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LEWISTON, N.Y. — Some things happen to work out just right.
Zach Evancho scored the eventual game-winning goal on Friday evening. And he did it in front of his mother, father and many friends who made the short trip from nearby Angola, N.Y.
Evancho’s goal gave Army a 3-1 victory over Niagara, and kept the Black Knights (6-3, 6-3 league) atop the Atlantic Hockey Conference standings. Army’s third league win in a row came at the expense of a rising Purple Eagles (5-3-1, 4-1-1) program under first-year coach Jason Lammers.
Evancho, who suffered an injury on Oct. 20 against Robert Morris, scored the winner midway through the third period. He stormed the net and took Conor Andrle’s pass in the slot and calmly redirected the puck past Niagara goaltender Brian Wilson to give Army a 2-1 lead.
“It started from our own zone,” Evancho said of his first goal this season. “It was some good work by our ‘D’ to get it up. (Nick) DeCenzo made a good play by taking the middle and dishing it to Andrle. I just tried to find some space. He (Andrle) made a great play by faking the shot and passing it over.
“I had a lot of time, and it was a pretty easy goal. It feels good to get a winner here. It is only about an hour from my house. That is always nice. Scoring anywhere feels good, but to do it in front of my little cousins, friends and family make it a little extra special.”
Army is off to a red-hot 6-1 start on the road, soothing coach Brian Riley’s preseason concerns.
“When the season started, I looked and saw eight of 10 were on the road, and thought to myself, ‘Wow,'” Riley said. “What made me feel good about it is that we have a lot of veteran guys, I am not sure I thought we would be 6-1 after seven games. The credit goes to these guys. They have performed really well on the road.”
Kris Spriggs scored the only goal for the Purple Eagles for a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Spriggs was in the right place at the right time to redirect Sean King’s pass past Army goaltender Cole Bruns, who came into the game fresh off 29-save road shutout win over Air Force.
Lammers said he was pleased with his club, at least publicly.
“I thought that was the best hockey game we played all year,” he said. “It showed our guys how good we are growing, and where we are going. They are a good hockey team. Am really proud of the guys. They continue to be impressive in their intent.”
Army’s Trevor Fidler tied the game at 4:38 of the second period when he popped a juicy rebound into a wide-open net after a Niagara giveaway.
Atlantic Hockey Roundup
AIC 6, Sacred Heart 2
The Yellowjackets pumped in four goals in less than seven minutes to pull away from Sacred Heart. Martin Mellberg had two goals for AIC.
Holy Cross 3, Air Force 0
Brett Mulcahy had two goals to lift the Crusaders over slumping Air Force. Paul Berrafatto made 27 saves for Holy Cross.
Mercyhurst 4, Canisius 3 (OT)
Derek Barach scored two minutes into overtime to lift the Lakers. Mercyhurst trailed 3-2 late in the third period before Jonathan Charbonneau scored to force extra time.
RIT 5, Robert Morris 3
Erik Brown scored the winning goal just two minutes after Jake Hamacher scored to tie the game at 3-3.
