West Point, N.Y. —Coming off an emotional high a week ago, Army (4-1, 3-0 AHA) showed no signs of a letdown against visiting Rochester Institute of Technology (2-5-1, 1-2 AHA). Instead, the Black Knights raised the bar, sweeping the Tigers while holding them scoreless across 120 minutes of hockey. Blanket shutouts in back-to-back games are rare—doing it against a conference opponent makes a statement.
Following the team’s 2-0 shutout Friday night, Army came back to Tate Rink 18 hours later and posted a second consecutive blanking of the Tigers with a 3-0 victory. Once again, junior goaltender JJ Cataldo was superb, stopping all 27 Tigers shots to claim his eighth career shutout, the most among active NCAA goaltenders.
Army opened the scoring again Saturday. Freshman Rhys Wallin rifled a one-timer off a nice pass from fellow plebe Thomas Neu from below the goal line. From there, Army never looked back. In the second period, Army struck again with the man-advantage as Ben Ivey put home a rebound for his first of the season to keep the country’s fourth-ranked power play hot. With RIT pushing to get anything on the board in the third, junior Nils Forselius scored his second goal of the season to put a bow on the weekend sweep.
This weekend, Army head coach Zach McKelvie fielded nine freshman skaters. It’s an impressive number in a vacuum, nine freshmen, but with all the requirements of plebes in their first semester at West Point of the ice, it’s even more grand. Wallin, who leads the team with four goals, mentioned the “leeway and trust” that the coaching staff has given this group, which has translated to early on-ice success.
“I feel like the coaching staff has really trusted us a lot recently. I mean, nine freshmen, that’s pretty crazy. They’ve given us a lot of leeway and trust, and we really enjoy that for sure. I don’t know, I feel like we’re just so close as a group that we just want to make each other better every day, and it’s just been paying off recently.”
The sweep this weekend for the Black Knights set some program records. Their 5-1 start to a season is the best it’s had since the 2006-2007 season under Brian Riley. But the team’s 4-0 start in conference play is their best start in program history.
It’s hard to win games in Atlantic Hockey. Army knows that first-hand. They owned a great non-conference record against Hockey East and the ECAC, but fell behind the eight ball. This year, Army has 12 points in the bank after two weekends
“It’s a really tough league. So you take the points, you store them, and keep moving forward because every team is good,” McKelvie explained. “Every team is well-coached. Every team has good players. For us to get off to a start like this, I think it just gives you confidence. It’s no different than playing a game. Like if you’re up by a goal, your team feeds off it. If you’re down by a goal, you know, you lose a little momentum. Maybe you’re fighting the confidence, then you just end up chasing, and that’s what ended up happening last year. But it’s early, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re not patting ourselves on the back. Like on Monday, when we get back to work, we’re improving, and we’re identifying areas that we can keep growing.”
The win catapulted Army (5-1, 4-0 AHA) into the USCHO top 20, ranking the Black Knights 19th in the country. This marks the first time Army has been ranked since December 30, 2019, when they sat at No. 20 with a 13-5-1 record. The RIT Tigers fall to 2-6-1 (1-3 AHA) following the weekend sweep. Army is back in action next weekend when they travel out to Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Academy (3-5, 1-1 AHA). It should be a very testy rivalry weekend for the Black Knights.
First Period: Army Freshmen Frighten the Tigers Defense
Fast starts have been the Black Knights’ hallmark this season, bringing them plenty of first-period success. While RIT came out stronger than they did on Friday, Army still struck first, opening the scoring with 5:27 left in the period.
While the rest of the team was going for a change, freshman Thomas Neu muscled the puck all the way from his own zone, down below the goal line on a one-on-four rush. That gave his linemates ample time to join the attack. While being doubled up behind the net, Neu’s first pass to senior Brent Keefer in front of the net was blocked, but he wouldn’t be denied. Neu slapped at the loose puck a second time, and it popped out to a free Rhys Wallin in the slot, whose one-timer went through Keefer and beat Jakub Krbecek past his glove to give Army a 1-0 lead.
