Box Score

West Point, N.Y. - Army junior goalie Josh Kassel posted a 24 save shutout as the Black Knights grabbed game one of the best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Tournament first-round series 4-0 Friday evening at the Tate Rink in West Point N.Y. Army improves their record to 18-13-4 overall and 18-9-3 in the conference. The Yellow Jackets slide to 8-22-5 overall and 8-18-3 in the AHA.

Freshman goalie Dan Ramirez (Rochester, N.Y.) put together a solid 27 save effort between the pipes for the Yellow Jackets despite the loss. AIC held strong against the conference's top seed, but relinquished three goals in the latter half of the third period that proved devastating.

Army improved their record against AIC to 5-0-0 on the season. It also marks the third straight contest that the Black Knights won 4-0 over the Yellow Jackets, dating back to a weekend series in the second week of February that saw Army post back-to-back 4-0 wins.

Less than four minutes into the game, Black Knight sharpshooter Bryce Hollweg took a feed from Luke Flicek after a scramble in front of the net and beat freshman Ramirez, making the score 1-0 in favor of Army. The first frame saw only one goal, but was played with a tremendous amount of intensity from both sides. The Black Knights held a slim 7-6 shot advantage after 20 minutes of play.

AIC saw several scoring opportunities in the second period, most notably when freshman Mike Little (Enfield, Conn.) swiped the puck from the Army defense at the top of their zone and dashed to a breakaway, eventually getting turned away on a backhand attempt by Kassel. The Yellow Jackets and Black Knights both posted seven shots in a physical second stanza.

Heading into the final period, Army held a 1-0 lead and a marginal 17-16 advantage in shots.

Senior attacker Mark Pavli (Sarnia, Ont.) nearly evened the game when he flung a one-timer feed from senior Jereme Tendler (Viceroy, Sask.) towards the net, only to find the left leg of Kassel in the opening stage of the period.

Army pushed their lead to two goals at the 11:04 marker when Robb Ross grabbed a rebound, held the puck, and eventually powered it through a crowd of players, and into the net.

The Black Knights ultimately notched two more scores, both with less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock to secure the victory.

The two teams will meet once against at the Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. for game two of the best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Tournament first-round series. AIC will need a victory to extend its 2007-2008 campaign.