NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles were first on the board with
Robert Angiolella's second-period tally, but were unable to build on the lead and ultimately dropped the season opener 3-1 to the Clarkson Golden Knights on Friday night at Dwyer Arena.
"We think we're a fast team and good on the rush, but they shut us down," head coach
Dave Burkholder said after the game. "That was the key to the game. Our gameplan was to play against their defense and try to make it tough on them. I thought we did that in the first, but other than that it was pretty much that they were the better team."
Angiolella scored the first goal of the new season at the 1:55 mark of the second. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native intercepted an outlet pass in the Golden Knights zone, brought the puck back to his forehand before put the goalie on the ice with a quick backhand-forehand combo, and scored on an otherwise open net to put his club up 1-0. He became the third Purple Eagle in three years to score his first collegiate goal against the Golden Knights after
Matt Chiarantano and
Tyler Akeson both scored their first NCAA goals in the 4-4 tie on Oct. 27, 2012.
Adrian Ignagni started between the pipes and kept the Purple Eagles in the game throughout the early going. A pair of flashy glove saves from the sophomore, including one with 3:21 to go in the opening frame on a point-shot through traffic, kept the game scoreless going into the first intermission.
He collected 12 saves in the first before adding seven in the second period and another six in the third on his way to 25 on the night.
"He played great," Burkholder said of his sophomore goaltender. "He kept it close. If we can go up 2-0, maybe it's a different game. It was 1-0 and we had the lead there for a bit, but couldn't get that next goal. Adrian was solid. He gave us a chance to win tonight. "
The Purple Eagles played their best in the second forcing the Clarkson goalie to make six saves in the frame, but were unable to add to the lead. The shutout bid was eventually broken 17-minutes after the Angiolella's goal when a Golden Knights shot found its way from between the right face-off circle and the hash marks to the far side of the net to send the game into the second intermission tied at 1-1.
Clarkson added to the lead with a disputed goal halfway through the third period. A scrum developed to Ignagni's right and the puck appeared to be kicked towards the net and the Niagara keeper wasn't able to get a big enough of a piece of it as the Golden Knights went up 2-1. The visitors scored their third and final goal a little over a minute later and held on to come away with a 3-1 win.
Angiolella led the team with three shots on goal and finished the game a plus-1. NU controlled the face-off circles with a 39-23 lead at the final whistle. Neither team was able to convert with the man advantage as Clarkson finished the night 0-for-3 and Niagara ended up 0-for-2.
The team is back in action tomorrow night when the St. Lawrence Saints come to Dwyer Arena with face-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
