University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Hockey Falls to Army 3-1
2/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
WEST POINT, N.Y. (February 1, 2008) - The University of Connecticut men's hockey team's four game unbeaten streak came to an end Friday when they fell to Army 3-1 in West Point. Andrew Olson (Alexandria, Minn.) scored for the Huskies.
Coming off winning both Inside College Hockey's National Player of the Week and the Atlantic Hockey Association's Player of the Week awards, sophomore goalie Beau Erickson (Hinton, Iowa) had another strong night, making 38 saves as the Huskies fell to 8-14-3 overall and 7-9-3 in the AHA. The Black Knights are 10-12-3 and 10-7-2.
Erickson was especially sharp in the first period as UConn was out shot 18-3 in the stanza, but left with only a 1-0 deficit. His best save of the game came with 4:35 to go in the period as he challenged an Army forward on the right side by coming out of the net, only to see that forward pass the puck to his teammate who was streaking on the left side. Erickson then dove across the net and made the save, reaching behind himself to keep the Huskies within one.
After Army made it 2-0 midway through the second period, and the Huskies were still struggling to generate offense, head coach Bruce Marshall took a timeout to try and rally the troops. The strategy paid off as Connecticut drew a penalty about a minute later, and Olson's shot from the right face-off circle beat Black Knight goalie Josh Kassel below his arm at the 13:57 mark to pull UConn to within one at 2-1. The Huskies controlled play for the rest of the period generating several offensive chances, but were unable to score the tying goal. Connecticut and Army were even on the shots in the second period at 11 apiece.
Army was able to put the game away in the third when they scored a rare power play goal on the Huskies at the 13:20 mark. Cody Omilusik redirected a shot off the face-off past Erickson to clinch the game for the Black Knights.
For the game Army out shot Connecticut 41-16. Jason Krispel (Cypress, Calif.) and B.J. Bayers (St. Louis Park, Minn.) led the Huskies with three shots each.
The Huskies and Black Knights conclude their series tomorrow in West Point. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the Tate Rink.
