(Photo Courtesy of Army West Point Athletics)

On a day in which the Syracuse offense was able to take advantage of the weaknesses in the Army defense for a period of time and dominate the faceoff dot, it was the little things that mattered.

A penalty stemming from a scrum within the final 10 seconds of the third quarter meant the Black Knights would open up the fourth man-up. They took advantage with a Danny Kielbasa goal and would then go on to score five more to end the game on a six-goal streak and secure the 17-13 win. It marks the first time the Black Knights have beaten Syracuse consecutive years since 1973.

Two of those Army goals during their final run came off failed Syracuse clears, where the Orange went 20-of-24 on the day. The Black Knights also scored twice off Syracuse’s inability to clear the ball in the first half as well. Both of those goals came during Army’s five-goal run in the first quarter to help them take an early 5-1 lead.

Led by Brendan Nichtern (4G/2A) and Bobby Abshire (4G/1A), the Black Knights were able to take advantage where they could and had an unbelievable shooting day, putting 28 of their 50 shots on cage.

Wyatt Schupler made 13 saves to anchor a Black Knights defenses that held Syracuse scoreless in the final period of play and to just three goals in the second half alone. That after a second quarter in which Syracuse was able to get into a rhythm and get their dodge-heavy offense working as well as they have all season.

Syracuse went looked strong during middle portion of the game, outscoring the Black Knights 12-7 from the 2:32 mark in the first through the 1:49 mark in the third. That included a six-goal run that lasted from late in the first through 8:47 mark in the second frame.

Owen Seebold and Brendan Curry each had four goals to lead the way for the Orange while Tucker Dordevic had one goal and two assists for three points as he acted more as a facilitator in this contest. Both Seebold and Curry each got half of their goals in the second quarter.

Jakob Phaup went 22-for-23 (95%) at the faceoff dot and scored a goal. Harrison Thompson replaced Bobby Gavin in cage at the end of the first quarter and made eight saves.

Towson Knocks off Cross-Town Rival Loyola

For the second year in a row, the Towson Tigers have knocked off rival Loyola. The Tigers walked away with the 11-8 victory.

After a first half that saw five ties and four lead changes, the Tigers owned a very defensive heavy second half. Towson go three straight from Nick DeMaio, Austin Stewart, and Kyle Berkeley to push their lead out to 9-6 late in the quarter. They would only score twice more, including a Luke Luke Shilling goal with 19 seconds left.

Loyola only found the back of the net twice in the second half with two Adam Poitras goals. The Greyhounds also committed six of their 18 turnovers in the final two quarters and went 9-of-12 (18-of-23 all game) in the clearing game.

Luke Shilling (3G/1A), Kyle Berkeley (3G), and James Avanzanto (2G/2A) led the way for the Tigers offense while Shane Brennan made 12 saves to anchor things on the other end.

Adam Poitras (2G/1A) led the way for the Greyhounds offense. Kevin Lindley’s one goal was his 165th of his career, breaking the all-time Patriot League record. Bailey Savio went 15-for-23 at the faceoff dot.

UAlbany Fights off Siena, 11-7

In a game that featured two entire coaching staffs that graduated from and played under Scott Marr at UAlbany, the Danes beat the Siena Saints 11-7.

Pratt Reynolds, who led Siena with three goals, capped off a three-goal Saints run late in the third to make it an 8-6 game heading into the fourth. However, the Saints were never able to fully comeback as the Danes won the fourth quarter 3-1 to secure the victory.

Amos Whitcomb (2G/3A) and Keelan Seneca (1G/3A) led UAlbany with five and four points. Tommy Heller made 11 saves in cage.