Army Hockey Close Out the Regular Season With Senior Day Loss to Sacred Heart

West Point, N.Y. — In front of a sold-out crowd on senior day, Army Hockey’s class of 2026 got to skate on the ice at Tate Rink one last time. Missing two of its top scorers in Ben Ivey and Nils Forselius, it was going to be a tough task to come away with three points against Sacred Heart on Saturday night. The Pioneers came out victorious, but the Black Knights, with seven seniors in the lineup, battled until the final whistle one last time in front of their home fans.

“It was just really special being with all those guys,” said senior assistant captain Sean Vlasich. “I mean, from where we started to where we are now, it’s just pretty cool. We lost some guys along the way, but it was just pretty special to have all those guys out there as a group for one last time here at Tate.”

Army was able to tie the game at two in the third period with a power play goal from Jack Ivey. But the joy of the crowd was silenced very quickly when Sacred Heart scored twice in less than a minute. The fight was there from the Black Knights. Army cut the deficit to one with a Nik Hong tip, but they weren’t able to find that tying goal to force overtime. Sophomore netminder JJ Cataldo made 24 saves on 28 shots in the final game of the regular season.

It was disappointing to end the regular season with a loss. And while this isn’t officially the end of their season, it was the very last time that the class of 2026 skated off the ice at Tate Rink. Talking about the emotions of his last moments on the ice, Vlasich called it an “honor” to put on the Army jersey these last four years.

“I was just thinking about how special a place this is, how much of an honor it is to wear that jersey every day, and how cool it is to play in front of these fans at this rink, on this campus. Just really being able to go to this school is just a huge honor, and I’m just really thankful to be here.”

The loss sets Army (12-16-6, 7-15-4 AHA; 28 points) up with a one-game playoff with Niagara University (12-21-1, 9-16-1 AHA; 30 Points). This will be the third straight season that Zach McKelvie and his team will head up to upstate New York to play the Purple Falcons in the playoffs.

Black Knight News:

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Needing a win in regulation Saturday night, Army would concede the first goal l1:48 into the opening period. The Pioneers capitalized on Black Knight’s mistake, and Marcus Joughin from the slot beat JJ Cataldo to give the guests a lead heading into the locker rooms.

Trailing 1-0 halfway through the game, Army was looking for any spark to feed off of. They would find that spark from two unconventional sources: a freshman defenseman and the fourth line.

With senior Owen Nolan in the penalty box, the Black Knights’ penalty kill stepped up massively. A goal for the Pioneers, and you’re now trailing by two against one of the best defensive teams in the conference. But if you get a kill, then the momentum could start to swing your way. On the man-advantage, Sacred Heart got three shots on net, all saved by Cataldo, but there was another shot that never made it to the Stuart, Florida, native.

As the penalty kill was winding down, Liam Chapman blocked a Felix Trudeau shot. But instead of the puck ricocheting into the corner, Chapman caught the puck and was able to jumpstart a three-on-one the other way as Nolan exited the box. Chapman took it coast-to-coast, and the freshman defenseman beat Teagan Kendrick five-hole to tie the game at one a piece.

“Anytime a guy gets their first goal at a new level in college, it’s great,” said Zach McKelvie. “And that was an unbelievable block that he had. You know, he blocked a shot from the best player in the league in Trudeau. He was able to kind of collect it, go down, had a little fake, and scored his first goal. So that was a nice goal to get us going. I’m really proud of him because he gets better every single day.”

Chapman’s senior teammates have seen a rapid growth in the freshman’s game since the second half of the season.

“I mean, he’s a great guy, first off, off the ice, in the locker room,” Owen Nolan said as he praised the first year Chapman. “And it’s hard, right? Like your freshman year here, it’s hard to adjust, but he’s done a great job, and he’s getting rewarded for it too. I know this was his only or his first goal, but he’s had chances and I’m happy for him.” Assistant captain Sean Vlasich agreed with Nolan’s assessment. “Every time he’s on the ice, he’s just really poised. He doesn’t skate or play like a freshman when he’s on the ice. He plays a lot older than he is, and I was just happy to see him get that goal. It was a huge play for us, and it’s been a long time coming for him. He’s looked great for us.”

No Love Lost This Weekend

All weekend, there has been a lot of chirping between both teams and lots of after-the-whistle scrums that the officials needed to break up. There was even a point during Saturday’s game when Nik Hong and Billy Batten were verbally going with multiple players on the Sacred Heart bench for around three minutes before they got back on the ice.

