Army Losses Ninth Straight Game in “Dejecting” 3-1 Loss to Bentley

West Point, N.Y. — Coming off an improved effort against Air Force Saturday night, Army looked to earn its first regulation victory in over a month against the Bentley Falcons. Despite a fantastic effort through forty minutes of play, Bentley would score two third-period goals, and the Black Knights would drop their ninth straight game dating back to late October.

Army finally got production from its fourth line. Stephen Willey, who was inserted into the lineup, got the Black Knights on the board first early in the second period. However, it was the third period that ultimately cost Army any points tonight.

“Well, I thought overall we played a pretty solid game, but you have to score more than one goal to win, Army head coach Zach McKelvie said post-game. “You can play as good as you want, but if you don’t score more than one goal, you have to play basically a perfect game. We really didn’t make many mistakes. We didn’t give up much tonight, and that’s a really good hockey team. Uh, but. You’ve got to play mistake-free hockey if you’re only scoring one goal, and so it’s 1-1. We make a mistake on the blue line there, and they finish. Those are the opportunities that we’ve got to start finishing.”

The loss drops Army to 3-8-3 overall and 1-8-2 (6 points) in Atlantic Hockey play, while Bentley continues its hot form and improves to 8-4-1 on the season, remaining undefeated in regulation during conference play at 7-0-1 (22 points).

A Quiet First Period

The first period was relatively quiet for both teams. There were just fourteen shots combined, eight to six Army, and each team had a power play, but there was no real danger posed towards either goaltender.

The biggest chance of the period didn’t even hit the net. On Army’s power play, Ben Ivey, similarly to his goal against Air Force Saturday night, skated through the top of the slot, towards the left faceoff dot, and had an open look at the goal.

With bodies in front of Bentley’s 5’10, 151-pound Lukas Swedin, Ivey looked to beat the freshman goaltender high glove, and nearly did so, but the puck went just wide of the left post.

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Can’t Capitalize on Tremendous Second Period

In the second period, one team came to play, and that was Army. The Black Knights would go on to dominate the middle frame, outshooting Bentley 14-7, beating them in the faceoff dot 13-9, and had three power plays. A majority of the second period was spent in Bentley’s defensive zone, and Army head coach Zach McKelvie credits that to his team getting the puck in deep.

“We were hunting pucks,” McKelvie said. “You know, like when the puck was below their goal line, we were hunting, we were reloading, getting above the puck, so they really couldn’t generate anything off the rush. I think they only had three even-strength shots in the second period. So we did a really good job of limiting their chances and their opportunities. And that just came from like simple habits.”

The pressure was starting to mount on Lukas Swedin’s net. The Bentley goaltender robbed junior Nik Hong at the side of the net, after Hong picked up a rebound off a point shot from freshman Lukas McCloskey, catching the puck in his glove as he desperately threw his body to the right post.

Moments later, Army would get its goal from an unsuspecting name. Right off a faceoff win from freshman Brock Jones, Stephen Willey, who played in just his second game of the season, fired the puck past a not-set Lukas Swedin to give the Black Knights their first lead since their shootout loss to Canisius to begin the month of November.

“I liked this game a lot. I mean, a big goal for us. Brock [Jones] won the faceoff, Marshy [Adam Marshall] just touches it back, and he’s just ‘shooter ready’. Like, sometimes our guys right now are dusting those pucks off, and they [defenders] get in the shot lane. That’s when they get blocked, and he got a quick shot off, and he gets a goal, but I think he was really effective. That’s the kind of expectation you have from a guy who hasn’t played in a while, that they bring that energy and juice.”

Army was on its way to taking a lead into the second intermission, but Bentley would be gifted a way back into the game with less than five minutes remaining. Captain Barron Woodring had his shot blocked, leading to a 2-on-1 the other way for Bentley

Michael Mesic made a pass over to Stephen Castagna, past a sliding Army defenseman, and the Falcons captain & leading scorer was able to sneak one just under the sliding JJ Cataldo, going right to left.

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Freshman Brock Jones is Carving Out a Role

A standout in that second period was freshman center Brock Jones. The native of Lake View, New York, a 22-minute drive from Buffalo, has started to carve out a role for himself on the fourth line for Zach McKelvie.

“I love playing physically. I think it’s a huge element in the game that not a lot of people play nowadays. So my game will always start with being physical, and then, you know, if goals, goals, or assists come, like, that’s great, but, you know, the way I play is physical and hard. You know, no one likes to play against someone who’s going to hit you every time. So, I think that’s crucial for this team.

Jones showed that physicality in that second period. In the neutral zone, Jones threw a thunderous hit and forced a turnover. But he wasn’t done. On the right wing, Jones received the puck down following the turnover and was joined by a driving Lukas McCloskey, whom he made a slick little saucer pass, but Lukas Swedin was able to make a spectacular glove save to keep the game tied.

As he said himself, Jones won’t ever be a point-per-game scorer for Army, but the way he plays will open up opportunities for his linemates and himself in the future.

