Army Stuns Quinnipiac, Upsetting the Eighth-Ranked Bobcats on the Road

Hamden, C.T. — A top-10 victory doesn’t happen too often for Army Hockey (3-1, 2-0 AHA). But Friday night, the Black Knights pulled off the major upset, taking down eighth-ranked Quinnipiac University (4-2, 0-0 ECAC) 4-3 in overtime. Senior forward Brent Keefer stepped out of the penalty box and, just seconds later, scored the game-winning goal to send the Army bench into a frenzy as they stormed the ice in front of the Quinnipiac student section.

It was a stunning night at M&T Bank Arena, the home of the Bobcats. Not only for the 3,000+ fans in attendance, but for Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold and his players. Army, from the opening drop of the puck, took the game to the Bobcats. For most of the game, Quinnipiac couldn’t match the Black Knights’ play—a major shock, especially for a team that expects to be in the Frozen Four in April.

“I saw it kind of just lying there, and I feel like I’ve seen Keef [Brent Keefer] put that in the net a million times,” said junior goaltender JJ Cataldo. “So I think I was turning around to sell it to the fans before the puck even went in.”

The Black Knights were aggressive all game and generated offense up and down the lineup. The power play scored again, with Jack Ivey getting his first of the season. Keefer scored twice, and the fourth line got involved with Adam Marshall finding the back of the net. Even guys who didn’t score, like junior forward Ben Ivey, had major impacts on the game, as Pecknold pointed out.

JJ Cataldo was excellent in goal again for the Black Knights, outside of the first two goals he let up in the opening 20 minutes. The Army defense, playing two sophomores and three freshmen, was outstanding. They allowed Cataldo to make saves look easy tonight as he finished with 36 saves on 39 shots (.923 SV%).

Defeating a top-10 team in the country is a rare feat in Army Hockey history, but the 2026–2027 Black Knights can now put that feather in their cap. Ending an 18-season drought, Army secured its first top-10 upset since January 3, 2009, when they knocked off #2 Miami (OH)—an eventual Frozen Four contender later that year. It was a big night for the Army hockey program, but for McKelvie, the job is not finished.

“To me, Quinnipiac is one of those teams that’s like a measuring stick. They’re a team that’s always there at the end of the year, and so you want your team to be challenged. As a coach, you want your guys to get confidence from games like these. These are the reasons we play them. And I think our guys did that tonight. So it means a lot to the program. For us, we’re going to enjoy this. But then we’ve got to move on because we got some big games coming up.”

With this kind of win, Army can expect to wake up Monday morning and see a number next to its name in the National USCHO rankings. A win over #8 Quinnipiac is a fantastic mark for the history of the program, but it’s only the end of October. We still have five months of hockey left to play, and the Black Knights are looking forward to the challenge each week from here on out.

First Period: Scored First, But the Bobcats Responded

The Black Knights have been excellent in the first ten minutes of games to start the 2026-2027 season. Saturday night would be no different, with Army flying out of the gates, forcing Quinnipiac to match their pace.

With their pressure on the Bobcats players, even in the Army defensive zone, the Black Knights forced an error out of Quinnipiac and opened the scoring just over 150 seconds into the game.

It was freshman center Thomas Neu, in just his second game, who forced the turnover at the Army blue line, before sending Brent Keefer all alone on a breakaway. The Colorado Springs native made no mistake and ripped a shot past the glove of Christian Kirish. No fancy moves for Keefer, but it was effective to freeze Kirish to give the Black Knights a 1-0 lead.

Starting strong not only has helped Army on the scoreboard, but it’s also boosted the confidence of the entire bench, according to Keefer. “Yeah, no, it for sure helps us out. I mean, luckily I had great linemates that got me the puck with Thomas Neu and Rhys Wallin. It helps boost our confidence that, like, yeah, we’re on the road and it’s a ranked team, but we can also play. We’re also a good team too.”

Quinnipiac eventually found a resemblance of their game, and with the talent on their roster, scored two quick goals to take the lead with 5:46 left in the first period.

Chris Pelosi got the Bobcats on the board first, finding himself with a 1v1 opportunity against Army senior forward Nik Hong, who was the only man back. Pelosi took advantage of that matchup, getting around Hong towards the middle of the ice and wristing a shot past JJ Cataldo to tie the game. Less than a minute later, Jack Stockfish, the former Holy Cross Crusader, gave the Bobcats the lead, snapping a shot far-side and getting past the glove of Cataldo.

