Army Hockey Posts Victory at RV UMass-Lowell

LOWELL, MA – Army West Point hockey (3-10-0, 2-6-0 AHA) picked up its first non-conference victory of the season with a 4-2 win over RV UMass-Lowell (5-8-1, 2-5-1 Hockey East) on the road o Saturday afternoon.

Four different Black Knights recorded multiple points, including Jake Hewitt who continued his scoring prowess in his home state, scoring his third goal in as many games on the road trip. Brent Keefer and Joey Baez each registered a goal and an assist while Mac Gadowksy posted his first career multiple point effort with a trio of helpers. Evan Szary made 28 saves in net for the Black Knights to pick up his third victory of the season.

Army got out on the front foot as the River Hawks took a penalty in the first two minutes of the game as Max Itagaki was tripped. The Black Knights couldn’t capitalize on their first power-play opportunity, but were given another chance within the opening seven minutes.

Army took advantage this time, with Mac Gadowsky skating in from the right circle and finding Ricky Lyle right in front of the net, who controlled and slotted past Luke Pavicich in the River Hawks net to open the scoring.

Lowell came close on its first power-play chance later in the period, with Army’s top penalty-killing unit having to stay out for the entirety of the kill in Army’s defensive end before Lyle was able to get it clear in the closing seconds. Itagaki came close to making it 2-0 with under a minute to play, with Army eventually unsuccessfully challenging on whether the puck crossed the crease or not. However, the Black Knights were able to make it two off the ensuing faceoff, as Jake Hewitt and Hunter McCoy continued their good form with McCoy finding Hewitt with a centering pass as the plebe potted his third goal in as many games back in his home state this week. Evan Szary made nine saves in the opening frame to blank UML as Army led 2-0 entering the second period of play.

The River Hawks put more pressure on in the second, eventually finding the breakthrough at the 13:34 mark through Jake Stella who halved the deficit to make it a 2-1 game. Army got a big penalty kill soon after, with Nik Hong getting a takeaway and drawing a penalty which led to a power-play opportunity for Army. With both team’s seeing key penalty kills, Army was able to restore its two-goal lead with just eight seconds left in the period through Joey Baez. Michael Sacco got the puck towards the net where Brent Keefer had his attempt stopped, but Baez was there at the doorstep to clean up for his sixth tally of the season to give Army a major boost headed into the third.

With the Baez goal giving him the team lead with six, Brent Keefer wasted no time equaling the mark as the plebe deposited his sixth of the campaign in the first minute of the third period. Baez did the assisting on the effort, springing Keefer loose on a break for the second straight game as he went top-right shelf over Pavicich. Lowell got one back at the 8:54 mark of the third, with Dillan bentley halving the deficit for the River Hawks. Army took a penalty soon after as UML had a way back into the game, but Szary made multiple key stops including a wicked glove save on Jason Moriello to keep it a two-goal game. UML eventually went with the empty net with just over two minutes to play, but were unable to find a third goal as the Army defense held strong to see out the 4-2 victory.

It marked the first non-conference victory for the Black Knights since an 8-3 victory over Dartmouth last October at Tate Rink. The game was also Army’s first win on the road against a Hockey East opponent since taking down UConn in Storrs in October 2019.