West Point, N.Y. — Yale walked into Michie Stadium and landed the first blows of the game.
Two quick goals. Early control. Army was staring at a 2–0 hole before most of the crowd had settled.
Then the Black Knights did what good teams do: they didn’t flinch — they took the game back.
No. 11 Army West Point erased a four-goal second-quarter deficit, detonated for seven goals in the third, and slammed the door with a scoreless Yale second half to earn a 12–6 comeback win Saturday.
The Black Knights are now 3–0 on the season.
The game turned into a flood
Yale led 6–2 in the second quarter and looked comfortable dictating tempo.
Army didn’t chase. It stayed close.
Evan Plunkett scored just after the eight-minute mark of the first to get Army on the board, then added another late in the second to keep the Black Knights within striking distance at the break.
The second half was the difference between a competitive afternoon and a statement.
The Black Knights opened the third quarter like the Angel of Death:
- Brayden Fountain scored two minutes into the half (assist: Evan Plunkett).
- Fountain struck again to pull Army within one.
- Gunnar Fellows tied it at 6–6 with his 90th career goal.
And then the moment that snapped the game in half:
John Sullivan forced a turnover, picked up the ground ball, and took it the length of the field for his first career goal — Army’s first lead at 7–6.
From there, it was all Black and Gold.
Army scored 10 unanswered goals spanning the end of the second quarter through the fourth, turning a 6–2 deficit into a 12–6 win that never felt close once the third-quarter wave hit.
The Plunkett brothers ran the comeback
If Army’s second half had a control panel, it belonged to the Plunketts.
Evan and Hill Plunkett combined for nine points — four goals and five assists — and the timing was just as loud as the totals.
Evan was the engine, finishing with six points on two goals and four assists. When Army needed to stop the bleeding early, he scored. When the third-quarter avalanche started, he was the one placing the passes and pushing the pace.
Right beside him, Hill delivered the finishing blows. Hill posted three points on two goals and one assist, including a third-quarter strike that helped turn a tie game into a death blow for the Yale Bulldogs.
When Evan is creating, and Hill is cashing, Army’s offense stops being a set and starts being a problem.
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- Army Women’s Tennis Sweeps UT 4–0, Wins 10th Straight Ahead of Rival Air Force Showdown
Brayden Fountain’s hat trick lit the fuse
Brayden Fountain didn’t just score three — he scored them at the exact moments Yale needed air.
Fountain finished with a hat trick, and the first one out of halftime was the spark. Two minutes into the third, he buried the opener that told everyone in the building Army was done playing from behind.
He hit again to pull Army within one, and by the time the quarter turned into a track meet, Yale’s defense was chasing shadows.
Sean Byrne slammed the door
Senior goalie Sean Byrne made 10 saves, and the headline is simple:
Yale did not score in the second half.
That’s not just goaltending. That’s Army’s defense tightening the screws, winning the middle of the field, and forcing Yale into low-quality looks.
Alberici: “No panic — just back to our level”
Army head coach Joe Alberici didn’t point to some magic halftime speech or a wholesale schematic overhaul. The fixes were real, but simple — and the biggest one was effort between the lines.
“Nothing major in terms of adjustments — we were better spaced on offense and defensively bringing a second long pole defender up into the midfield was valuable, but the biggest difference came in our groundball play.”
That’s where the game flipped. Army stopped losing 50/50s and started owning them.
“We dominated the middle of the field with seemingly every loose ball coming up Army.”
Alberici also highlighted the faceoff work that helped Army stack possessions.
“Robert Simone was 7-11 at the faceoff X, which was enormous.”
Then came the part that doesn’t show up cleanly in a box score: the ride.
“Lastly, our riding game stepped up by pinning the Yale defenders in their own end and creating extra possessions.”
But the most important piece, in his eyes, was composure.
“One more critical piece was that they kept their poise — no panic — just getting back to a higher level of play.”
And now he’s raising the standard.
“The messaging to the team was that the second half today was the new ‘floor’ for us. A great week of practice is needed, and I am counting on our senior leadership to deliver again Monday-Friday.”
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Black Knight notes
- Army improved to 51–8 all-time vs. Yale.
- Army has opened 3–0 for the third straight season.
- It marked the second straight game vs. Yale where Army scored seven goals in a single quarter (also did it on 19.02.2025 at Yale).
- John Sullivan recorded his first career goal and first career assist.
Scoring by quarter
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Army West Point | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 12 |
Up next
Army travels to Atlanta to face No. 18 Michigan on Saturday, 2/21/26 at 12 p.m. ET.
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Army didn’t win this game in the first half — they took it in the second.
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