WEST POINT, New York The script could not have been more perfectly written for Zackarias Skog; with his parents in attendance all the way from Gothenburg, Sweden, the junior goalkeeper turned in a 27-save shutout to break the single-season wins and shutouts record in the Division I era for the American International College ice hockey team, which also set a new high-water mark as a team with 16 wins on the season as the Yellow Jackets downed Army West Point 3-0 in Atlantic Hockey Conference play on Friday, February 8.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE:AIC 3, Army West Point 0
RECORDS:AIC improves to 16-12-1 overall and continues to sit atop the AHC at 16-8-1; Army West Point drops to 8-15-4 overall and 7-10-4 in conference play.
LOCATION:Tate Rink, West Point, New York

STATS:
AIC:
Nicolas Luka: Three assists
Martin Mellberg: One goal
Luka Maver: One goal
Kyle Stephan: One goal
Blake Christensen: One assist
Ryan Polin: One assist
Joel Kocur: One assist
Zackarias Skog: Win (13-9-0), shutout (4), 27 saves

Army West Point:
Trevin Kozlowski: Loss (5-5-2), 20 saves



HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Yellow Jackets opened the game's scoring on a brilliant individual effort; junior defenseman Nicolas Luka and junior center Joel Kocur were able to clear the puck forward to redshirt freshman left wing Luka Maver, who in turn split the defense and cut toward the net. Though the Black Knights goaltender, Trevin Kozlowski, poke-checked the puck, Maver was able to get enough of the rebound to push it under his left pad and into the net for his eighth of the season at 12:14 of the first.
• Things looked grim for AIC heading into the second; though the Yellow Jackets had a 1-0 edge, sophomore defenseman Brennan Kapcheck was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct at the end of the first frame, giving the top power play in Atlantic Hockey the first quarter of the middle frame to get as many goals as they could. However, thanks to five blocked shots including two by Luka and a pair of point-blank saves by Skog on Brendan Soucie, the visiting team escaped with the lead intact.
• Able to again focus on offense, the Yellow Jackets doubled the lead on a power play of their own, as junior left wing Blake Christensen swung a pass back to the midpoint for Luka; Luka's slapshot was tipped by junior right wing Martin Mellberg for his eighth of the year at 15:07.
• The Black Knights started the third with the remains of a power play from a late AIC penalty, but then committed a foul of their own just seven seconds into the frame, and the Yellow Jackets wasted no time in punishing the home side for that mistake, as senior center Shawn McBride won the ensuing faceoff, and worked the puck to the point, where Luka and senior defenseman Ryan Polin connected for a shot. Junior right wing Kyle Stephan scooped up the rebound, cut across the slot past a helpless defender, and wired a wrist shot off the crossbar and into the cage at 0:23 for his ninth of the year.
• Army would push, drawing three penalties in the third and peppering Skog with shots, but the junior held strong in cage, making 11 stops in the frame en route to the shutout win.

SKOG SAYS NO:

• In earning his 13th victory of the season, Skog set a new high-water mark in the Division I-era of the program's history, surpassing his teammate, sophomore Stefano Durante, who had set the record last season with 12.
• With the shutout win, his fourth of the season, Skog also set a new standard for clean sheets in a season, breaking the mark of Ben Meisner '13, who had three in the 2009-10 campaign; Meisner's 11 wins in 2012-13 had served as the program's record until a season ago.

MORE RECORDS TO BREAK:

• AIC has scored 97 goals in 29 games after scoring 88 in 39 games last season. The Division I-era record of 100 goals in a season was set by the 1998-99 team in 32 games.
• The Yellow Jackets broke their single-season wins record, set last season, with 16; the 33 conference points represents another new high.
• Christensen's second period assist moved him into a tie for single-season points record of 35, set by Jon Puskar '14 in 2014 and tied by Alexander MacMillan '15 and Austin Orszulak '17 the following season; Christensen's 13-22-35 line is the best the team has had since that 2014-15 campaign and his 22 assists are the most by a player since Johno May '18 had 23 as a freshman playing on a line with Orszulak and MacMillan that season.
• Kapcheck is three points back of his defenseman-record 26 points from a season ago, and his next assist will tie the mark he set for assists in a season by a defender when he had 20 during the 2017-18 campaign.

NEXT UP:

• The Yellow Jackets play their final Atlantic Hockey Conference game for 19 days when they close out the set at Army West Point on Saturday, February 9 at 7:05 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_Hockeyon Twitter andInstagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.