Army Hockey Suffers First Weekend Sweep of Season Following 4-1 Loss to Niagara

Photo credit: Caroline Sherman

Niagara Falls, N.Y. — It’s been a tough past two weekends for Army Hockey, and that was cemented by the Black Knights suffering their first weekend sweep of the 2025-2026 season, falling to the Purple Eagles 4-1 Saturday night.

After a rough start Friday night, Army head coach Zach McKelvie made the decision to give sophomore goaltender JJ Cataldo a rest and hand fellow sophomore Jacob Biron, son of former NHL goalie Martin Biron, his first career collegiate start in upstate New York.

Army was able to muster only one goal tonight, coming from senior defenseman Owen Nolan, while the rest of the team was held to just 21 total shots. In his debut, Biron gave the Black Knights every opportunity to get back into the game, making 38 saves on 41 shots, but the Army offense was held in check.

The loss drops Army to 3-5-3 overall and 1-5-2 (6 points) in Atlantic Hockey play. On the other side of the ice, Niagara claimed their first six points in conference play this weekend and are now tied with the Black Knights in the AHA standings, improving to 5-6 overall and 2-4 (6 points).

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Jacob Biron Shines in His First NCAA Start

The big news coming into tonight’s game was that Army decided to give starting goaltender JJ Cataldo rest heading into Air Force weekend, which presented Jacob Biron the opportunity to start for the very first time.

Since stepping onto post last season, Biron has made just three appearances for Army. In a small sample size, Biron carried a 1.01 goals against average and a .955% save percentage for the Black Knights.

The first period Saturday looked like a replica of Friday night, with Niagara getting off to a fast start and pounding Biron’s net with shots. When the first period horn sounded, the shots were 18-9 in favor of the Purple Eagles. But Biron stood tall and got the Black Knights to the locker room unscathed with the score still tied at zero.

“Jacob [Biron] was really good tonight,” Zach McKelvie said post-game. “He made all the saves he needed to and then some. He definitely did not look like a goalie who had not started in a year and a half. He played with confidence and poise. I am really proud of him stepping up and playing like that. He should have a lot of confidence in this performance.”

Army Hockey News:

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

The Dam Finally Burst

It was more of the same in the second period, and Niagara finally broke through Jacob Biron. Freshman Maxim Muranov and fifth-year senior Lane Brockhoff both scored within a minute of each other to give the Purple Eagles a 2-0 lead with under six minutes left in the middle period.

Army would cut the lead to one with under a minute left. Senior defenseman Owen Nolan would take a Barron Woodring pass from center ice, power past the Purple Eagles’ defense, and finish five-hole on freshman goaltender Tomas Anderson to get the Black Knights on the board.

A Lack of Discipline Killed Army This Weekend

Army looked to continue that momentum into the third period, but nothing would give in the Niagara zone. Then disaster struck for the Black Knights. Three minutes and thirty seconds into the third, Army junior Brent Keefer would be assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct following a coach’s challenge for slewfooting a Niagara player.

“Ultimately, discipline starts with me, and in the last few games, we simply have not had that,” Zach McKelvie said after seeing his team take 15 penalties this weekend. “The message hasn’t gotten through to our guys yet, but it will. Our team is still trying to figure out who we are. The season is full of ups and downs, and this weekend we did not have our game, so discipline is even more critical in those types of games. It’s frustrating as a staff because it is important to us, and it’s something we need to change immediately.”

On the five-minute power play, Army did a great job with a man down and was able to kill off 4:41 seconds, but Niagara eventually scored, re-taking their two-goal lead and all but killing the game off.

“The officials reviewed it and decided it was a major; you cannot put yourself or the team in that position,” Zach McKelvie said on the penalty to Keefer. “The refs didn’t initially see it, and Niagara challenged it, which turned out to be a great challenge as they got an insurance goal on that major penalty.

McKelvie, at the time of the question, said he had not spoken to Brent about the play yet, but did say that “he is a great player and he will learn from it.”

Niagara would add some salt to the wound this weekend by scoring an empty net goal with only 70 seconds to seal their series sweep of Army. Over 120 minutes, Army was outshot 65 to 41; that’s not a successful strategy for winning hockey.

Looking Forward to Next Weekend

Army (3-5-3, 1-5-2 AHA) is back in action next weekend when they return home to West Point for Air Force hate week, as the Air Force Falcons (5-6-1, 2-4) come to town.

Last season, the Black Knights went undefeated against the Falcons, with two regulation victories, an overtime win, and a shootout victory up in Colorado Springs. Head coach Zach McKelvie is excited to see the Falcons come to town.

“For me, it is just a privilege to be a part of this special series in any role. This is the most special rivalry in all of college hockey for a lot of different reasons,” according to McKelvie. “For us to be successful, we need to play to our identity, which we did not do this weekend [against Niagara]. These games, often times, come down to one play or who manages their mistakes the best. This is a series that is always a great test, so we need to prepare for that and make sure we are much better than we were this weekend.” 

After starting the season 1-5-1, the Falcons won four straight games, sweeping both Brown and Sacred. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they ran into a red-hot Holy Cross team last weekend and were swept at home.

The expectation is that Tate Rink will be sold out for both games on Friday and Saturday night. Army owns a 19-24-4 record at home against Air Force and will need to feed of the home support if they want to get back in the win column this weekend

Game Summary

Final Score: Army West Point 1, Niagara 4
Date: November 15th, 2025
Venue: Dwyer Arena, Niagara Falls, N.Y
Attendance: 657
Officials: Referee – Patrick Sharron & Deric Boehm; Linesman – Trevor Davis & Joseph Gladnick

Scoring Summary

First Period

• No Goals

Second Period

• 13:18 — Niagara: Maxim Muranov (Declan McDonnell & Jacob Maillet) EV — 1-0 Niagara
• 14:02 — Niagara: Lane Brockhoff (Spencer Young & Maxim Muranov) EV — 2-0 Niagara
• 19:26 — Army: Owen Nolan (Barron Woodring & Sam Groebner) EV — 2-1 Niagara

Third Period

• 8:15 — Niagara: Maxim Muranov (Nathan Oickle & Spencer Young) PP — 3-1 Niagara
• 18:50 — Niagara: Maxim Muranov (Jacob Maillet) EN — 4-1 Niagara

Team Stats

Goaltending

Niagara

• Tomas Anderson (W): 19 Saves on 20 Shots (.952 SV%)

Army Black Knights

• Jacob Biron (L): 38 Saves on 41 Shots (.926 SV%)

Goal Scorers For Army

• Owen Nolan (2nd of the Season)

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