It was Wallin’s fourth goal of his plebe season. Army has now opened the scoring in all six games this year—a trend Wallin noted has given the entire team a major boost.
“I’d say it’s very critical. I mean, starting on the right foot kind of gives you that momentum and advantage when playing against your opponents, and having that first goal kind of gets everyone going on the bench. You just have more energy, more positivity, and it kind of pays off. So, I mean, getting that first goal is for sure very crucial.”
Second Period: Power Stays Hot and Extends the Lead
Heading into the second period, it had been a remarkably disciplined series, with just two total penalties called across four periods. But just like on Friday, Army earned the game’s first power play—and this time, they made it count.
Seven minutes into the middle frame, the Black Knights doubled their lead with Ben Ivey putting home his first goal of the season. It was a really nice play from Nils Forselius, who was roaming the zone before helping pick up a loose puck along the right boards. Forselius then dashed towards the inside of the slot and was able to get a shot through traffic to force Jakub Krbecek to make a tough save. Fortunately for Ivey, who was standing below the right circle, the puck fell right to him, and he made no mistake to give Army a 2-0 lead.
For Zach McKelvie, when that top unit keeps things simple, he likes their chances to score every single time. “Yeah, they’re a really good unit. We had to make a change because Woody’s [Barron Woodring] out right now, and Honger [Nik Hong] has been really good. He’s been good on the dot. I think at times they look for the perfect play, and when they’re simple and they’re moving pucks quickly, things are going to open up. That was a nice goal, nice finish for Ben. They’ve been good all year, and power play is streaky, like I keep saying, so we’ve got to ride the wave while we can.”
The Army power play is clicking at 35% (7-for-20) through six games, ranking fourth in the nation behind only Wisconsin, Union, and Michigan State (minimum 20 attempts). Forward Nils Forselius credited much of that success to assistant coach Jack Riley, who runs both power-play units.
“Oh, yeah, I mean, obviously, terrific coach in JR [Jack Riley]. He knows what he’s doing. He does a great job. He gives us these plays, and we’re just trying to go out there and execute them. We’ve been together as a unit for a long time. We got Honger [Nik Hong] now, and he’s great. It’s a great addition to have while Woody’s [Barron Woodring] out, and we’re just trying to play direct. Keep the same compete we have five-on-five, and get pucks to the net and collapse. I know JR was saying that we gotta have two guys low today. We did, and we delivered off that.”
Third Period: Icing on the Cake to Secure a Weekend Sweep
The final period mirrored the first five of the series. Army forced RIT to the perimeter, clogged passing lanes, and blocked shots long before they reached goaltender JJ Cataldo. While the Tigers generated a few half-chances, the Black Knights snuffed out any rebounds before RIT could capitalize.
With the game theoretically in reach for RIT, trailing by only two goals. An opportunity to pull their goaltender for a sixth attacker was still in the cards. But with 11:16 remaining in regulation, Nils Forselius gave Army a three-goal cushion and put the game out of reach.
After crossing the blue line, Forselius tried to beat a defender for a controlled entry, but the play was broken up. Refusing to give up on the puck, he hounded the RIT defense behind the net. His relentless forechecking forced a blunder from an RIT forward, who tried to handle a puck between his legs, only to have it bounce off his skate and drift across the crease.
Still moving his feet, Forselius swept around the net, collected the loose puck, and drove straight into the slot. Without hesitation, he snapped a shot past Jakub Krbecek’s glove, ringing it off the crossbar and in to push the Black Knights’ lead to 3-0. Forselius’ ability to get into the middle of the ice and create high-danger looks has been on display all weekend. This time he gets rewarded
The top line, Forselius with Ben and Jack Ivey, hasn’t produced the gaudy offensive numbers we might have expected, but they are generating a ton of chances. It’s just a matter of time before their xG turns into goals, according to their head coach.
