Niagara Goes Head-To-Head With Holy Cross

The Niagara Purple Eagles look to get back in the win column during this weekend's two-game set against the Holy Cross Crusaders

History 101

This weekend's contests will be the 15th and 16th meetings all-time between these two teams.
Niagara held a slight 7-5-0 edge all-time against Holy Cross heading into the season but the series is now tied at 7-7-0.
The Purple Eagles won the first five games of the all-time series. The closest game in that stretch was a 5-4 OT win on Oct. 14, 2006. NU outscored its opponent 25-8 during the streak.
Holy Cross was the opponent when Niagara set the record for most shots on goal in a game. NU put 61 shots on goal in a 6-0 win on Jan. 11, 2000.

Last Time Out

A shorthanded goal and another strong second period weren't enough for the Niagara Purple Eagles who fell 4-2 to the Holy Cross Crusaders at Dwyer Arena on Dec. 6.
Hugo Turcotte and Robert Angiolella scored for the Purple Eagles. Both goals came at even-strength.

Notent Notables

Two Purple Eagles have notched career-moments against the Crusaders.
Senior defenseman, and team captain, Kevin Albers notched his first career goal against Holy Cross on Jan. 18, 2013.
Isaac Kohls collected his 50th career point with an assist in the loss on Jan. 18, 2014.

Heading Right Back Out

Niagara returned home last week to play the first home games of 2015 after playing six straight road game to start the new year. This weekend NU heads right back out on the road for two games in Worcester, Mass. to close out January against the Holy Cross Crusaders.

Earning A Medal

Angiolella won his second weekly honor of the season this week when he was named Travel Team USA Co-Rookie of the Week on Jan. 24.
He scored two goals and added an assist in Saturday's 6-4 loss to Canisius. It was just his second game back after missing eight due to an injury.
Fun Fact: he had the same amount of points (2g, 1a) in the same game (Saturday) as his fellow RotW from the Griffs. The only difference was plus/minus, but we can all agree that's an antiquated stat.

Why Not Have Your First Goal Be Shorthanded?

Kevin Patterson scored the first goal of his career in the 6-4 loss to Canisius on Jan. 24. The tally came in the third period while the Purple Eagles were shorthanded and made it a 4-3 game with three minutes left on the clock.

Burkholder Reaches 500 Games

Head coach Dave Burkholder served his 500th game as head coach for Niagara Hockey on Friday, Jan. 16 against North Dakota.
He coached his first game as head coach on Oct. 12, 2001. Back on that day 14 years ago:
- "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys was no. 1 on the Billboard Top-100 list."
- Corky Romano" starring Chris Kattan was released in theatres.
- The team's current SID was 12 years old.
- The average price of gas was $1.30/gallon.

Players Mentioned