Army got back to its pressure in the offensive zone as the period wound down. The Black Knights hit two crossbars, including Liam Chapman absolutely pinning the iron. They didn’t get a tying goal, but it set them up for success in the second 20 minutes.

Second Period: Taking the Bobcats’ Crowd Out of the Game

The iron wouldn’t be a problem for Army in the second period, finding the back of the net on their first man advantage of the game. Army came into the game with the #1 power play in the country, just under 50%, and the first unit delivered again.

Junior Nils Forselius was able to dig the puck out of a scramble in the corner and find junior Jack Ivey at the top of the slot all alone. With nobody between him and the net, Ivey wrist shot overpowered Christian Kirish, sneaking through his arm, short side, to tie the game at 2-2.

Things would get even better, as the Black Knights retook the lead just five minutes later. What looked like a simple pass in transition from freshman Cade De St. Hubert along the wall to Adam Marshall at the left circle found its way into the back of the net to give Army a 3-2 lead just over halfway through the game. Marshall’s shot from the bottom of the circle, an impossible angle to score from, found a little opening over the right shoulder of Christian Kirish, who was hugging the post.

A major factor in Army’s Friday night victory was JJ Cataldo. Late in the second period, Cataldo came up huge, denying Markus Vidicek on a breakaway with only 40 seconds remaining. That frame was a turning point for the Black Knights: sharp offense, clutch blocked shots, and reliable goaltending secured their lead heading into the third period.

Third Period: Army Looking to Seal the Deal

Defending a one-goal lead for 20 minutes with Quinnipiac throwing the kitchen sink at you was going to be a tough test for Army. For a long stretch, they were sticking to and executing their game plan. But as all good teams do, the Bobcats tied the game with 11:39 on the game clock.

It would turn out ot be a great transition sequence for Quinnipiac. Both Jack Stockfish and Nate Tivey attacked the Black Knights’ defense with speed. Stockfish, with his 6’4 and 215-pound frame, was able to get around senior Pierce Patterson and throw the puck into the crease towards the crashing Tivey. Cataldo made the initial save, but Tivey, with his momentum, was able to power the puck over the goal line and give Quinnipiac some new life.

Both teams pushed for a winner in the last ten minutes of the game, but Christian Kirish and Cataldo stood tall in their creases to push this game into overtime. The next goal would either keep Quinnipiac inside the top-10 or push Army into the top-25 of next week’s rankings.

Overtime: From Potential Villain to Hero

To start the extra frame, Army took possession of the puck and didn’t give it up for quite a while. After 90 seconds of feeling out the defense and some sloppy passes, Army got two quality looks. Sophomore Billy Batten retrieved a puck on the far boards, spun to the goal line and lost his man. Batten, with one inside cut past a defender, got a shot off inside the right dot, leaving a juicy rebound for a collapsing Jack Ivey. With the net half open, Ivey controlled the rebound with his skate, but his shot was just wide of the post as they continued to look for a winner.

Thirty seconds later, Army had a two-on-one with Rhys Wallin and Brent Keefer, with Keefer’s shot missing the net. Now drained at the end of his shift, Keefer took a penalty, holding Mason Marcellus with his free hand. With that penalty, it felt like that could have been game over.

“I mean, I took that penalty. I was definitely praying to God in the box. Like, ‘please, just help me out one more time,'” said Keefer. “I kind of screwed over the team a little bit with a dumb penalty.”

On the penalty kill, the game would fall on the shoulders of four players: Nik Hong, Lukas McCloskey, Liam Chapman, and JJ Cataldo. Those four stayed on the ice for the FULL two-minute kill. It paid off. The Black Knights had sticks in lanes, kept everything to the outside, and got multiple clearances down the ice. There was one scare. Though it looked like an incredible game-saving save from Cataldo, he credited sophomore Lukas McCloskey with the block.

“Yeah, I can’t take credit for that one. That was actually a block by one of our D, and that’s the buy-in that we got all night from our guys,” Cataldo said. “That was Lukas McCloskey. But every single guy was buying into blocking shots, and that’s why we got the job done tonight.”

At the end of the kill, there would be a controversial “trip” not called, and with the Keefer penalty now expired, Army was on the break.