“Nils has elevated his game to another level right now,” Zach McKelvie said. “I mean, I’ve been so impressed with him in practice, with him through all these games. He’s tracking hard. He’s defending hard. He’s got a good stick. He’s using one of his best assets, which is his skating. He gets a lot of credit for his hands and his vision. But we’ve tried to communicate to him: the more you use your feet, the more that stuff’s going to showcase. But that line has been excellent. They haven’t scored a ton five-on-five, but the number of chances they’re getting every game has been impressive. So I’ve really been happy with their game.”
Sitting comfortably with a three-goal lead, Army was able to lean on goaltender JJ Cataldo to close the game out. After a couple of garbage time penalties against RIT, the final horn sounded at Tate Rink. A 3-0 victory for Army, but more importantly, a sweep and six points.
On back-to-back nights, JJ Cataldo was a brick wall behind all the white jerseys. Cataldo made all 50 saves this weekend en route to two shutout wins. Sophomore defenseman Lukas McCloskey, who has elevated his own defensive game this season, called Cataldo an “exceptional” goaltender while also crediting the rest of his teammates for “playing within their roles” early in the season.
“Yeah, I mean, JJ is awesome. He’s an exceptional goalie, obviously. And it makes it easy for us to play in front of him because we know he has our back. It just- you know, between him and the forwards, as a D-Corp, we just have so much confidence to play within our role and contribute to wins.”
The win put Army (5-1, 4-0 AHA) in a terrific spot sitting on 12 points this early in Atlantic Hockey play. Outside of Bentley, who’s 3-1, every other team in the conference has either split their opening series or has a losing record. The Black Knights have nine more points than third-place Niagara. If Army wants to contend for a conference title, they need to bank these points early and often. Through four games, they’re off to a tremendous start.
Quotes From Saturday Night’s Victory:
Head Coach Zach McKelvie
Q: The RIT radio guys mentioned it on the broadcast, but whenever they threw a shot on net, almost all five of the guys on the ice kind of collapsed down into the house and were able to kind of clear the danger before anything kind of happened. Just talk about that collective effort to help out your goalie and just clear the danger in your D zone.
“Yeah, we’re really confident in all four of our goalies. And we know that they’re going to make the first save. It’s our job to help them with that second chance. And our guys are committed to it. They did a great job of tying up sticks or just punting on pucks. Obviously RIT threw a lot of garbage at the net, and I think those are really tough plays. We try to get our guys to do that a little bit, and it’s hard to cover. It’s a good strategy, but we covered it pretty well tonight.”
Q: Army has opened the scoring in every game this season, including Wallin’s tally tonight. What has allowed the group to come out so fast, and how much does playing with an early lead dictate the rest of the game?
“I mean, you always just try to play the game in segments. And you might go down. You’ve got to keep playing the same way and stick to it. But it definitely helps getting up in the game with the lead. I mean, it just boosts your confidence. Like, guys, body language is a lot better, typically. And, you know, we’ve been fortunate to get that first one in a lot of our games this year. So it’s a formula that we talk about, like starting on time. I think last year we didn’t start on time every game, and it backfired on us because then you’re chasing the game. So credit to the guys for… making sure that we’re dialed in at the drop of the puck.
Q: Early in the season, the penalty kill was looking good, but they just weren’t able to finish kills. Tonight, three for three. Quinnipiac, they were also really good. Talk about what you’ve seen from those units and kind of stepping up to the task.
“We’re just playing more connected right now. Early in the season, in that exhibition game, you haven’t played a live game yet, so you know we’re going to be a little rusty, and we might have to shake out the cobwebs. Our guys, they know what we’re trying to do now: they’ve played connected, and they’re getting clears at the right time. We’re winning some face-offs, so that all helps. And I think our entries or our forecheck on our penalty kill has been a lot better. So it’s a lot harder for the other team to set up.
Freshman Forward Rhys Wallin
Q: Another great weekend, a sweep, but not only that, two shutouts. I talked last night with the guys about not only the defense, but the forwards just coming back and their sticks being in the right places, your body in the right position, blocking shots. Just talk about that overall effort defensively to kind of get these shutouts back-to-back nights.
