USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Three third-period goals led the Niagara University men’s hockey team (12-16-2, 7-8-2) to a 5-2 win over the U.S. Air Force Academy (13-14-2, 5-10-0) Friday at the Cadet Ice Arena, in USAFA, Colo. The Purple Eagles extended their unbeaten streak to three games with the win.
Midway through the third and final period, freshman forward Matt Caruana (Orono, Ont.) broke a 2-2 deadlock with his eighth goal of the season. After winning the faceoff to the right of the Air Force goal, Caruana took a wrist shot that ricocheted off the pads of Falcons goaltender Ian Harper and into the net, giving the freshman forward his second game-winning goal of his career.
Scoring in the past two games, Caruana is just trying to keep things simple, helping the Purple Eagles in any way he can.
Niagara opened the game taking a two-goal advantage.
Freshman forward Mike Maier (Greece, N.Y.) gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season at the 8:14 mark of the first period. Skating down the left boards, Maier’s slapshot went over the shoulder of Harper and just underneath the crossbar.
Opening the second period, sophomore Jason Jones (North Tonawanda), capitalizing on a Falcons turnover deep in the defensive zone, scored his first collegiate goal to give Niagara a 2-0 lead. After junior forward Marc Norrington (Grand Blanc, Mich.) stole the puck near the left faceoff circle, Jones found room in the slot, able to one-time the Norrington pass low to the right of Harper at 2:31 of the middle period.
Air Force sophomore Brian Gineo cut the Falcon deficit to a goal two minutes following the Jones goal, scoring on a pass from fellow-sophomore Eric Ehn with a low shot on Niagara goaltender Jeff Van Nynatten (Stratford, Ont.).
The two teams exchanged scoring chances to close the second period.
Ehn tied the score 1:56 into the third period with a long slapshot from the blueline, scoring his ninth goal of the season.
Following the Caruana game-winning goal, Niagara junior forward Justin Cross (Camarillo, Calif.) added two empty-net goals, notching his second consecutive two-goal game.
Shots were in favor of the Purple Eagles, 26-24, in the contest.
Winning his 10th-straight game against the Falcons, Van Nynatten (7-8-2) made 22 saves in the game. The junior goaltender is now 10-1-0 in his career against Air Force. Harper made 21 saves in the loss.
As the Purple Eagles received goals from three different forward lines in the win, head coach Dave Burkholder remarked about the importance of balanced scoring.
"The way we spread out our depth on our first three lines, it’s hard to key on any line," Burkholder said. "We got our momentum going rolling four lines. That’s going to be the key going into the playoffs."
The two teams conclude the two-game series Saturday at the Cadet Ice Arena. Faceoff is set for 9:05 p.m. EST.
