WEST POINT, NY - Pat Kimball scored the game's lone goal, while freshman Joe Cannata, making his first collegiate appearance, stopped 44 shots, leading Merrimack to a 1-0 win over Army Saturday night.
Kimball's goal, his first of the season, came 3:11 into the third period, as he wristed a shot along the ice past Army netminder Josh Kessel to give Merrimack the lead. Mickey Rego, the lone senior in tonight's lineup, and captain Joe Loprieno earned the assists.
That was all Cannata would need as he stopped 17 shots in the third period and got the fortunate break of a post hit by the Black Knights with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
For Kimball, it was his first goal since November 10, 2007, 27 games ago. Rego notched his first point since January 20th of 2007.
Francois Ouimet fired a team-high four shots, while his line mate Joe Cucci won 14 of 19 face-offs.
Army outshot the Warriors 44-to-22 overall, but Cannata answered every scoring chance. He is believed to be the first Warrior goaltender to record a shutout in his first collegiate start.
With the win, Merrimack has won its last 10 meetings with Army, dating back to 1985. The Warriors are 8-0-1 in non-conference games since the beginning of last season.
After playing in a game last night at BU that featured 16 minor penalties in the game's first two periods, there were no penalties until 9:27 remaining in the second period tonight. There were only three minors called in all, two on Merrimack.
Merrimack (2-1, 0-1 HEA) returns to New York next weekend when they visit Niagara on Saturday (4 p.m.) and Canisius on Sunday (5 p.m.).