Box Score Tournament Central Page
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Freshman
Chris Lochner scored with 15 seconds remaining in the game to give the Niagara men's hockey team (17-10-9; 14-6-7 AHA) the 2-1 victory over the Robert Morris Colonials (17-17-5; 13-9-5 AHA) Saturday evening at Dwyer Arena.
With the victory, the Purple Eagles swept the best-of-three and advance to the AHA Final Four next weekend in Rochester, N.Y.
After going down 1-0 late in the opening period, Niagara tallied two unanswered goals from freshman
Isaac Kohls and Lochner to win the best-of-three series, improving their record to 12-2-2 in their last 16 games.
In a tightly contested final frame that saw both teams getting 10 looks on net, Lochner picked up the puck on the boards with little time left on the clock, before throwing a shot on Robert Morris goaltender Brooks Ostergard that squeaked between the goalie's pads and the post.
"When the season started we set a goal and this was one of the goals to get to the final four," Lochner said. "To achieve that is a great honor, but we're not stopping there."
The opening period remained scoreless until the final five minutes of play when junior Tyler Hinds snuck a wrister from the left circle past Niagara netminder
Chris Noonan with 3:34 on the clock.
It only took the Purple Eagles 2:15 to bring the game back even as Kohls tallied his eighth goal of the year. The freshman onetimed a feed from sophomore
Kevin Ryan from behind his back under the outstretched Colonials’ goalie Brooks Ostergard.
In a hard-hitting second stanza, Niagara saw the better of the chances as it peppered Ostergard with 19 shots, but the Purple Eagles could not find a way past the solid goaltending. The best opportunity for Niagara came on the man-advantage as junior
Dan Weiss saw his laser from the top of the circle ring off the post.
"That was a playoff hockey game from start to finish against a very good Robert Morris team," head coach
David Burkholder said. "Our motto was to stay patient and positive and we find out that slips through. Their first goal was a tough bounce, but for us to come back and get that face off goal I thought settled everyone in."
Noonan
finished the game with 26 saves, improving his record to 14-5-5.
The No. 2 seed Purple Eagles will play in the AHA semifinals on Friday, against a foe to be determined.