There was one battle in particular that persisted through both games. That being 5’9 Vincent Salice going back-and-forth with 6’4 Ray Fust. It was every time they were on the ice, neither giving the other an inch, and both yapping up a storm when play stopped.

The turning point of the weekend was when Sacred Heart’s Liam Lesakowski took out Army’s leading scorer Ben Ivey with a blatant hit to the head after the whistle. Ivey, who remained motionless on the ground, was treated by head trainer Rachel Ross before skating off the ice with the help of his teammates. He did not return to game action this weekend. It was a blow that Army could not afford, with Nils Forselius already missing due to an injury in the Air Force series.

All Senior Line Gets Army Going

On Saturday, with the score tied at one, Sacred Heart looked to crank up the physicality once again. The Pioneers looked to take the crowd out of the game with a big hit in the Army zone on senior Trevor Smith, but that only got the Black Knights’ adrenaline going.

With it being senior night, Zach McKelvie decided to roll out an all-senior fourth line comprised of Lucas Kanta, Joey Dosan, and Trevor Smith. All three players have combined to play just 37 games total this season, with Kanta playing the most with 23. But in their last game at Tate Rink, the seniors got the bench buzzing.

“Well, they wanted to make an impact on the game, and they knew that. Against a skilled team like Sacred Heart, you’ve got to be physical. And they did that,” said Zach McKelvie. “You know, I thought Lucas Kanta, in particular like, we were kind of flat that first period. He came out and started throwing his body around, and we got a lot of momentum from that. And our team just got some juice, and we started to get going after that.”

When Sacred Heart started throwing their bodies around, Army was more than willing to oblige. Senior Lucas Kanta took his man in the offensive zone and ran him through the boards, taking him off his feet. The crowd erupted to the sound of the boards rattling throughout Tate Rink. Kanta threw two more thunderous hits in the period, and it got the attention of his teammates and coach.

“Yeah, Kanta always brings that physicality and the energy we need, I think, and that whole line does for sure,” said Owen Nolan. “They’ve been doing it all year. And now that it was senior night, I think they ramped it up a little more. And it was great. It helps on the bench. Those guys are great locker room guys. So they helped us out all around.”

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High Scoring Third Period

With the game tied heading into the third period, Army’s playoff fate would be determined in the final twenty minutes of play. Right off the hop, Sacred Heart would re-take the lead just 1:19 into the third. Pioneers leading scorer Felix Trudeau threw a puck towards JJ Cataldo’s net, and John Driscoll was able to get behind Sam Groebner and deflect the puck past an unsuspecting Cataldo.

Minutes later Army found another successful push to tie the game, this time on the man-advantage. Coming into Saturday’s game, Army’s power play was the second-best in the conference. Filling in for Ben Ivey, Brent Keefer from the top of the right circle snuck a pass through the slot, and found Jack Ivey creeping down towards the left post. The San Diego native, who is second on the team in goals, made no mistake, one-timing home his 12th of the season to get the Black Knight back on level terms.

The score wouldn’t stay tied for long, with Sacred Heart potting two goals in a span of less than a minute. The Pioneers answered back with a power play of its own. Gavin Bryant threw a puck into the Army crease, and the puck found its way into the net. At first, the officials waved off the goal, but after a discussion, the goal was awarded after a replay showed the puck deflected into the net off of Sam Groebner’s skate. JJ Cataldo had no chance on the play.

The Pioneers double their lead 44 seconds later. Sean Vlasich attempted to make a play on the puck at the Sacred Heart blue line, but couldn’t get the puck. With Vlasich out of position, Sacred Heart had a three-on-one of their own. Vitaly Levyy drove the net with the puck and made an unreal drop pass, through his legs, to Stephane Huard. All Huard had to do was lift the puck over Cataldo’s left pad, and the Pioneers took a two-goal lead with 11:23 left in regulation.

On the replay, it was subtle, but Huard very clearly interfered with Jack Ivey as the Army forward was backchecking. The official in the corner disagreed. Now needing three goals to win the game in regulation, Army would need to accomplish something it hasn’t done all season.

The Black Knights would get a quick goal on the board and cut the Pioneers’ lead to just one with more than half the period remaining. Senior defenseman Jude Brower was able to get his shot through his defender at the blue line, and junior Nik Hong was able to re-direct his seeing-eye shot past Kendrick.

