Tim Fisher scored twice and Scott Hamilton stopped 21 of 22 shots in Army’s 7-1 victory over Royal Military college in the 70th renewal of the international rivalry Saturday at sold-out Tate Rink.
Army’s win avenged a 3-0 loss to the Paladins in Kingston, Ontario, last season, and made Army 11-1-2 in the last 14 games against RMC. The Black Knights have won seven straight at home against RMC and lead the overall series 36-28-6. It was the most one-sided contest in the series since Army’s 6-0 victory in 1994.
Leading 2-1 midway through the second period, Army’s Joe Carpenter, playing his first full game in more than two months, scored a power-play goal to give the Black Knights (10-15-1) a two-goal cushion, and RMC (8-21) would never again threaten.
Fisher’s second goal of the night made it 4-1 with 1:04 remaining in the second period, and Nathan Mayfield, Nic Serre and K.C. Finnegan tacked on third-period tallies to put the contest out of reach.
Carpenter, who suffered an ankle injury in practice during the holiday break and re-injured it during a brief comeback attempt against Quinnipiac on Jan. 23, also added an assist for a two-point night. Senior captain Mike Fairman, who accepted the Challenge Trophy from U.S. Military Academy Commandant Brig. Gen. Eric Olson after the game, had three assists, while Mayfield (goal, assist) and freshman Alex Rogosheske (two assists) also had multi-point nights.
Senior Garrett Brougham gave Army a 1-0 lead when he knocked in a Fairman rebound on the power play at 17:41 of the first period.
Fisher made it 2-0 at 2:59 of the second, but Marc Granlund answered right back with RMC’s only goal of the night, coming 57 seconds after Fisher’s tally.
Fisher now has at least one point in nine straight games, and his two goals give him 14 this season, tying his career high. Fairman is now just six points shy of 100 for his career.
The game was physical throughout, and tempers boiled over in the final seven minutes of the third period, when 21 penalties were handed out, including seven misconducts. There were a total of 127 penalty minutes in the contest, 74 by RMC. The Paladins were whistled for three bench minors in the game — two for having too many men on the ice and one for unsportsmanlike conduct — and Army scored on all three ensuing power plays. The Black Knights were 3-of-6 with the man advantage, while RMC failed on its only power-play opportunity of the night. Army now has a power-play goal in a season-high six straight games.
Army, which extended its home unbeaten streak to 24 games (23-0-1) against Canadian teams, returns to action on Tuesday night at Holy Cross in a MAAC Hockey League contest.
