Army extended its longest winning streak of the season to three games with a 5-1 victory over visiting American International Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 2,788 at Tate Rink.
Senior winger Joe Carpenter scored two goals, including his MAAC-leading seventh power-play goal of the year, to lead the Black Knights’ offense. Carpenter’s first goal of the game — the eventual winner — came with the man advantage at 14:10 of the second period.
Senior defenseman Eric Joyce had broken a scoreless tie after one period of play when his blast from the blue line beat AIC starting goaltender Frank Novello at 9:08 of the second. Army (7-13-5/5-8-5 MAAC) broke through for three goals in the second to take control of the game. Senior Tim Fisher found the back of the net 1:13 after Carpenter’s power-play goal to give the Black Knights its 3-0 lead.
Freshman Chris Garceau added his eighth goal of the year early in the third, and Carpenter’s second of the game and 13th of the season made it 5-0 for the home team. AIC’s Andy Luhovy spoiled Army goaltender Scott Hamilton’s shutout bid with a power-play goal at 12:39 of the third.
AIC (6-14-0/5-13-0 MAAC) fell five points behind Army in the race for the final MAAC playoff spot. The Black Knights also kept pace with Connecticut, which defeated Fairfield Saturday night. Army trails the Huskies by one point in the fight for seventh place.
Hamilton made 24 saves between the pipes, registering his third consecutive win of the season. He has been in goal for all three games of the Black Knights’ streak.
The win was also Hamilton’s 30th career victory, making him just the 11th goalie in Army history to reach that plateau. He is one win shy of cracking the school’s top 10. Hamilton tied former Army goalie Brooks Chretein for fourth place on the school’s all-time saves list with 1,861 career stops.
The win over AIC was the third of the year, making it a season sweep of the Yellow Jackets in the 2001-02 campaign. It is the first time the Black Knights have swept a MAAC opponent in their two seasons in the league.
