited for the ice to dry from the Zamboni.
Mercyhurst 4, Army 2
MERCYHURST 2-0-2—4
ARMY 1-1-0—2
First Period:
MH – Pierce (Fennell, Robinson), 7:29 PP
ARMY – Anderson (Ryan, Ammon) 14:23
MH – Gurtler (Graham, Phillips), 15:24
Second Period:
ARMY – Hollweg (Omilusik, Flicek), 1:39 PP
Third Period:
MH – Risi (Vandenbeld), 00:25 SH
MH – Graham (Bremner, Mike Guttler), 5:41
Shots: Mercyhurst 27 (7-14-6); Army 38 (11-19-8).
Saves: Mercyhurst 36 (Lundin, 59:58, 10-18-8; empty net 00:02); Army 23 (Kassel, 57:46, 5-14-4; empty net 2:14)
Power Plays: Mercyhurst 1-5; Army 1-5.
Penalties: Mercyhurst 9-18; Army 9-18.
This story courtesy of Army Athletics Communications.
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