Photo Credit: Army West Point Athletics Communications

When you come into a weekend against Niagara, you are in for a battle that lasts each night. The Purple Eagles threw everything they had at the Black Knights on Saturday in the series finale.

Army had the answers, albeit with plenty of heart-stopping drama along the way. The Black Knights came back from a two goal deficit late in the third to tie things with 13 seconds left.Joey Baez provided the highlight then to tie things, and then the only goal in the shootout to put Army one point behind Mercyhurst and Holy Cross for home ice. If the Black Knights win in regulation Tuesday against Sacred Heart, they will jump those teams into fourth down the stretch.

Associate Head Coach Zach McKelvie talked about some big things from the game:

On what he is proud of and the mood on the bench: “Guys just stuck together and believed we were going to come back.”

On the goaltending split for Army that has served them well in the second half

“Before the break we had success having Gav and Justin split. We just wanted them to focus on one game at a time, so before this weekend we had predetermined Justing was going Friday and Gav tonight.”

On what the biggest focus ahead of Tuesday will be, “Rest, it will be a challenge getting off the bus and being ready to go on Tuesday. Guys just need to rest and recover the next two days to get us ready to go.”

He talked about the growing resume of Joey Baez who is playing beyond his years as a sophomore.

“Joey is turning into a leader for us. Everyone looks to him now when we need a big play or someone to say something on the bench.”

McKelvie also talked about how Jude Brower played as the extra forward in just his seventh game of college hockey and more. “Jude has really played well all year and hasn’t had an opportunity as much as other guys. We feel it’s important for his development to get game time. He gets better every game. We are really excited about both Jude and Owen, both have a lot of potential.”

On the weekend he said, “Just shows are guys are starting to believe in each other, believe in the process and have the confidence to go out and make the plays to to help us win.”

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