ARMY 2, CANISIUS 1

Courtesy of Army Athletic Communications

WEST POINT, N.Y.  - Senior alternate captain Luke Flicek picked a great time to score his 100th career point. Flicek blasted in his eighth goal of the season and lifted Army to a 2-1 victory over Canisius, Saturday night in Atlantic Hockey Association competition at Tate Rink.

Flicek became the 52nd Army hockey player to reach the 100-point plateau and helped the team end an eight-game winless streak. The senior from Burnsville, Minn., now has 36 career goals and 64 assists in 123 contests.

"Obviously, it's a goal that Luke will never forget, to have his 100th point be the game-winner," Army head coach Brian Riley said. "Luke has grown so much as a player since he arrived as a freshman. I am happy he could reach this milestone. He works very hard on and off the ice."

For the second straight night, Army held a large advantage in shots on goal but unlike a 3-0 loss on Friday, the Black Knights picked up the victory.

Owen Meyer also scored for the Black Knights while Chase Podsiad had a pair of assists to help the team improve to 7-12-3 overall and 7-7-2 in league play.

"It wasn't pretty but I am pretty proud of the guys," Riley said.

Army stopped a nearly 200-minute scoreless streak of Canisius goalie Andrew Loewen with two goals in the final period. Canisius is now 7-12-5 overall and 6-8-4 in conference games.

"Andrew came up big all weekend and his numbers show that he is one the best goaltenders in the league," said Riley.

The Black Knights were 0-7-1 in their last eight games but secured their first win since a 4-2 victory over Sacred Heart on Nov. 30 with a physical, defensive effort.

Army racked up 32 shots on goal and limited Canisius to 23 scoring chances but the game wasn't decided until the third period. Loewen, who had consecutive shutouts heading into the game, finished with 30 saves, giving him 70 for the weekend.

Black Knights goalie Josh Kassel, who went to Riley on Friday night and asked for the start, made 22 saves and won his sixth game of the season.

"I have a lot of respect for Josh," said Riley. "He came through for us tonight."

Meyer broke a scoreless tie with his team-leading 13th goal of the season and it came during a short-handed situation. Meyer, off a double-assist from Podsiad and Bryce Hollweg, gave Army a 1-0 lead with 11:28 spent in the third period.

Canisius tied the game four minutes later when Vincent Scarsella scored his sixth goal of the season.

Less than a minute later, Flicek brought the crowd of more than 1,800 to his feet with a blast from inside the left circle. Zach McKelvie started the play on the defensive end, got the puck to Podsiad who fed Flicek for the game-winning goal.

Despite firing 70 shots on goal over the past two days, the Army players stayed on the ice and competed in a sled game with the Long Island RoughRiders. The Black Knights got a quick tutorial but were no match on the sleds, dropping a 5-0 decision in a 20-minute contest.  Flicek, McKelvie, Podsiad, Hollweg, Aaron Anderson, Billy Leahy, Chris Colvin, Jeff Fearing, Ken Rowe, Robb Ross, Biff McNally and Ian McDougall represented Army.