Number 11, Navy took care of business at McMullen Ice Arena, trouncing Villanova for their seventeenth win of the season by a score of 8-0.
Cam Harrigan started things for the Midshipmen nine-and-a-half minutes into the first period with blistering slap shot in the slot off a rebound from Dustin Oberlander’s shot. Assistant captain Tom Krysil quickly followed suit with a goal of his own. Krysil would go on to have a particularly eventful night, netting three more goals before the final buzzer. The final two of those goals came in the third period on the same shift. Both began with smart, aggressive play by the talented sophomore forward, Thomas Buckley. On the first, Buckley busted hard up the side board, drawing the Villanova defenseman away from the slot and leaving the back door wide open for Krysil to bury the pass home. A mere twenty-two seconds later, Buckley had control of the puck up high in the defensive zone and smartly chipped the puck off the glass to a streaking Krysil, who grabbed the puck and made a quick end of things with a well-placed wrister.
Senior captain, Matt Lutch, though not noted on the scorecard, nevertheless made his own significant impact to the game, leading by example, flying around the ice, and setting a tone of aggressive, physical play for his teammates. Defenseman Douglas Swezey added a number of big hits as well, helping to keep Villanova on their heels for the duration of the game.
Sophomore netminder, Paul Roche, who has stepped in for the injured Andrew Mills, reaffirmed that one of Navy’s greatest strengths remains the talent and depth of their goaltending corps. Roche stopped all seventeen shots he faced, making several critical saves early on, and walked away with the always coveted shut-out.
Navy takes to the ice once more this weekend as they take on Scranton at McMullen Ice Arena at 7:30 PM on Saturday night.
