Army has 21 freshmen, sophomores on roster, picked for seventh in Atlantic Hockey
Gaining experience is the mission for the Army hockey team this season.
“In my 20 years, this is probably the youngest team that we’ve had,’’ he said. The team brought in 12 freshmen and has nine sophomores, to go with seven juniors and four seniors, making this one of the youngest rosters in Div. I hockey. At least 11 (and likely 14) underclassmen will be dressed for Sunday’s home opener with Union.
“The only way to get experience is by getting them out there,’’ he said. “No doubt in my eyes that’s a talented group. I truly believe the talent level of our freshmen and sophomores is really high. I think the more experience these guys get, we’ll kind of reap the rewards from that.’’
Recent rosters had 11 freshmen and seven sophomores in 2022-23, nine and seven in 2021-22, eight and eight in 2020-21 and eight and eight in 2019-20.
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The good news is Army has the reigning rookie of the year in Max Itagaki (4 goals, 29 assists), a second-team all-star in right winger Joey Baez (21 G, 7 A) and Riley points to at least four freshman recruits who strike him as postseason awards contenders, among them: Pierce Patterson was the North American Hockey League defenseman of the year; and Jake Hewitt was the top American in the British Columbia Hockey League.
There are high hopes for Itagaki.
“He's just got a vision that I haven’t seen with anybody that I’ve had the opportunity to coach,’’ Riley said. “If you play on a line with him, you need to be ready to get the puck because even when you don't think he can do it, he does it. We're excited to have him back.’’
As for Baez: “Great kid. Loves hockey. Loves the game and he loves to score. He can shoot the puck like nobody on our team.’’
Gavin Abric is back in goal, starting 25 games a year ago and posting a .901 save percentage and 3.23 goals against average. Riley said there were games when Abric was outstanding and times when he should have given him more rest. “That’s my fault,’’ the coach said.
There are 11 upperclassmen back in the lineup, providing scoring and a steadying presence.
“I think we’ve got a strong group of returning guys that are looking to make that next step,’’ said senior co-captain Mike Sacco. “Then we got a lot of young guys that are hungry about hockey and they’re looking to make a name for themselves and help this program accomplish what we want to this year.’’
Army was outscored 119-88 last season, so there were only three players with a positive plus-minus rating. The Black Knights graduated seven: goalie Justin Evenson; defenders Thomas Farrell, Anthony Firriolo and Noah Wilson; and forwards John Keranen, Brett Abdelnour and Patrick Smyth.
Army (14-19-4) placed fifth in Atlantic Hockey (12-12-2) last season and bowed in three games to eventual champion Canisius in the quarterfinal round.
Riley is not writing off this season but he understands the challenges ahead, and has no problem with his cadets picked for seventh by the coaches in the 11-team Atlantic Hockey Association.
“We’re not really a team that a lot of people are expecting to do well,’’ said senior co-captain Ricky Lyle. “but I think with the dynamic we have in our locker room … we’ve got such a young group that we’re going to be able to surprise some people. … I’m really excited for this group, this year.’’
The schedule does no favors for Army. Following Sunday’s home opener with Union, the Black Knights participate in the Ice Breaker Tournament (at North Dakota, at Bemidji State), Atlantic second-place finisher American International, a road game with Sacred Heart and two-game home set with Atlantic first-place finisher Rochester Institute of Technology, followed by a two-game set at academy rival Air Force and home pair with Atlantic playoff champion Canisius.
”For us, if there’s ever been a season where it’s about the process, I think this could be the year,’’ Riley said. “Hopefully … we want to be playing our best hockey coming down the stretch.’’
Last season's recaps: Army hockey: Black Knights' season ends with Game 3 shutout loss to Canisius
Air Force returns the visit with a Jan. 19-20 set at Tate Rink, followed by the tradition-rich exhibition rivalry with Canada’s Royal Military College on Jan. 27.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Army schedule
All games at 7 p.m. ET unless indicated
October
Sun. 8 – vs. Union (14-19-2, ECAC 8-13-1-0, T-seventh), 2 p.m.; Fri. 13 – at North Dakota (18-15-6, NCHC 7-10-5-2, T-fifth, 8 p.m. ET; Sat. 14 – at Bemidji State (14-17-5, CCHA 9-10-5-2, T-fourth; Sat. 28 – at American International* (18-14-7, Atlantic 12-8-5-1, second); Tues. 31 – at Sacred Heart* (17-17-3, 12-9-4-1, third)
November
Fri. 3 vs. Rochester Institute of Technology* (25-13-1, Atlantic 17-4-1-4, first), 7 p.m.; Sat. 4 – vs. Rochester Institute of Technology*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 10 – at Air Force* (12-22-2, Atlantic 7-17-1-1, tenth), 9 p.m. ET; Sat. 11 – at Air Force*; Fri. 17 – vs. Canisius* (20-19-3, Atlantic 10-9-4-3, fourth); Sat. 18 – vs. Canisius*; Tues. 21 – at Holy Cross* (17-21-3, Atlantic 9-11-4-2, seventh); Fri. 24 – at Merrimack (23-14-1, Hockey East 14-4-2-4, second), 4 p.m.; Sat. 25 – at UMass Lowell (18-15-3, Hockey East, 9-8-5-2, fifth), 4 p.m.