“Yeah, our defense, I mean, I gotta give it to JJ. He was unreal. Two shutouts on a weekend. That’s really good. And I don’t know, we were just really committed. I feel like this weekend, at blocking shots, I know Cam Charron had five block shots on Friday night, and a lot of guys had block shots. Tonight and last night. I mean it’s just like I feel like we really committed to the process just stopping in our spots and trying to I know work as work as a unit to close down areas and get the puck out and play it safe.
Junior Forward Nils Forselius
Q: It was a big weekend from the boys. A sweep against RIT. Not only a sweep, but two shutouts back to back. Just talk about the overall effort this weekend.
Yeah, obviously it’s hard to lose with two shutouts. JJ, he’s unbelievable. He’s definitely one of the best in the league, if not the best. So we’re just kind of building off him in the back end. Great effort from our D, moving pucks quickly, getting a lot of shot blocks.
Q: I talked to a bunch of the guys yesterday about not only the defensemen, but the forwards, tracking back, getting sticks in lanes, just being in the right position and blocking shots. Just talk about that overall five-man effort to kind of make things easier for your goaltender this weekend.
“Yeah, I mean, great, great efforts, good reloads. We were stopping them at the red line tons of times, turning pucks over. Obviously, it makes it easy. I mean, the best defense is just a dominant offense, and it’s kind of what we brought this weekend.
Q: Five-on-five, your line continues to drive play and create high-quality chances. You capped off a strong day with an assist and an insurance goal. What has allowed your trio to lead the charge offensively?
“Yeah, it’s definitely a privilege to play with those two [Ben & Jack Ivey]. I mean, they’ve played together their whole life. They have great chemistry. Two big, solid players. It’s not the results we wanted to begin the year, obviously. We’ve had a ton of chances. We talk to Zach and JR all the time. They just tell us to stay in it. The statistics, all the analytics, everything shows that we’ve been dominating. We just haven’t been able to put it in the net. So it definitely feels good to get the monkey off our backs, and I think moving forward you’re going to see a lot more production out of us.”
Q: I talked to Rhys and a couple of the other freshmen, but nine freshmen this weekend in the lineup, from a class of 12. Talk from your perspective as a junior; you’ve been in their shoes. What have they been able to bring to this team to elevate the whole squad?
“It helps so much to have guys step in and dominate the way they have. Every single player—whether it’s a freshman or someone who didn’t play a ton last year—has done a great job, which really speaks to our depth. It starts with the leadership from our three captains, the senior core, and our coaching staff. In my three years here, this is definitely the tightest group we’ve had. We have a lot of freshmen, but it feels like they’ve been here the whole time. They’re ready for this level and showing it every night.”
Sophomore Defenseman Lukas McCloskey
Q: Great weekend from the guys. Defensively from JJ as well; two shutouts. Talk about the overall effort defensively, not just from you guys but the forwards as well, to kind of track back and have sticks in the right places, break up plays, and block shots.
“Yeah, you know, us D are focused on having good gaps and having speed coming back into the zone. But it’s a five-man effort. Having the forwards tracking back hard, forcing their forwards to the walls, gives us a lot of confidence to step up and make them dump pucks in early when they don’t want to. And it also sets up our breakouts. We’ve been doing a really good job of– just getting out of our zone quickly and efficiently. Which really helps our defense as well as accelerate our offense.”
Q: The defensemen have been active lately—pinching at the right times and jumping into the rush on breakouts. What has the coaching staff emphasized about getting the blue line involved in the offensive game?
“Yeah, they want us to be active. They encourage us to make plays, which is good. We have a dynamic back end, which is important for any team. But I think it starts with the foundation of checking back hard and using those transitions to feel our speed the other way.”
Q: On the PK tonight, 3-for-3. Tracking back to the Quinnipiac game as well, you guys were outstanding, especially in overtime. Just talk about what that unit is looking like. Recently, you guys have been able to finish off kills and get back to five-on-five.
