Box Score

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College men's ice hockey were on the wrong end of a 14-goal game as they fell 8-6 to Army in their final regular season home contest. With the loss the Yellow Jackets fall to 5-23-3 for the season and to 5-19-3 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Black Knights improve to 11-16-6 overall and to 10-12-5 in the conference. Sophomore forward #Nielsson Arcibal# (Vista, Calif.) led AIC with three points on the night including one goal and two assists.

Before the start, AIC paid tribute to four senior forwards, #Chris Campanale# (Chester Springs, Pa.), #Josh Froese# (Winkler, Man.), #Mike McMillan# (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), and #Dean Yakura# (West Vancouver, B.C.), who were playing in their final game at the Olympia Ice Center.

Army was first on the board with a goal 1:55 into regulation by freshman forward Mike Santee (Park Ridge, Ill.), with assists from sophomores, defenseman Mark Dube (Billerica, Mass.) and forward Danny Colvin (Vernon, N.J.). The Yellow Jackets responded quickly, evening the score at 1-1 just 1:35 later, when junior forward #Tom Mele# (Bronx, N.Y.) found the back of the net with an assist from freshman defenseman #Jeff Ceccacci# (Placentia, Calif.).

Junior forward Cody Omilusik (Traverse City, Mich.) gave the Black Knights a 2-1 lead, nine-minutes into the first when he tallied a power-play goal. AIC, again, was quick to respond as freshman forward #Adam Pleskach# (Beausejour, Man.) netted his team leading 15th-goal of the season. Arcibal and junior forward #Steve McLeod# (Atikokan, Ont.) dished out the assists on the goal. Senior forward Owen Meyer (Dundee, Ill.) sent Army into the first intermission up 3-2 when he buried goal with just over a minute remaining in the opening period.

Arcibal knotted the score at three-all eight-minutes into the second period when scored off a pass from McLeod and Pleskach. Meyer put the Black Knights back on top, this time 4-3, with a shorthanded goal at the 11-minute mark. Sophomore forward Alex McRae (Mindoro, Wisc.) gave Army its first two-goal lead of the night scoring at 15:14. Just three minutes later, classmate Bryant Skarda (Lake Elmo, Minn.) sent the Black Knights into the second intermission up 6-3 with a power-play goal.

Junior forward #Greg Vatrano# (East Longmeadow, Mass.) kicked-off the scoring in the third period, when he tallied his first goal of the season at 3:34, cutting the Army lead to 6-4. Forwards, freshman #Nick Grasso# (Smithtown, N,Y.) and Yakura were credited with the assists. Freshman defenseman #Chris Markiewicz# (Calgary, Alb.) buried a slap shot three-minutes later, with assists from McMillan and sophomore defenseman #Rob Blanchette# (South Boston, Mass.), to pull AIC within one goal. Black Knight senior forward Eric Sefchick (Brooklyn, Ohio) netted back-to-back goals, one on the power-play and one shorthanded, to give Army an 8-5 lead. Ceccacci would tally a shorthanded goal at the 11-minute mark of the third to bring the score to 8-6, but it was not enough as Army held on for the win. Arcibal and freshman defenseman #Jason Cohen# (Anchorage, Alaska) handed out the assists on the goal

Freshman goalie #Ben Meisner# (Halifax, N.S.) stopped 28 shots, before being replaced midway through the third for junior #Dan Ramirez# (Rochester, N.Y.), who made six saves of his own. Junior netminder Jay Clark (Baudette, Minn.) turned aside 27 shots for the victory.

AIC was outshot 42-33 on the night.

Next up, the Yellow Jacket travel to West Point, New York for their season finale with Army tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m.