NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – In their first home game since Jan. 9, the Purple Eagles hockey team fell into a large early deficit that they would not overcome against the Army West Point Black Knights. Despite Niagara scoring two goals on the power play, a 3-0 Army lead after 20 minutes of play resulted in a 4-2 Niagara loss Friday night at Dwyer Arena.
 
TJ Sarcona and Sean King tallied goals on the man-advantage for Niagara, which entered Friday's game with a power play that scored just five goals on 55 chances in its previous 12 games. With a 2-for-5 performance on the night, Niagara scored multiple power-play goals for the first time all season, and it was the first such instance for the Purple Eagles since a 3-for-4 outing in a 5-3 win over Holy Cross on March 8, 2015 in the Atlantic Hockey first round.
 
"I thought our power play got us momentum all night, so that was a positive," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Shoot, go to the net for rebounds, and it's been working in this last little segment."
 
Albin Karlsson, Niko Kovachis, Vinny Muto, and Larry Smith all recorded assists in the loss for Niagara (3-19-3, 3-14-2 Atlantic Hockey). Jackson Teichroeb started the game but was relieved after the second period, ending the night with 16 saves on 20 shots. Guillaume Therien made eight saves and surrendered no goals in the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Although Niagara began the game with energetic play through the first five minute, it was the Black Knights (6-11-6, 4-9-6 Atlantic Hockey) who struck first in the game. Off the rush, Army's Clint Carlisle found Brendan McGuire in front of Teichroeb, and McGuire buried the puck despite having a defender draped over him. Army doubled their lead with a power-play goal from Conor Andrle 10:42 into the game, and Trevor Fidler made it 3-0 on another man advantage with 34 seconds left in the first. Army was able to match Niagara's 2-for-5 effort on the power play in the win.
 
"We just looked tired. We've been on the road the whole month of January, so I don't know if that was a factor," Burkholder said. "We didn't match their work ethic or their intensity early on."
 
Teichroeb returned to the net to start the second period and made eight saves in the middle stanza to keep Niagara in the game. Sarcona tallied his power-play goal at the 17:53 mark of the second. Muto and Smith cycled the puck along the blue line to Sarcona, whose shot at the net was redirected in off the skate of an Army defender. It was the fourth goal of the season for the junior, and his second goal in as many games.
 
Just two minutes later, however, Army regained the three-goal lead. On a three-on-two to close the period, Carlisle patiently drew the puck across the slot and dropped it for Andrle, who held for the shot and got Teichroeb out of position before burying a shot glove-side with four seconds until the second intermission. That completed Teichroeb's night, as the Purple Eagles turned to Therien for the closing period.
 
While the Purple Eagles came out desperate to start the third, their play kicked into another gear after King's power-play goal halfway through the period from the left faceoff dot. Niagara outshot Army 8-3 in the final 9:57 of the game, but the Purple Eagles could not force another tally past Army netminder Parker Gahagen, who made 29 saves in the win. King and Nick Farmer had chances right on the doorstep in the closing seconds, but they could not narrow the two-goal gap.
 
Niagara and Army conclude their season series Saturday night with game two of the weekend at Dwyer Arena. Opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m., with Paul Hamilton calling the game on 1340 AM WLVL and PurpleEagles.com/Watch. Tickets are available at the Dwyer Arena ticket office or by phone at (716) 286-TIXX (8499).
 
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