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

This weekend, the Purple Eagles hockey team hosts the Air Force Falcons for the final two games of the Atlantic Hockey regular season. These will be the final two home games of the season for Niagara, who will be traveling for the first round of the playoffs. Saturday's game will be preceded by a ceremony honoring the five seniors who will be graduating in May.

Niagara is currently locked into tenth place in the conference, but the Purple Eagles will look to improve upon their 2-1-3 February record in the final games of the month. Meanwhile, Air Force has already earned a bye from the Atlantic Hockey first round next weekend, but enters the weekend with a chance to win the conference's regular-season title, trailing current leader Robert Morris by three points.

Friday's game will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel with Steve Warzala and Randy Schultz calling the game. Time Warner Cable subscribers in the Buffalo area can tune in on Ch. 323 at 7:05 p.m. Both games can also be heard live on 1340 AM WLVL and PurpleEagles.com/Watch. Jeremy White will have the radio call Friday, while Brian Koziol will handle the play-by-play on Saturday.

Last Time Out
 

• The Niagara Purple Eagles skated to a 4-4 tie with the RIT Tigers on Friday, Feb. 19 before falling 5-2 at RIT on Saturday, Feb 20.
• On Friday, Niagara fell behind 3-1 late in the first period, prompting the Purple Eagles to pull starter Jackson Teichroeb in favor of Guillaume Therien.
• Therien made 11 saves in the second period to keep Niagara close, and his team was able to narrow the deficit to one on a goal by TJ Sarcona.
• Kevin Patterson tied the game for Niagara about eight minutes into the third, and Stephen Pietrobon gave Niagara the lead with under three minutes left in regulation.
• RIT's Chase Norrish was able to tie the game with the extra attacker inside the final minute, and neither team scored in the overtime period.
• Therien finished with 26 saves and just the one goal allowed in 48:56 of ice time.
• Niagara earned a 2-0 lead in the first period Saturday despite being outshot 13-6 and giving the Tigers three early power-play chances.
• RIT's Andrew Miller scored just over three minutes into the second period, igniting a five-goal unanswered run in the middle stanza.
• Teichroeb, who got the start again Saturday, would surrender his fourth goal of the second with 3:10 remaining before he was again pulled for Therien.
• Therien gave up a power-play goal to RIT's Erik Brown in the last minute of the second period, sealing the 5-2 final score.

Playoffs On The Horizon
 

• The Atlantic Hockey postseason begins next weekend, with the teams ranked sixth through eleventh playing in the first round.
• After AIC's 2-2 tie with Bentley on Feb. 24, Niagara locked into tenth place in Atlantic Hockey. With 15 points, the Purple Eagles cannot catch ninth-place Army (22 points). AIC, tied with Niagara at 15 points, loses the head-to-head win percentage tiebreaker.
• Depending on the results of Friday or Saturday, Niagara could open the playoffs at Canisius, Sacred Heart, Bentley, or Army.
• Those four teams each have home-and-home series this weekend. Canisius plays Atlantic Hockey-leading Robert Morris, Sacred Heart faces Holy Cross, and Bentley and Army play each other.

 
Let's Hear It For The Seniors
 

• Niagara will be honoring its five graduating players with a Senior NIght ceremony prior to Saturday's contest.
• The Purple Eagles have five seniors on the roster: forward Dan Kolenda, defensemen Matt Chiarantano, Matt Dineen, and Nick Cecere, and goaltender Chris Paulin.

Scouting the Falcons
 

• The Air Force Falcons, currently 14-7-5 in Atlantic Hockey and 16-11-5 overall, are currently in a three-way tie with Holy Cross and RIT for second place in the conference, but the Falcons hold tiebreakers over both teams.
• Niagara was swept in a road series at Air Force on Jan. 22 and 23, as the Purple Eagles fell by scores of 3-0 and 3-1.
• Despite being outshot 45-14 in the first game between these two teams, Niagara trailed just 1-0 until the final five minutes.
• Niagara was also tied 1-1 with Air Force until the Falcons scored the game-winning goal with just under eight minutes to play. Air Force scored an empty net goal in both games.
• Air Force has the best record in Atlantic Hockey since Jan. 1 at 10-3-3 (.719 win percentage).
• The Falcons are also third in conference in goals for per game (3.19) and second in goals against per game (1.94) since Jan. 1.
• Senior Ben Carey leads Air Force with 21 points (9+12), while sophomores Ben Kucera (12) and Tyler Ledford (15) lead the team in goals and assists, respectively.
• Freshman goaltender Shane Starrett has a 2.12 goals-against average for the Falcons.

Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and follow Purple Eagles hockey on Twitter @NiagaraUHockey. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.