A History Of Tradition

Army West Point Club Hockey Earns Third Consecutive ACHA Nationals Appearance – Goes 2-1 for Best Finish Ever 

March 15, 2026 – Army West Point Club Hockey entered into a special level in being one of very few programs to earn three consecutive appearances to the ACHA National Playoffs.  Held once again in Maryland Heights, Missouri at the Centene Community Ice Center Army Club Hockey went 2-1 and finished with their best record after going 1-2 in 2024 and 2025.

Army earned its way to this presitgious event by securing a couple of big victories at the Northeast Regionals held in Simsbury, Connecticut.  On February 21, Army dominated Boston College in an 8-2 victory.  Playing the following day, Army showed up were not to be denied putting together another strong performance to secure their bid to nationals with a 5-2 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.  During the weekend, defenseman Bobby Staring was the player of the tournament with 8 points in the two victories, incuding points on the first seven goals in Game 1.  Over the weekend, Firstie James Delia had a couple of goals along with Lucas Gacek (Cow) and Robert James (Plebe).

Army opened the Men’s ACHA Division 2 Nationals playing in the first game versus the University of Tampa and it was a roller-coaster of a sporting event ending thrilling fashion.  Army fell behind 0-2 in the first seven minutes before rallying late in the first on goals by Staring and Jackson Dickson (Plebe).  Delia gave Army its first lead early in the second, but Tampa struck twice to regain a one-goal lead.  With resilience and resolve, Army fought back to earn its first two-goal lead on tallies by Brendan Connor (Cow), James , and Staring.  But Tampa, who had won a number of previous national championships, would not fold and they forged an overtime with two 3rd period goals.  In the final minute of a 10-minute overtime, which if expired would lead to a tie, Firstie defenseman Bradley Mackin rifled in a snap shot from the right point to give Army the dramatic first game victory by an 7-6 margin.

Game 2 was an outlier for this Army Club Hockey as they faced Oklahoma State University who had amassed a 23-1 record.  OSU was second in the ACHA in scoring with 230 goals in 24 games (9.6/GPG) and goal differential at +157.  OSU scored first, but Delia evened the contest on a rebound goal.  OSU took a 2-1 lead, then unfortunately with Army carrying the play late in the first and into the 2nd period ‘puck luck’ was not in their favor and OSU’s goalie came up with some big saves to keep Army off the board.  Not finding the equalizer, the momentum turned and after that the OSU attack, with 5 players in the Top 10 of scoring in ACHA Division 2, got untracked taking a 5-1 lead after two periods.  Third period penalties on Army had OSU on the power play numerous times and OSU pounced piling it on as Army suffered a tough 10-1 setback.

The Black Knights were back on the ice the following day to complete ACHA Nationals Pool Play and demonstrated the tremendous competitive character that has become a trademark of this program by grinding out a 5-3 victory over Michigan State University.  Army came ready to play and demonstrated their improving depth play as Troy Negus (Plebe) and Clark Wagner (Cow) tallied to give the cadets a 2-0 lead.  A last second tally by MSU late in the 1st period got them back in it, but in the 2nd period Gacek banged in a rebound and Staring added a power play blast from the point giving the Black Knights a 4-1 lead.  MSU rallied to within a goal making the score 4-3 in the 3rd period as they gained momentum from five consecutive power plays over a 14 minute span.  However, with a little over four minutes remaining in regulation Connor drove down the right wing and sniped a shot from the face-off circle giving Army a 5-3 advantage that held up as Army repelled the Spartans the rest of the way.   William Monahan (Cow) was outstanding in goal with many big saves among the 34 saves he recorded during the contest.

With earning qualification to ACHA Nationals and a 2-1 record in Pool Play, Army Club Hockey concluded arguably their finest season in their history.  Along the way the Black Knights earned the SECHL championship and an outstanding 24-6-3 record.

Post-season awards will be added to this post when finalized and announced.

Army Visits Annapolis and Defeats Navy – Black Knights 4th Consecutive Victory over the Midshipmen

December 12, 2025 – Army West Point Club Hockey traveled to Annapolis to play at Navy’s home rink for their annual game with Army earning the victory by a 6-3 margin.  This was Army’s 4th consecutive win in the series with this class of Firsties graduating undefeated versus the Midshipmen. 

Army got off to a strong start with goals by Bobby Staring and Troy Negus staking them to a 2-0 lead.  However, Navy struck late in the 1st period and the teams went to the locker rooms with Army leading 2-1.  Back on the ice, Army exploded in the first half of the second period taking control of the game.  Luke Dwyer scored with assists credited to Remy Bergeron and Wolf Wolk.  Staring scored his second of the game on an assist from Wyatt Sirimaturos and moments later these two dynamic defensemen switched roles as Sirimaturos scored on a pass from Staring pushing Army to a 5-1 advantage.  Navy scored late in the second to make it 5-2, but midway through the 3rd period Brendan Connor quelled any thoughts of a comeback scoring off a scrum near the net to put Army up for the 6-2 score.