Nik Hong played the puck over to Keefer inside the blue line, and though Quinnipiac had a three-on-two numbers advantage, Keefer got a shot on goal. Hong drove the net and got a backhand chance on the rebound. But most importantly, he freed up a lane for Keefer to crash the net on his rebound. With the puck lying just outside the crease, Keefer was easily able to lift the puck over Christian Kirish’s left pad, who was sprawling in desperation, to win the game for Army in overtime.

The Black Knights erupted off the bench and met Keefer to celebrate right in front of the Quinnipiac student section. Keefer had a mindset once he stepped out of the box. He and Hong executed that plan to perfection. “On the goal, I was just like, ‘ We need to get a shot.’ Like, the boys have been grinding hard for two minutes for me. Nik Hong saw me, then I just got a shot towards the net as he was driving to the net. The rebound just happened to go right to me, and I just put it away.”

In a span of just 131 seconds, Brent Keefer went from the potential villain to the hero of the night as the Army Black Knights captured the program’s first top-10 victory in 18 years.

Quotes From Friday’s Upset Victory Over #8 Quinnipiac:

Head Coach Zach McKelvie

Q: A huge win tonight here in Hamden. I think it’s the first time you guys have won here against Quinnipiac in Connecticut. What’s the feeling?

“It’s definitely the first time we’ve won in this rink. You know, Quinnipiac’s a great team. They have a ton of skill, are very well coached, and we got that goal early. It gave us confidence, and we were on our heels a little bit, but our guys just stuck together. We made some big plays tonight.”

Q: Kiefer gets the opening goal and then gets the game-winning goal. What have you seen out of his production this year?

“I mean, he’s been excellent this year. He’s been rejuvenated. He had a great summer, and I think he’s just come in with a lot of energy. And you know what? We lost Woody [Barron Woodring], our captain. And I think Kiefer understands he’s got to step up. And he did that tonight. Obviously, huge game for him and JJ.”

Q: On that 4-on-3 power play in overtime, all three guys stayed on the ice for a full two minutes, and it sparked the game-winning goal when Keefer came out the box. Talk about that effort from the PK guys for the full two minutes on that penalty kill.

“Yeah, all four guys on the ice: It was Cataldo, Liam Chapman, Lukas McCloskey, and Nik Hong. They were just warriors out there. Quinnipiac got one really good look and JJ had to make a save. But those guys just stayed composed, compact, and they got a couple clears. Then the poise that Hong had on that game-winning goal was unbelievable. I mean, he was tired. He was out there for two minutes, and he just knew that Kiefer was coming out of the box and made a play.

Q: You had to lead twice in this game. The Offense looked pretty solid, outside of a couple of looks here and there. But overall, from an offensive standpoint from tonight, what can you take away from what you guys did tonight against Quinnipiac?

“Well, the power play scored another one. They’ve been great all year, and they’re just making plays. Like, the retrieval intensity on that goal was great. And then Adam Marshall’s goal was just an elite shot. And, you know, obviously the game-winning goal. That’s a dirty goal. Like, if you want to win hockey games, you’ve got to score greasy goals like that.”

Senior Forward Brent Keefer

Q: Nationally ranked teams, and you just seem to have something going, especially the last two years. You had that big goal against UMass to secure that win, and now tonight. What’s it just been like for you?

“Yeah, it’s been good. I mean, just this year, like, I kind of have a different mindset. I mean, we feel like we’re not really playing to the ranked team’s play. We want to play above that. We know, even though we’re not ranked, we can play. That’s the style we want to play at. We don’t want to play at their level. We want to play at our own level. We know we’re a great team, and we kept that through all 60 minutes and overtime.”

Q: What was the coach’s message at the bench as overtime was about to start?

“Play our game. We practiced three-on-three multiple times, and we possessed the three-on-three for most of the game, aside from the penalty I took. We played to our strengths, and the PK bailed us out multiple times this game, and it just worked out in our favor.”

Q: That rebound is just sitting there, and you’re putting it in the net. What’s the overall emotion of scoring that overtime winner in front of the student section?

“Yeah, no, it was obviously a great crowd for them. And, I mean, honestly, I was mostly just happy to get that game over with. I mean, with a shootout win or loss, it doesn’t really go in the column. So we’re obviously happy to get in the win column. So that was my mindset, and happy to help the team out any way I can.”