3rd Period

Army has struggled to play full sixty-minute games, aside from away Union and Northeastern, and the game flipped 180° in the third period. Bentley tilted the ice in their favor, outshooting the Black Knights 15-5, but JJ Cataldo was up to the test early in the third period.

Bentley would eventually break through, and once again this season, it came off a blocked shot at the blueline for Army. Freshman Owen Goodbrand got in the shooting lane and blocked junior Jon Bell’s shot to send the Falcons off to the races. The Waterdown, Ontario native, all alone with Cataldo, made a move to his backhand, then quickly back to his forehand, and powered his shot through the pad of the Army goaltender to give Bentley a 2-1 lead late in the third period.

But the game wasn’t done, Army had one last chance to get this game to overtime. On the team’s sixth power play of the game, senior defenseman Jude Brower, coming down from the point, beat Lukas Swedin with a shot on the ice that got past his right pad. Everyone in Tate Rink started celebrating, including Brower and his teammates, but the official on the goal line emphatically waved it off as it hit the inside of the post and stayed out of the net.

“You hit the post on the power play there. Everybody in the building thinks it went in except for the refs, and the refs made the right call. You know, like when things are going well, those go in. When they’re not, those don’t go in. And so I think there is maybe a little bit of luck or the bounces. My thought is always you create your own luck. You create your own bounces. The other part is, like, we do have guys that have scored in the past, but I don’t think we’re natural goal scorers by trade. Like… The guys need to simplify offensively and be shooter ready. Be in the hard areas more when you get that puck on your stick in the slot, like— Don’t stick handle it, just shoot it. And we’re still learning those habits and you can develop those habits through practice.”

With just over a minute left, junior Ryan Mansfield forced a turnover just as an Army power play was expiring and was able to skate the puck into the empty net. Bentley was able to survive the Army pressure in the second period and escape West Point with all three points.

Getting out of this Funk

The loss for Army marked its ninth in a row. Last season, the Black Knights had a similar stretch, losing 10 straight, but that team was able to get back to winning ways, and it led them down a successful stretch to end the regular season with a playoff series loss to Holy Cross.

Head coach Zach McKelvie said everyone needs to just look at themselves in the mirror.

“Yeah, I thought last year our guys stuck together through the whole process. And it was different last year because these games have come really fast. And so it’s almost worse than last year because we had a natural holiday break in there where we had a two-week break and a lot of our losses were actually non-conference and so you don’t see it as much because the points aren’t getting affected. Now I think our guys are a little more dejected just because we’re losing points in league. And those are hard to make up when you lose this much ground. But you know what? Last year when we got through it, we just stuck together. The guys pointed the finger back at themselves. The coaches did the same. There was no finger pointing, which is really easy to do. And we have the character in the room to survive something like this.

Looking Forward to Next Weekend

Army (3-8-3, 1-8-2 AHA) is back in action this Saturday when #18 University of Massachusetts (8-7, 2-5 Hockey East) comes to West Point for just the third time.

It’s a great opportunity,” head coach Zach McKelvie told the media. “I think we’re one of the only sports here at West Point that… plays multiple ranked opponents in a year. And my thought on it is it’s going to make us stronger. They’re difficult games. But it’s going to make us stronger in February and March when you’re playing those teams because they’re highly skilled. UMass in particular is very well coached. They have a coach that coached in the NHL. So they’ll be ready and I thought it was a good game last year against them and we’re just going to need to get back to simplifying our game and playing to our strengths, not trying to be somebody that we’re not.“

After starting the season 5-1, UMass has come back down to Earth, losing six of its last nine games. Last weekend, the Minutemen split their home series with #16-ranked Providence, winning 2-1 in overtime on Friday and losing 5-1 Saturday night.

UMass is led by junior Jack Musa (7 Goals & 11 Assists) and freshman, first-round pick, Vaclav Nestrasil (7 Goals & 9 Assists) as they look to remain undefeated against the Black Knights on the campus of the United States Military Academy (2-1 OTW, 1-02-16 & 1-0 OTW, 10/29/99).

Game Summary

Final Score: Army 1, Bentley 3
Date: November 25th, 2025
Venue: Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y
Attendance: 1,346
Officials: Referee – Alex Borowiec & Anthony Kenney; Linesman – Ryan Chauvin & Joshua Cleary

Scoring Summary

First Period

• No Goals Scored

Second Period

• 3:02 — Army: Stephen Willey (Adam Marhsall & Brock Jones) EV — 1-0 Army
• 15:27 — Bentley: Stephen Castagna (Michael Mesic) EV — 1-1

Third Period

• 15:53 — Bentley: Owen Goodbrand (Unassisted) EV — 2-1 Bentley
• 18:57 — Bentley: Ryan Mansfield (Unassisted) EV (EN) — 3-1 Bentley

Team Stats

Goaltending

Bentley Falcons

• Lukas Swedin (W): 26 Saves on 27 shots (.962 SV%)

Army Black Knights

• JJ Cataldo (L): 25 Saves on 27 Shots (.925 SV%)

Goal Scorers For Army

• Stephen Willey (1st Goal of the Season)

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