Friday: Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes
Saturday: Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes

Last weekend, the Purple Eagles men's hockey team opened Atlantic Hockey play with a tie and a loss against the Robert Morris Colonials. Niagara will be playing non-conference opponents in their next four games spanning the next three weekends. That stretch begins with two games on Oct. 30 and 31 against the Cornell Big Red. Cornell visits Niagara on Friday for the program's very first game at Dwyer Arena before the two teams reconvene Saturday night at Cornell's Lynah Rink. Both games are slated for 7:00 p.m. faceoffs.
 
Friday's game will be shown on LCTV and can be viewed via live stream on Eversport. Todd Callen will have the radio call Friday evening on 1340 AM WLVL, while Jeremy White will have the play-by-play Saturday from Cornell.
 
Last Time Out

• Last Friday, the Purple Eagles played to a tie in their home opener.
• TJ Sarcona scored Niagara's first home goal of the season 10:36 into the game, and Albin Karlsson scored off a wraparound in the second period.
• Trailing 3-2 in the final 10 minutes, Dan Kolenda buried Nick Farmer's rebound for his first goal of the season and the final goal of the game
• Guillaume Therien made 38 saves on the night, including seven in overtime.
• Saturday night was a far different story from Friday's tie. Niagara posted a season-high 36 shots, but only produced two goals as Robert Morris stormed to an 8-2 win.
• Sam Rennaker scored his first as a Purple Eagle on the power play, and Derian Plouffe was credited with a goal as a shot from Vinny Muto bounced off Plouffe and into the net.

 
Freshman Phenoms

• Nick Farmer (2+1) and Ryan Kuhn (1+2) began the season on three-game point streaks, as they both earned assists in Friday's tie with Robert Morris but were held scoreless last Saturday.
• With their performances last weekend, Farmer and Kuhn became the 13th and 14th Niagara freshmen in the last five years to accrue a point streak of at least three games.

 
Scouting the Big Red

• The two-game series with Niagara serves as the beginning of Cornell's regular season. The Big Red placed seventh in the ECAC last season, finishing with a record of 11-14-6 (9-9-4 in conference play).
• Cornell returns just two of their top five leading scorers. Their leading returning scorer is 6-7, 223-pound forward Christian Hilbrich (10 goals, four assists in 2014-15).
• With strong play from goaltenders Mitch Gillam (9-9-5, 1.99 GAA, .927 SV%) and Hayden Stewart (2-5-1, 2.13 GAA, .923 SV%), Cornell ranked seventh in the nation in team goals-against average in 2014-15.
• Like Niagara, Cornell has a younger lineup, as 16 of their 29 players are freshmen and sophomores.

 
Series Snapshot: Niagara vs. Cornell

• Since the Niagara hockey program was founded in the 1996-97 series, the Purple Eagles and Big Red have matched up 14 times. Cornell holds the lead in the series with a record of 12-2-0 against Niagara.
• Niagara's two wins against Cornell (11/27/1999 and 11/26/2000) both came at a neutral site in the Syracuse Invitational tournament.
• Friday's game is the first visit to Dwyer Arena for the Big Red. Niagara and Cornell played at Marine Midland Arena (now First Niagara Center) in Buffalo, NY on Nov. 30, 1997.

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