Junior Goaltender JJ Cataldo

Q: A big, huge win. Bounced back after the first period. And what was going through your mind?

“Yeah, it was a great overall win. The boys bought into our game plan there. And I would even say, like, if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, that wasn’t our best 60 minutes, and we still got the job done.”

Q: In the third and even in overtime, you had to come up with some big saves. What was going through your mind, especially during that penalty kill?

“Just trying to stay calm. You know, they got some good players down there. And, yeah, definitely looking to see what we could do on the PK. That was a huge, huge kill there in overtime.”

Q: A win like this, what does it do for the program and for you guys as the season continues?

“I think it just proves that we can hang with the big dogs. Teams like that, they’re gonna be looking to get in the national tournament, and so are we. So that win proves that we could do it as well.”

Next Up: Rochester Institute of Technology

Looking forward to next week’s games, the Army Black Knights (3-1, 2-0 AHA) are set to host RIT (2-4-1, 1-1 AHA). The Tigers are coming off a nice weekend of their own, splitting a series with RPI up in Rochester.

Through seven games, it’s been scoring by committee for Matt Thomas’ squad. RIT has three guys tied for the team lead with four points: Lucas Romeo (2 Goals & 2 Assists), Camden Bajzer (2 Goals & 2 Assists), and Christian Catalano (2 Goals & 2 Assists).

In goal, the Tigers have used all three of their goaltenders this season. With four starts, Jakub Krbecek, a native of the Czech Republic, has a 1-2-1 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .918% save percentage.

Army played in one series with RIT last season, picking up four points with a 6-2 win and a 3-2 overtime loss at West Point last season. The Black Knights will look for similar success Halloween weekend.

Game Summary:

Final Score (OT): Army 4, Quinnipiac 3
Date: October 23rd, 2026
Venue: M&T Bank Arena, Hamden, C.T.
Attendance: 3,153
Officials: Referee – Tyler Loftus & Kevin Graber; Linesman – Dylan Lewis & Patrick Dapuzzo

Scoring Summary

First Period

• 2:38 — ARMY: Brent Keefer [2] (Thomas Neu) EV — 1-0 Army
• 13:35 — QUINNIPIAC: Chris Pelosi (Tyler Borgula) EV — 1-1
• 14:14 — QUINNIPIAC: Jack Stockfish (Aaron Schwartz & Andon Cerbone) EV — 2-1 Quinnipiac

Second Period

• 5:06 — ARMY: Jack Ivey [1] (Nils Forselius) PP — 2-2
• 10:15 — ARMY: Adam Marshall [1] (Cade De St. Hubert & Vincent Salice) EV — 3-2 Army

Third Period

• 8:21 — QUINNIPIAC: Nate Tivey (Jack Stockfish & Tyler Borgula) EV — 3-3

Overtime

• 5:19 — ARMY: Brent Keefer [3] (Nik Hong) EV — 4-3 Army

Penalites

• Quinnipiac – 1st Period: Alex Kostov, Boarding (8:53)
• Quinnipiac – 2nd Period: Andon Cebrone, Hooking (4:15)
• ARMY – 2nd Period: Jack Ivey, Hooking (10:56)
• Quinnipiac – 3rd Period: Elliott Groenewold, Interference (13:56)
• Quinnipiac – 3rd Period: Jan Golicic, Slashing (13:17)
• ARMY – Overtime: Brent Keefer, Holding (2:32)

Team Stats

Goaltending

Army Black Knights

• JJ Cataldo (W): 36 Saves on 39 Shots (0.923 SV%)

Quinnipiac Bobcats

• Christian Kirsch (L): 19 Saves on 23 shots (.826 SV%)

Don’t Miss a Moment of Black Knight Action!

For more Army hockey coverage, Black Knights athletics, and global sports news, stay connected with Bad Dawg Sports—your source for insider access and authentic storytelling.

• Game recaps and previews before anyone else
• Exclusive player and coach interviews
• Behind-the-scenes Black Knight coverage
• Breaking news alerts and roster updates
• Statistical deep dives and season analysis

Subscribe to our newsletter for just $24/year. Get exclusive analysis, behind-the-scenes content, and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox. Current subscribers will always stay at the rate they signed up for—lock in your price today!

| Follow Daniel Rebain on X | Visit bad-dawgsports.com |