Three players score first goals as ice hockey handles Army West Point

WEST POINT, New York – The offensive prowess of the American International College ice hockey team was on full display in an 8-2 rout of Army West Point in Atlantic Hockey Association play on Friday, October 28. 

AIC improves to 5-2-2 on the season with a 3-1-0-0-0-0 AHA mark.

The Yellow Jackets struck first early. Julius Janhonen sent a pass over the line to Blake Bennett, who quickly fired a low wrist shot at Army's Gavin Abric. The puck leaked through Abric's legs, and Matt Rickard, who had joined Bennett on the rush, tapped it into the net for his first of the year at 6:18.

Later in the frame, Bennett made it a two-point night, catching a home-run pass from Brian Kramer that came from behind AIC's net at the Army blue line and dangling past Abric for his seventh of the season at 13:35.

An early Army power play in the second led to a John Keranen goal at 0:34, but AIC responded almost immediately, drawing a penalty and cashing it in at 2:06. Jordan Biro's snapshot through a screen found the twine for his fourth of the season, with Rickard and Alexander Malinowski assisting.

Josh Barnes then punished the Black Knights for a defensive miscue, picking off an errant pass at his own blue line to break away two-on-none. With Austen Long available as a decoy, Barnes was able to pull Abric down and lift the puck over him for his first collegiate goal at 10:30, giving AIC a 4-1 edge.

The Yellow Jackets were far from done scoring; they notched two goals 33 seconds apart to pull away from the Black Knights. Julius Janhonen was left open in the slot following a Nicholas Cardelli pass and scored his third of the year at 6:30, with Bennett adding the second assist, and on the following shift, Malinowski found Biro in nearly the same spot for his fifth of the year at 7:03; Dustin Manz earned an assist on that goal, which chased Abric from the net in favor of Evan Szary.

Although Lucas Kanta answered back at 7:46, the rest of the game belonged to AIC. A neutral-zone turnover to Brett Rylance allowed him to get the puck to Timofei Khokhlachev, who danced into the Army end before wiring home his first collegiate goal high glove at 11:16. Just 33 seconds later, AIC netted yet another first as defenseman Evan Stella clapped in a right-to-left cross pass from Barnes, with Oscar Geschwind also earning an assist on the play. That goal, the eighth of the night for AIC, closed out the scoring.

In net, Alexandros Aslanidis earned the win, improving to 4-1-0 with 26 saves before being lifted at the third-period media timeout for Troy Kobryn. The latter made eight saves on eight shots in the final 7:41.

AIC continues AHA play with a battle against the Rochester Institute of Technology. The first game of the two-game set is slated for 1:05 p.m. on Saturday, November 5 at the MassMutual Center. Tickets are still available at www.aictix.com.