Army Black Knights Hockey Sweeps Mercyhurst in Record-Breaking Fashion

The Army West Point Black Knights men’s hockey team executed a clean sweep of Mercyhurst on Saturday at Tate Rink and did so in record-breaking fashion.

By beating the Lakers, 13-1, the Black Knights (7-15, 7-8 in AHA) set an Atlantic Hockey Association record, which was previously set at 12. Army also scored seven goals in the second period, which matched the AHA record that was last accomplished in 2008.

With the sweep, Army outscored Mercyhurst, 22-2, in two games and claimed all six points available in the series.

The records and the milestones happened all night.

Nik Hong claimed his second career hat track and also had two assists. That made him one of 10 Army players with multiple points in the contest. All 12 Black Knights forwards had at least one point in the game, which was the second straight night that happened.

Hong is also the third Army player to have multiple career hat tricks since the Black Knights joined the AHA.

Meanwhile, Nils Forselius did something no Black Knights player had done in 31 years. He had five assists and, along with his goal, finished with a six-point game. Along with him becoming the latest Army player to do that, he’s the first player in the country to register six points in a game this season.

Mac Gadowsky, a sophomore, now has 13 career points in four games against the Lakers. On Saturday, he has two goals and two assists and finished with seven points when combined with his production on Friday.

The scoring made life easy for goaltender JJ Cataldo, who got the start and turned back 13 of 14 shots before the Black Knights gave Jacob Biron a turn in the third period. He stopped all five shots he faced. Biron even came away with an assist on Hong’s third goal, as he slid the puck to him as he went on a breakaway to the other end.

Brent Keefer had three points, with two goals, and Hunter McCoy had a career-high three assists in the game.

Incredibly, Mercyhurst scored the game’s first goal, as Boris Skalos beat Cataldo to give the Lakers a momentary 1-0 lead.

The Black Knights have won two straight games and have several days off before they head west to start a two-game series with service academy rival Air Force on Friday to continue AHA action.