December
Fri. 8 – at Mercyhurst* (10-23-3, Atlantic 8-9-2-7, eighth); Sat. 9 – at Mercyhurst*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 29 – New Hampshire (11-21-3, Hockey East 4-13-4-3, tenth)
January
Tues. 2 – vs. Bentley* (11-21-2, Atlantic 7-15-2-2, ninth); Sat. 6 – at Penn State (22-16-1, Big Ten 10-10-0-4, T-fifth, 6 p.m.; Tues. 9 – at Sacred Heart*; Fri. 12 – vs. Holy Cross*; Sat. 13 – vs. Holy Cross*, 4 p.m.; Tues. 16 – vs. Sacred Heart*; Fri. 19 – vs. Air Force*; Sat. 20 – vs. Air Force*, 4 p.m.; Sat. 27 – vs. Royal Military College; Tues. 30 – at Princeton (13-19-0, ECAC 8-12-0-2, T-seventh)
February
Fri. 2 – at Bentley* (11-21-2, Atlantic 7-15-2-2, ninth); Sat. 3 – at Bentley*, 4 p.m.; Fri. 9 – vs. Robert Morris* (did not play 2022-23); Sat. 10 – vs. Robert Morris*, 6 p.m.; Fri. 16 – at Niagara* (19-18-3, Atlantic 10-10-2-4, sixth); Sat. 17 – at Niagara*, 5 p.m.; Fri. 23 – vs. American International*; Sat. 24 – vs. American International*, 4 p.m.
March
Sat. 2 – Atlantic Hockey first round; Fri. 8-Sun. 10 – Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals, best of three; Fri. 15-Sun. 17 – Atlantic Hockey semifinals, best of three; Sat. 23 – Atlantic Hockey finals
Home games at Tate Rink, West Point; Atlantic Hockey games marked by asterisk; overall and league (W-L-OT wins-OT losses) in parentheses; subscription FloHockeyTV will provide all home and Atlantic games
Initial pairings (subject to change)
Forwards
LW No. 8 Ricky Lyle, Sr.; C No. 13 Mike Sacco, Sr.; RW No. 23 Joey Baez, Jr.
LW No. 15 Lucas Kanta, Soph.; C No. 25 Barron Woodring, Fr.; RW No. 19 Max Itagaki, Soph.
LW No. 17 Vincent Salice, Fr.; C No. 9 Nick Hong, Fr.; RW No. 27 Trevor Smith, Soph.
LW No. 12 Jake Hewitt, Fr.; C No. 10 Jake Felker, Sr.; RW No. 18 Brent Keefer, Fr.
Remaining – No. 11 Josh Bolin, Jr.; No. 16 Hunter McCoy, Jr.; No. 18 Dayne Hoyord, Fr.; No. 21 Stephen Willey, Soph.; No. 26 Joey Dosan, Soph.; No. 29 Eric Huss, Sr.
Defense
No. 7 Andrew Gilbert, Jr.; No. 3 Easton Zueger, Fr.
No. 4 John Driscoll, Soph.; No. 20 Sean Vlasich, Soph.
Remaining (mix and match at outset) – No. 2 Mac Godowsky, Fr.; No. 5 Jon Bell, Fr.; No. 6 Pierce Patterson, Fr.; No. 14 Owen Nolan, Soph.; No. 20 Sean Vlasich, Soph.; No. 22 Jude Brower, Soph.; No. 24 Andrew Garby, Jr.
Goalies
No. 1 Gavin Abric, Sr.; No. 31 Szary, Jr.; No. 33 Gus Holt, Fr.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Young Army squad picked for seventh in Atlantic Hockey Association
