Army West Point sophomore JJ Cataldo earned Atlantic Hockey America “Goaltender of the Week” honors, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon. It’s the second time that Cataldo has earned the award this season, and the third time in his collegiate career.
Cataldo earned the weekly award following a two-win performance this past weekend against the team’s biggest rival, the Air Force Academy. In two starts against the Falcons, Cataldo was elite!
- .971 Save Percentage – 82 saves on 85 shots
- 1.50 goals-against average – Three goals allowed in 125 minutes
- 50 Saves Friday Night – A career high
- 32 Saves Saturday Night – Including three Falcons’ shootout attempts
- 1-0-1 record – Five out of six points against your rivals on the road
“It’s such a big confidence boost to have him [Cataldo] behind us in the net,” said sophomore Jack Ivey after the team’s win against Vermont in December. “He makes every save he’s supposed to and more, and it’s really shown these past couple of games. We’ve seen what he could do after last season, and it looks like he’s just getting better.”
The 50-save performance marked the most saves in a single game by an Army goaltender since 2012, when Rob Tadazak recorded 50 saves in Army’s matchup against a ranked Maine team.
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- On the Back of a 50 Saves From JJ Cataldo, Army Beats Air Force in Colorado Springs for a Third Consecutive Game
- Reese Ericson Wins Patriot League Player of the Week: Army Basketball 2026
Stats are facts. Since his return from a nagging injury early in December, Cataldo has been a rock for head coach Zach McKelvie and the Black Knights. After a run of 0-5-2 in November, Cataldo has a record of 8-6-2. Two of those six losses came in overtime, and he has a .944% save percentage in those sixteen games.
With just two games left in the Black Knights’ regular season, JJ Cataldo will have to be a major contributor to their success if they want to make a deep run in the Atlantic America Hockey playoffs.
Army (12-14-6, 7-13-4) is set to cap its 2025-2026 regular season with a weekend series against Sacred Heart (17-12-3, 13-8-3). The Black Knights pulled off a series upset in early December, taking four of six points from the Pioneers.
The Pios are led up front by the AHA’s leader in goals (22) and points (35), Félix Trudeau. A transfer from Maine two seasons ago, Trudeau has been a revelation for Sacred Heart and has led them to second place in the conference with two games left. In between the pipes, the Pioneers will roll out Ajeetpal Gundarah, who recently returned to game action and swept Holy Cross last weekend.
Army will have a tough task ahead of them, needing every single point this weekend to secure a home playoff game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on both Friday, the 27th, and Saturday, the 28th at Tate Rink.
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