Time was the biggest enemy for Zach McKelvie, and he finally pulled his goalie for the extra attacker with around two minutes left in regulation. With the six-on-five advantage, Army had a couple of grade-A looks at the net to tie the game. Jack Ivey had a chance at a second goal when he one-timed a cross-ice pass just over Teagan Kendrick’s shoulder. Seconds later, Nik Hong had an awesome look on net when he beat Kendrick over his right shoulder, but the puck hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.

Army had one last push to try and get the game to overtime, but the Black Knights came up empty for a second night in a row as the final horn sounded. Losing one-goal games on back-to-back nights ultimately proved to be the difference between hosting a playoff game and traveling six hours by bus to Niagara.

The Black Knights have a minimum of one game left on their schedule this season. But this will be the last time that the seven seniors on this roster step foot on the ice at Tate Rink.

Senior Recognition

The Black Knights celebrated senior night before puck drop. The team honored seven seniors in the class of 2026, who were playing in their final game at Tate Rink in their collegiate careers. Those players are as follows:

• #14 Owen Nolan, Left Defenseman; Hometown: Mahopac, New York; Major: Law & Legal Studies, Branch Assignment: Field Artillery
• #15 Lucas Kanta, Left Wing; Hometown: Grand Forks, North Dakota; Major: Systems & Decisions Sciences, Branch Assignment: Infantry
• #20 Sean Vlasich, Right Defenseman; Hometown: Hillsdale, New Jersey; Major: Geospatial Information Sciences, Branch Assignment: Aviation
• #21 Stephen Willey, Right Wing; Hometown: Shelton, Conneticut; Major: Systems & Decision Sciences, Branch Assignment: ?
• #22 Jude Brower, Left Dedenseman; Hometown: Mahopac, New York; Major: Geospatial Information Sciences, Branch Assignment: Field Artillery
• #26 Joey Dosan, Center; Hometown: Bloomington, Minnesota; Major: Systems & Decision Sciences, Branch Assignment: Explosive Ordnance Disposal
• #27 Trevor Smith, Right Wing; Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina; Major: Systems & Decision Sciences, Branch Assignment: Field Artillery

Last Game At Tate Rink for the Class of 2026

A four-year commitment to the Academy and another five-plus-year commitment to active duty service in the United States Army is not the easiest recruiting pitch for head coach Zach McKelvie. But as a 2009 graduate and a West Point alum, McKelvie knows how difficult those four years can be on an individual. Here’s what McKelvie had to say about senior night for those seven players.

“I mean, they earned it. It’s a hard commitment to make to come to West Point. For four years, they’ve put everything they have into this program. Disappointing to not be able to get them a win tonight, but our season’s not over. And. I was happy that they all got in. I thought they all played well tonight. Other than the loss, I’m really proud of them. It doesn’t take away from anything that they’ve done as a cadet over the last four years.”

In his first three seasons at West Point, Owen Nolan was sporadically used. In 2025-2026, Nolan was a big-time minutes eater on the back end and was a major contributor on Army’s fourth-ranked penalty kill. Growing up forty minutes away in Mahopac, New York, Nolan said he’s going to miss playing in front of friends and family at Tate Rink.

“Yeah, a lot. I don’t know if I can put that into words, but it’s awesome playing here, like the atmosphere we have. And for myself, like being close to home, I have a lot of family that comes to every game, so I’m very fortunate for that. Definitely going to miss it, but hoping to keep this season going a little further than just Tuesday”

Assistant captain Sean Vlasich has been a mainstay on the blue line for the Black Knights since he stepped foot on campus in 2022. In his four seasons, Vlasich played 125 games for the black and gold. Vlasich post-game called West Point “a special place” and going to school at the United States Military Academy was a huge “honor”. Now just months away from graduation, what would Vlasich say to his freshman self?

“I would say just like… Embrace all the little things more, because, like, people say it all the time. They’re like, ‘It goes by a lot faster than you think.’ When you’re here now, it’s easy to say, ‘Yeah, it really does,’ but… That’s something I can go back and tell myself, definitely just enjoy the ride.”

Looking Forward to Round 1 of the AHA Playoffs

Like Zach McKelvie and the players said postgame, their season is not over yet. With Army (12-16-6, 7-15-4 AHA; 28 Points) unable to collect any points this weekend, they will now have to go on the road to play Niagara University (12-21-1, 9-16-1 AHA; 30 Points) in a one-game playoff Tuesday night.

