Army West Point hockey (7-15-1, 5-10-1 Atlantic Hockey) took down first-place Sacred Heart (10-11-2, 10-6-1 Atlantic Hockey) with a 5-3 victory Jan. 16 at Tate Rink.
Nik Hong registered a hat trick for the Black Knights, becoming the first plebe to achieve the feat since Brendan Soucie against Holy Cross on Dec. 10, 2016. Evan Szary made 29 saves to get the win in net for the Black Knights, as Max Itagaki and Vincent Salice logged a pair of assists in the win.Army got off to its strongest start of the season in what would turn out to be a dominant performance in the first period. Army put seven shots on Jason Robbins in the Pioneers' net before Sacred Heart tested Szary, as Hong eventually opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game.
Salice passed the puck from behind the net getting a slight deflection off Jake Hewitt, as Hong was the there to make a quick move to get around Robbins and tuck home his third tally of the season to put Army ahead 1-0. Sacred Heart weathered the storm for the next 10 minutes until Hong once again made them pay with his second of the game at the 16:15 mark. Salice and Hong entered the zone on a break, with Salice making the perfect pass across for his second helper of the afternoon as Hong doubled his season and career goal total in the opening frame.Taking a faceoff in Sacred Heart's defensive zone with 15 seconds remaining, Barron Woodring won the draw with John Driscoll firing a one-timer in directly off the draw for a backbreaking goal in the closing seconds of the period. Army held a 14-2 shots advantage after one period.The second period mirrored the first, but this time Sacred Heart dominated and dictated play. Despite the disparity in shots in the first, the Pioneers led in shots after the second after tallying 17-4 in shots in the second period. They were able to get on the board through Danuel Ebrahim at the 11:24 mark, before Jake Bongo scored off a rebound less than two minutes later to suddenly make it a one-goal game. Army weathered the storm for the remainder of the frame, and took a 3-2 lead into the third period.A good opening shift from the Black Knights in the third led to maintaining possession down in Sacred Heart's end, as Michael Sacco was able to then find Mac Gadowsky, who had his first effort saved by Robbins before tucking home the rebound for his second of the season. Now leading 4-2, Army then went to the lone power-play of the game for either team, as the only other penalties came simultaneously for both teams which caused a pair of four-on-four scenarios. The Sacred Heart penalty kill was able to hold, as the clock eventually ticked down in a fairly even third period. The Pioneers got a lifeline with 5:52 to play, as Andrius Kulbis-Marino fired in his third of the season off a wrister to make it a one-goal game late. Eventually pulling the goalie, Szary made a few key stops before Hong fired the puck down the ice for the hat trick, as the puck just crossed the line before a charging Hunter Sansbury could get his stick to it. Hong notched the first Army hat trick since Daniel Haider against Air Force in January 2022, as Szary made 29 saves in total to collect his sixth victory of the season.Army will turn its focus to Air Force as the Black Knights will host the service-academy rival for a two-game set Jan. 19 and 20 from Tate Rink.