Army West Point Men’s Club Hockey completed its journey to return to St. Louis and reached the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) National Championship playoffs for a third consecutive season with two victories on Feb. 21-22 at the International Skating Center in Simsbury, Connecticut.
Army West Point began the ACHA Northeast Regional playoffs with a game against Boston College on Feb. 21. The Black Knights would control this game from start to finish, displaying their skill and tenacity to win the game, 8-2.
The team was led by senior Bobby Staring, who scored two goals and added five assists while junior Lucas Gacek notched two goals. To reach the national championship tournament, Army faced the fourth-ranked team, UMass-Amherst, on Feb. 22, in a tightly played, difficult game, which was rematch from two years ago, when Army reached its first national playoff.
The game began with UMass-Amherst scoring a goal in the first period. However, the Black Knights responded with two goals of their own before the end of the first, scored by Gacek on the powerplay and senior James Delia on a great steal in the defensive zone on the penalty kill.
In the second period, the tightly contested game would continue, with UMass tying the game late in the second. However, yet again, Army would respond strongly with two goals, led by freshman Wolf Woelk and Delia, who scored his second of the game with just one second left before intermission.
Army would control play in the third period by pressing UMass and keeping them at bay while scoring another goal from freshman Robert James as the Black Knights would go on to win, 5-2.
Throughout the weekend, Army played great hockey, but two players in particular stood out amongst all players across regional play. Plebe goaltender Charlie Zurowski was a stalwart in net, making 79 saves on 83 shots throughout the weekend, helping keep Army in control of games even while defending many grade A chances against.
Not to be outdone, team captain Staring led all players in regionals across the nation with 10 points over two games, showing yet again why he is a special player and leader for this Army team.
Army will now prepare to make a run at the national championship, where they will play as the third seed from the northeast region. This Army team has the attitude, camaraderie and skill to win it all, and looks forward to showing their abilities on the national stage for a third consecutive year.
The Black Knights will head to Maryland Heights, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, from March 12-14 to compete for the championship. They will face the University of Tampa at 12:15 p.m. on March 12 and then face Oklahoma State and Michigan State over the final two days.