It’s the third consecutive year that the Black Knights will face off in the AHA playoffs against the Purple Falcons. In 2023-2024, Army lost 4-1 in a similar situation. But one year ago, in the 2024-2025 season, Army defeated Niagara in a best-of-three, with both victories coming in overtime.

“It feels like we’re always going up there. I think this is like the third time in my four years here that we’re going up there. It’s a different game playoffs, right? Like it’s quicker decisions, more physical,” senior Owen Nolan said. “That’s kind of what we like to do and like to bring to the table. So I like our chances in this matchup. I think we’re going to have some success going up there.”

This season, it’s been a different story for the Black Knights in upstate New York. Army struggled in its two games against Niagara, with Zach McKelvie calling it the worst series they played all season.

“The negative is that it was our worst weekend all year by far. But the positive is we’ve gone up there and won in the playoffs, last year being. At the most recent and so. Our guys, we just have to commit to playing our game, our style, not changing to the opponent. Playing to our identity, which is fast, tough, and tenacious. And when we play in your face, and we move pucks quickly, we’re usually a pretty good team, and hopefully we can get somebody back from injury, which would also help.”

Army senior defenseman Sean Vlasich was one of those players celebrating a playoff series victory in Niagara last season. He hopes the team can use that experience from last year to catapult them to a victory on Tuesday.

“Hopefully, the older guys who were part of that group last year that won it. I mean, we won an OT game, we won a double OT game. Just kind of taking that experience of knowing how to win in that rink. I know we lost two earlier this year. But maybe reflecting on that from last year, when we had some success, and feeding off of that.”

Vlasich also said that they have a much different team from when they played Niagara before Thanksgiving.

“I just feel like we’re a much more mature team than the last time we were up there. We’re a lot more consistent. As I said before, we’re a lot more mentally stable on the bench. We don’t get too high. We don’t get too low. Um. And, you know, it wouldn’t really be a postseason without going up to Niagara three years in a row.

The Falcons are coming off a home-and-home series split with Canisius. Since the turn of the new year, Niagara has a record of 5-12-1, with three of those losses coming in overtime.

With one of the worst offenses (2.53 GF/GP) and defenses (3.21 GA/GP) in the conference, Niagara is led by leading scorers Declan McDonnell (12 Goals & 13 Assists) and Maxim Muranov (8 Goals & 12 Assists). In goal, the Purple Falcons are projected to start Deivs Rolovs. The Latvian goaltender has a record of 7-12-0, with a goals against of 2.94 and a save percentage of .903%.

Niagara owns a .500 record at home this season and is a very beatable team for the Black Knights. If Army scores the first goal, they will have a ton of success on Tuesday night. But if they start slow, like in a majority of games this year, their season will end prematurely.

Puck drop on Tuesday night at Dwyer Ice Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m and will be broadcast live on FloHockey’s FAST Channel and will be available on Amazon Prime, Fubo, and Bell (Canada).

Game Summary

Final Score: Army 3, Sacred Heart University 4
Date: February 28th, 2026
Venue: Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.
Attendance: 2,586
Officials: Referees – Patrick Sharron & Kevin McManus; Linesmen – Christopher Peterkin & Zac Benedetto

Scoring Summary

First Period

• 11:48 — SHU: Marcus Joughin (Reid Pabich & Felix Trudeau) EV — 1-0 Sacred Heart

Second Period

• 11:00 — Army: Liam Chapman (Unassisted) EV — 1-1

Third Period

• 1:17 — SHU: John Driscoll (Felix Trudeau & Noah Ellis) EV — 2-1 Sacred Heart
• 5:00 — Army: Jack Ivey (Brent Keefer & Jude Brower) PP — 2-2
• 7:54 — SHU: Gavin Bryant (Felix Trudeau & Mikey Adamson) PP — 3-2 Sacred Heart
• 8:38 — SHU: Stephane Huard (Vitaly Levyy & Noah Ellis) EV — 4-2 Sacred Heart
• 9:14 — Army: Nik Hong (Jude Brower & Billy Batten) PP — 4-3 Sacred Heart

Team Stats

Goaltending

Army Black Knights

• JJ Cataldo (L): 24 Saves on 28 Shots (0.857 SV%)

Sacred Heart University

• Teagan Kendrick (W): 22 Saves on 25 shots (.880 SV%)

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