It’s conference tournament time and with no at-large bids on the table for the academies, it’s win or go home.

Luckily, all three won last week so there’s momentum heading into the most important time of the season. Will an academy go dancing for the first time since 2019?

Results

Friday

Navy 14, Bucknell 6

No.16 Army 15, No.15 Boston University 14

Saturday

Air Force 9, Bellarmine 7

Schedule

Tuesday

Navy vs Lehigh – 7 p.m. (ESPN+)

Thursday

Air Force vs Robert Morris (Huntsville, AL) – 5 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday

Lowest Remaining Seed vs No.16 Boston University – 4 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

Highest Remaining Seed vs No.14 Army (Boston, MA) – 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

Saturday

ASUN Tournament Finals (Huntsville, AL) – 2 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday

Patriot League Tournament Finals (Boston, MA) – NOON (CBS Sports Network)

Army

That’s a heck of a way to bounce back! On Friday evening, Army beat No.15 Boston University, 15-14, to snap the Terriers’ perfect Patriot League season.

“Tonight was another win where we showed our resilience and ability to play in tight games,” senior Brendan Nichtern said postgame.

Just like Nichtern said, the game was a battle. The sides traded run after run, as neither could comfortably pull ahead in the first half. It was tied 3-3 after one and at the break, BU only held a one-goal advantage after Paul Johnson put away one of his three goals for Army with nine seconds remaining.

That goal did begin to give Army some momentum as they went on a 7-1 run. They would take an 11-7 lead and after a 3-0 BU run, the teams traded goals for the final fifteen minutes leading into a big Black Knight victory.

Brendan Nichtern set a career-high with eight assists and ten points.

“The confidence will pay dividends as we move into the Patriot League tournament,” Nichtern said.

Army will open their Patriot League tournament on Friday night at 7:00 against the highest remaining seed.

Navy

Don’t let Navy get hot! The Midshipmen downed Bucknell on Friday to win their third straight, 13-6. This was the fifth time this season that Navy has held an opponent to six or fewer goals, the most since 2016 (the last time the Midshipmen made the NCAA Tournament).

“John Orsen has done a magnificent job with this young defense and getting them to be able to play their best at the end of the year,” head coach Joe Amplo said.

It showed in the second quarter as Bucknell was held scoreless. It was more of the same to end the game, as they couldn’t get anything to fall in during Navy’s 8-1 run. It all led to the Midshipmen’s sixth straight victory against Bucknell.

Navy will open their Patriot League tournament on Tuesday night at Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks won the regular-season matchup on March 5^th by a score of 11-7.

Air Force

Air Force ended the regular season with a strong 9-7 victory over Bellarmine. The win clinched them the three-seed in the ASUN Tournament.

It was a defensive masterclass for the Falcons on Saturday, holding the Knights to only three goals through the first three quarters. Jason Rose made nine saves on the afternoon.

The Falcons will open the ASUN Tournament against Robert Morris on Thursday. The Colonials won the regular-season matchup on April 23^rd, 11-10.