“Yeah. I feel like there’s a lot of transparency between the coaches and us for what we need to do. Our coaches do a great job of giving us a great pre-scout. So we know what to expect. From the breakout, what their end zone setup looks like, and what they’re going to try to do. So we already have a decent idea of what’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of execution, and we get plenty of reps each week in practice. So we’re definitely really dialed in on that.
Game Summary:
Final Score: Army 3, Rochester Institute of Technology 0
Date: October 31st, 2026
Venue: Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.
Attendance: 1,191
Officials: Referee – Evan Reddick & Alex Borowiec; Linesman – Ben Leaton & Cameron Carlson
Scoring Summary
First Period
- 14:33 — ARMY: Rhys Wallin [4] (Thomas Neu & Vincent Salice) EV — 1-0 Army
Second Period
- 07:05 — ARMY: Ben Ivey [1] (Nils Forselius & Jack Ivey) PP — 2-0 Army
Third Period
- 08:44 — ARMY: Nils Forselius [2] (Ben Ivey & Lukas McCloskey) EV — 3-0 Army
Penalites
- RIT – 2nd Period: Matthew Wang, Tripping (06:27)
- ARMY – 2nd Period: Max Holland, Tripping (13:52)
- ARMY – 3rd Period: Brent Keefer, Elbowing (05:04)
- RIT – 3rd Period: Christian Catalano, Charging (14:02)
- RIT – 3rd Period: Christian Catalano, Tripping (16:43)
Team Stats
| Stats Categories | Army Black Knights | Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 3 | 0 |
| Shots On Net (Attmpts) | 37 (54) | 27 (54) |
| Power Play (Shots) | 1-3 (5) | 0-2 (3) |
| Penalty Minutes | 4 | 6 |
| Faceoffs Won (Win %) | 19/52 (36.5%) | 33/52 (63.5%) |
| Blocked Shots | 11 | 5 |
Goaltending
Army Black Knights
- JJ Cataldo (W): 27 Saves on 27 Shots (1.000 SV%)
Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers
- Jakub Krbecek (L): 34 Saves on 37 shots (.919 SV%)
Next Up: United States Air Force Academy
It’s Air Force week for Army; not only for the Football team, who will host the Falcons on Saturday night at Michie Stadium, but for hockey as well. The Black Knights will travel out to Colorado Springs Wednesday night, before dropping the puck for their first of two games against their biggest rivals Friday night.
The Falcons carry a 3-5 (1-1 AHA) record and are coming off a weekend split with Robert Morris. Air Force returns almost three-quarters of its team from last season, led by preseason All-Atlantic Hockey defenseman Nolan Cunningham.
The Montana native is in his fifth season with the Academy and has picked up right where he left off to end last season, putting up 6 points, including two goals, in his first eight games. Others to look out for are Nick Sajevic (2 Goals & 4 Assists) and Samiel Stitz (2 Goals & 5 Assists), with Stitz tied for the team lead in points with 7.
In goal for the Falcons is Dominik Wasik. The second-year starter is 1-4 in his last five starts, and last weekend against Robert Morris had just an .888 save percentage.
Over the past two seasons, Army has enjoyed great success in the Rocky Mountains, sweeping Air Force in back-to-back trips—including a 32-save shutout by JJ Cataldo in a 1-0 victory. Head coach Zach McKelvie is well aware of the test awaiting his team on Friday night.
“Air Force is a really tough place to play. I have so much respect for the way they play,” said McKelvie. “Their coaching staff, those guys are so dialed in. They’re detailed. And I think they have a really good team this year. They got some guys up front that’ll make you pay for mistakes. Their defensive core is really good. They got a good goalie. So it’s going to be a challenge. And, when you go there, you just got to know, like, they’re… They’re going to have the puck quite a bit because they’re in shape. They play a really fun brand of hockey. We’re going to have to manage that and take advantage of the opportunities because we will get opportunities. But it’s just about managing the game and making sure that we’re sharp when we’re out there.”
The Black Knights will look for similar results this year in what will be Frank Serratore’s last home series for the Falcons against Army after he announced this would be his last season in charge at Air Force. Can Army spoil the party?
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