WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Army West Point Hockey (9-15-0, 9-8-0 Atlantic Hockey America) earned the sweep over Air Force (11-14-1, 8-8-0 Atlantic Hockey America) with a 4-3 overtime win on Jan. 18 over the Falcons in front of a sold-out crowd at Tate Rink.
Jack Ivey netted the game-winning goal off a backhanded assist from Mac Gadowsky, who had tied the game at three with a power-play goal in the third period. Army trailed 3-1 entering the final period before mounting a comeback to force overtime.The win marked Army's first sweep over Air Force since November 2014 and first at home since January 2008.The four-game winning streak is also the first since the 2020-21 season for the Black Knights who have catapulted up the AHA standings over the past two weekends.Both teams scored in the first period but after a two-goal second period for the Falcons, Army came soaring back to tie the game 3-3 in the third period and secured the 4-3 win in overtime with a goal from Ivey to claim their first sweep over Air Force at Tate Rink in 16 years.The battle of the goaltenders continued as both Army freshman JJ Cataldo and Air Force senior Guy Blessing returned to stand between the posts for their respective teams for the second night in a row. Blessing made 17 saves on a .826 save percentage for the Falcons but Cataldo came out the victor with 27 saves and a .900 save percentage in net for the Black Knights.The game opened at a sedate pace after Friday night's furious back-and-forth game, but the Black Knights would strike first for the second game in a row.Vincent Salice swept around the back of the Air Force net and slid the puck beneath Blessing's left pad for his third goal of the season just under six minutes into the game.Possession continued to trade hands as the period wore on with a trio of saves for both Cataldo and Blessing until the Falcons broke the stalemate as forward Sam Jacobs fired passes back and forth with Owen Dubois and Holt Oliphant to open up space on the ice for Jacobs to send a shot from the left hand faceoff circle that found its home in the top right corner of the net with 11:36 expired from the game clock.Air Force fought to redeem themselves after their Friday loss to the Black Knights, logging nine shots in the dwindling minutes of the first period and forcing netminder Cataldo to make five saves to hold the score at 1-1 through the first intermission.The Falcons hammered home two goals in the second period - 5:54 and 13:50 - both through traffic in front of Cataldo to move into a 3-1 lead that stood through the second intermission.Trailing by two goals entering the third, Army quickly found itself with a four-on-four situation, which turned to a four-on-three advantage. Nils Forselius surged forward and cut the deficit to one with his fifth goal of the season off an assist from Gadowsky and Cataldo. With the second Air Force penalty still active, the Black Knights tied the game just over a minute later with a second power-play goal. Gadowsky claimed this one off assists from Ben Ivey and Forselius as the sophomore collected his tenth goal of the season.The teams had limited opportunities in the closing minutes as the game's fate proved it was destined for overtime.Army controlled possession throughout the extra frame, eventually getting the game-winner as Gadowsky delivered an inch-perfect backhanded pass to a cutting Ivey who buried it past Blessing.It marked Army's first overtime win since February 2023 as it was just the second overtime contest of the season to this point.