Army Gets Offense Going Late, but Falls to Niagara 6-4 to Open Series

Niagara Falls, N.Y. — On Friday night, Army Hockey made the trip to upstate New York to open up their series with Niagara University. The Black Knights were able to find an offensive spark and get the offense going late in the third period after trailing 5-1, but the Purple Eagles were able to come away with a 6-4 win in the first of two games this weekend.

Nik Hong was able to register his second straight two-goal performance, while Brent Keefer scored his first goal of the season with just 24 seconds remaining in the game. Goaltender JJ Cataldo, who’s started every game this season for Army, made just 17 saves on 23 Niagara shots.

The loss drops Army to 3-4-3 overall and 1-4-2 (6 points) in Atlantic Hockey play. At the same time, Niagara earns their first conference victory of the season, improving to 4-6 overall and 1-4 (3 points) through the first 10 games of the 2025-2026 season.

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Niagara Came to Play!

Niagara opened up the game, dominating the Black Knights. Their play through the first ten minutes saw them open the scoring with sophomore Hunter Wallace giving the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.

“We weren’t ready to play, said Army head coach Zach McKelvie. “They were ready to play and came out with a desperation that we couldn’t match.” Army came out slow, and Niagara made them pay, outshooting them 8-2 in the first 20 minutes.

In the second period, things continued to get worse for Zach McKelvie and the Black Knights. After 33 minutes, Niagara took a 3-0 lead with goals from junior Declan McDonnell and sophomore Nathan Oickle.

McKelvie has preached to his team about needing to win the dirty areas of the game all season long, but Niagara seemingly won everything tonight, especially at 5-on-5. “A few things, we need to hit the net more, but more importantly, we need to hunt pucks and be around the net more,” McKelvie said. They [Niagara] won most of the 50/50 battles and played a lot more in the dirty areas. That was the biggest difference in the game tonight.”

The Black Knights were able to end the period on a high note, with sophomore Nils Forselius netting his second goal of the season as he continues to lead the team in scoring this season.

Army Hockey News:

• Army Hockey’s Comeback Comes Up Just Short in 3-2 Loss to Bentley
• Army Hockey Battles to 3-3 Tie at Bentley, Forselius Delivers Shootout Winner
• Army Impresses on the Road Against Canisius in Shootout Loss

Not Going Down Without a Fight

Niagara answered Army’s strong end to the second period with two goals to extend their lead to 5-1 with only 13 minutes left for a Black Knight comeback.

“We always believe that if you compete and play as a team, you have a chance to come back,” McKelvie told the media post-game. “But tonight, anytime we had a few good shifts in a row, we took a penalty or made a poor decision.”

Coming off his two-goal effort last weekend against Bentley, Nik Hong attempted to start another Army comeback. On the power play, sophomore defenseman Sam Groebner just threw a harmless puck towards the net, but Hong was able to deflect it past freshman goaltender Tomas Anderson.

Unfortunately, as they had done all game, Niagara answered Army’s goal with one of their own, with freshman Maxim Muranov making it 6-2 Purple Eagles.

Credit to Army, they weren’t going down without a fight. Nik Hong grabbed his second power-play re-direction goal of the game, thanks to a Lukas McCloskey shot from the blueline for his fifth goal of the season.

Time was the Black Knights’ enemy, and as the clock started to wind down with under a minute left in the game, Army was still pushing to get another goal, and they would be rewarded for their effort. Junior Brent Keefer, who has been quiet offensively this season after a productive sophomore season, picked up a loose puck in the netmouth after a driving effort from junior defenseman Easton Zueger and buried the rebound for his first goal of the year with only 24 seconds remaining.

With little time left, Niagara was able to hang on and capture their first conference victory of the season and first win in more than a month.

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Wrapping up Friday Night

Army (3-4-3, 1-4-2 AHA) is back in action tomorrow night to wrap up their weekend series with the Niagara University Purple Eagles (4-6, 1-4 AHA)

Asked if he’ll give sophomore goaltender Jacob Biron the start tomorrow with JJ Cataldo starting every game this season and Air Force coming to town next weekend, head coach Zach McKelvie responded with, ” I haven’t made any lineup decisions yet.”

Expect the East Aurora, New York, native to make his first collegiate start for the Black Knights Saturday night. In three career appearances, Biron has a 1.01 goals against average and a .955% save percentage in limited action.

Game Summary

Final Score: Army West Point 4, Niagara 6
Date: November 14th, 2025
Venue: Dwyer Arena, Niagara Falls, N.Y
Attendance: 863
Officials: Referee: Patrick Sharron & Deric Boehm, Linesman: Brian Kimmins & Samuel Cucinotta

Scoring Summary

First Period

• 6:38 — Niagara: Hunter Wallace (Lane Brockoff & Mitchell Becker) — 1-0 Niagara

Second Period

• 2:32 — Niagara: Declan McDonnell (Ethan Lund & Jacob Maillet) — 2-0 Niagara
• 13:07 — Niagara: Nathan Oickle (Maxim Muranov & Jacob Maillet) PP — 3-0 Niagara
• 15:52 — Army: Nils Forselius (Ben Ivey & Jack Ivey) — 3-1 Niagara

Third Period

• 0:16 — Niagara: Spencer Young (Maxim Muranov & Nathan Oickle) PP — 4-1 Niagara
• 7:01 — Niagara: Declan McDonnell (Spencer Young & Nathan Oickle) PP — 5-1 Niagara
• 15:01 — Army: Nik Hong (Sam Groebner & Brent Keefer) PP — 5-2 Niagara
• 15:57 — Niagara: Maxim Muranov (Declan McDonnell) — 6-2 Niagara
• 15:52 — Army: Nik Hong (Lukas McCloskey & Vincent Salice) PP — 6-3 Niagara
• 15:52 — Army: Brent Keefer (Easton Zueger & Barron Woodring) — 6-4 Niagara

Team Stats

Goaltending

Niagara

• Tomas Anderson (W): 16 Saves on 20 Shots (.800 SV%)

Army Black Knights

• JJ Cataldo (L): 17 Saves on 23 Shots (.739 SV%)

Goal Scorers For Army

• Nik Hong x2 (4th & 5th of the season)
• Brent Keffer (1st)
• Nils Forselius (2nd)

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