2024-2025 Season: Regular Season ACHA Northeast #1, Second Trip to Nationals Earned

Army West Point Club Hockey solidified its stature and prominence in the American Collegiate Hockey Association during the 2024-2025 season.  The team built off of the loftier plateau earned the prior season and started out this year with 7 straight victories before an overtime loss interrupted three more consecutive victories.  Sitting at 9-1, the first ACHA rankings had Army ranked #1 in the Northeast Region.  This season saw the men’s club team expand their playing area traveling south to take on teams at North Carolina and NC State University.  In December, Army defeated ACHA D1 Navy 7-3 at the Cap Center in Washington DC to conclude the 2024 slate of their season.  Becoming a ‘highlighted game’ on most everyone’s schedule, Army continued their strong season performance in 2025 winning four of their last five regular season contests to finish the regular season 18-4-2 (Wins-Losses-OT Loss).  Army then won two games in the SECHL post-season tournament advancing to the conference finals before falling in overtime of an exciting and exhilarating championship game.

Ultimately, the strength of the team’s overall season performance and ACHA metrics earned Army the #1 ranking for the Northeast region and thereby automatic qualification for the 16-team ACHA National Tournament held in Maryland Heights, MO just outside of St. Louis.

At the national tournament, in their first game Army staged a dramatic rally to secure an overtime win over Texas.  However, injuries began to take a bit of a toll as their bench thinned.  In their second contest, facing a 5-minute penalty kill, a shorthanded goal put Army within one late in the 3rd period, but could not hold on for the whole 5-minute PK falling 2-4 to St. Thomas (MN).  Their final contest was against powerhouse Liberty University where they battled valiantly before falling 1-3, finishing their second national tournament appearance 1-2.  A second consecutive appearance at the national tournament concluded another phenomenal season and established a ‘New Tradition’ for Army Men’s Club Hockey.

COW Robert Staring earned post-season awards of major significance being named to the ACHA D2 First Team All-Athletic as well as being honored as the East Region’s Player of the Year.

Credit and appreciation is extended to the Firstie leadership of Captain Anthony Chambers, Assistant Captain Caleb Kaiser, Jack Sexton, Ben Gaucher, and manager Nathan Wells.  Special recognition goes to Anthony Chambers who beyond on-ice leadership was the administrative and organizational force that spearheaded Army Men’s Club Hockey to become a powerhouse program in the SECHL, Northeast Region, and ACHA Division II Hockey.

2024: Army 7 Navy 3, Cap Center, Washington DC – Sing Second!

Army Men’s Club Team Hockey (ACHA D2) continued their winning streak over the Naval Academy (ACHA D1) with a strong 7-3 victory.  This was a special event hosted at the home of the NHL Washington Capitals with the game being the first of two as Army Hockey D1 played Penn State University in the nightcap.  

2023-2024 Season includes a trip to Nationals!

The team capped its program-best season winning the SECHL title for the third time.  At the Northeast Regionals West Point defeated 2023 national champion, UMass, to secure its first trip to the American Collegiate Hockey Association nationals. They finished 22-6-2 overall, including 1-2 in their maiden trip to nationals.

First game at nationals, they lost 8-5 to tournament-host Lindenwood and fell 6-3 to Liberty University for the second game. Third game the cadets scored an overtime goal, for the win, against the University of Providence 5-4 and concluded Division II Pool C round-robin play at Centene Community Ice Center in St. Louis.

2023 ARMY BEATS NAVY 6-2

In a lively setting on Saturday at Tate Arena, the Black Knights rolled over the Midshipmen 6-2 to extend their winning streak to 10 games. Army was led by its top line of center Caleb Kaiser and wingers Mark Lehman and Charlie Aronov who combined for four goals and nine points.

Lehman, a firstie, collected his third hat trick on the season and now has a team-high 19 goals. Kaiser, a cow, had a shorthanded goal and two assists. And yearling Aronov had three helpers.

The Black Knights, who led 1-0 after the first period and 4-2 through two, also got goals from cow forward Jack Sexton and yearling defenseman Bobby Staring. Plebe goalie Liam Monahan was outstanding in improving to 11-2-2 in his young career.

“Hats off to Navy for a hard-fought battle. It’s always a pleasure going toe-to-toe with their Division 1 hockey team.” Army Captain Anthony Chambers

2022 ARMY BEATS NAVY 4-2

2021-2022 SECHL Champions

In 2022, the Black Knights defeated Clarkson University in overtime to earn their first SECHL championship and move on to the Northeast Regional Tournament. Led by Captain Calvin Mckee (’22), Assistant Captain Will Kiley (’22), and Assistant Captain Jaxon Jones (’22).