WEST POINT, N.Y.-Two players scored their first career goals for American International College ice hockey and senior left wing Jon Puskar (Canton, Mich.) stole the show with an overtime winner at the :14 mark of the extra session as the Yellow Jackets overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat Army 5-4 in Atlantic Hockey action.

AIC, which has won three straight, is now 9-18-1 overall and 8-12-1 in AHA play; Army falls to 3-22-0 on the year and 3-18-0 in the league.

Army dominated the first period and scored two goals in a 5:10 stretch in the middle of the frame, as sophomore center Josh Roberts tallied his first career goal at 7:16 and sophomore right wing Willie Faust scored his fifth of the campaign at 12:26 in a period where Army outshot AIC 12-10.

However, the Yellow Jackets took over the second frame, striking at 4:12 when freshman center Mike Dietrich (Southampton, N.J.) pushed the puck into the zone to junior right wing Nathan Sliwinski (Castle Rock, Colo.); Sliwinski set up sophomore left wing David Gandara (Canyon Lake, Calif.) in front for his first career goal on a shot that went five-hole.

They tied the game shortly after on a power play, and Dietrich again helped set up the goal, slinging a pass to freshman defenseman Carson Grolla (Trail, B.C.), who fired a shot that was tipped home by sophomore left wing Chris Porter (Stoufville, Ont.) at 6:57 for his seventh of the season.

AIC took a lead thanks to the work of two freshman when right wing Dan Clairmont (Bracebridge, Ont.) went in on a two-on-one with freshman left wing Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.); Clairmont backhanded a perfect pass to Orszulak, who went top shelf for his first career strike at 12:04.

Shortly after, AIC again tallied a power play goal, as Puskar and freshman left wing David Norris (Calgary, Alb.) were able to get the puck to the point for junior defenseman Jake Williams (Duluth, Minn.), who fired it through a screen for his fourth of the year at 14:33.

Army did not quit, and in typical fashion battled hard, getting one back just 1:01 later when junior right wing Joe Kozlak took a pass at the top of the paint and fired it in for his fifth of the year.

In the third, the Black Knights pushed with even greater effort, scoring the only goal of the period when junior right wing Zak Zaremba picked up a puck just below the right faceoff circle and ripped it home at 11:45 for his fifth of the season.

Despite the high scoring through sixty minutes, both goalkeepers had outstanding nights; freshman Parker Gahagen most notably denied junior center Alexander MacMillan (Calgary, Alb.) on a breakaway, while fellow rookie Hunter Leisner (Garland, Texas) had a pair of two-pad stack stops in front and twice stopped Army's leading scorer, freshman left wing C.J. Reuschlein, from point-blank range.

The overtime lasted just 14 seconds, with AIC winning the faceoff to start the frame and coming right in with a shot that forced an offensive zone draw; the draw was won by AIC, as MacMillan and Norris both came in to jam it to Puskar, who threw it toward the net and had it deflect in off of the goalkeeper and in for his thirteenth of the season to send AIC home with a four point weekend.

Leisner, who made 36 saves, earned the win to improve to 7-10-1 on the year, while Gahagen stopped 30 shots out of the 35 he faced to fall to 0-5-0 on the season.

AIC went 2-for-2 on the power play and killed the lone penalty they faced all game; they blocked 10 shots to Army's 12 and won 36 of the 66 faceoffs.

The Jackets return to action at the Olympia Ice Center on Valentine's Day against the Sacred Heart Pioneers in another crucial Atlantic Hockey matchup. The puck is slated for a 7:05 p.m. drop.