Seth Beamer turned in a career-high four points as Army strolled to a 5-2 victory over visiting American International College Friday night at Tate Rink. The Black Knights picked up their second straight win in the process to improve to 7-7-2 on the season and 3-6-2 in Atlantic Hockey. AIC falls to 3-13-1 overall and 2-6-1 in the league.
Army scored three times off of faceoffs in the second period to open up a 4-2 lead heading into the third. Nick Cahill blasted a shot home from the point seven minutes into the second stanza after Beamer won the draw cleanly back to the junior defenseman.
Chad Mayfield then unleashed a wicked slapshot that screamed past AIC goalie Chad Davis on the power play. That time it was freshman Ryan Cruthers who won the draw back to defenseman Casey Bickley who fed Mayfield.
After Guillaume Caron drew the visitors within one shortly after Mayfield’s tally, sophomore defenseman Corey Rudd notched his first career goal off a faceoff won by Beamer. Cahill corralled the loose puck and slid it over to Rudd in the high slot, who let go a nasty slapshot that beat Davis high again.
Beamer closed out the scoring in the third period with a goal of his own 7:24 in that gave the homestanding Black Knights an insurmountable lead and lifted the 1,527 fans in attendance into a frenzy.
Beamer’s four-point night is the most by an Army player since Chad Fifield registered five points against Ryerson in the second game of the season. His three assists and four points were both career bests.
Brad Roberts recorded 26 saves to even his record at 6-6-2. Davis stopped 39 Army shots as the Black Knights bested the Yellow Jackets by a 44-28 margin in the shots on goal column.
Army scored more than three goals in a game for just the second time this year and the first since a 9-2 victory over Ryerson on Oct. 11. The Black Knights have dented the twine eight times in their last two games after closing the first half of the season in a scoring slump.
Chris Migliaro gave the hosts a 1-0 advantage 1:09 into the contest. AIC’s Andy Walbert tied things up after one period of play with an equalizer at 9:14.
These same two teams will be at it again Saturday night in West Springfield, Mass., for the second game of their weekend series. Army opened a three-point lead on AIC in the Atlantic Hockey standings, keeping the Yellow Jackets at bay. Faceoff at Olympia Ice Center Saturday night is set for 7 p.m.
