NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – In the second game of this season's Battle of the Bridge, the Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team fell by a final score of 5-2 to the Canisius Golden Griffins Tuesday night at Dwyer Arena.
Kris Spriggs and
Sam Rennaker each had a goal and
Jackson Teichroeb made 27 saves in net, but Niagara was unable to score on its seven power-play chances while Canisius went 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
Game Summary
Game Recap
- Niagara was shorthanded early when Sam Rennaker was called for cross-checking just 1:32 into the first period. Just 32 seconds later, Canisius executed on the power play as Casey Jerry set up Nick Hutchison for his sixth power-play goal of the season, putting the Golden Griffins up 1-0.
- Niagara tied the game on a set play off of a faceoff at 5:56 of the first. Nick Farmer won the draw back to Kris Spriggs, who ripped his seventh goal of the season past Canisius goaltender Charles Williams to tie the game 1-1.
- Rennaker would redeem himself for the early penalty by giving the Purple Eagles their first lead of the game at 7:34, converting on a nice feed from Stephen Pietrobon to put Niagara in front 2-1.
- Canisius tied the game once again just over five minutes later, as David Parrottino tipped a shot from Alex Jaeckle past Jackson Teichroeb. The 2-2 score would hold through the first intermission.
- As both teams were each killing off a penalty to start the second period, Canisius' Casey Jerry found a breakaway shot that bounced off Teichroeb and landed in the crease just in front of the line, leaving Vinny Muto to make a great defensive play to keep the game tied.
- In the last seconds of a Niagara penalty kill, Cameron Heath was able to give the Golden Griffins their first lead of the game at the 15:10 mark of the second. Heath directed the puck to the front of the Niagara goal, and the eventual game-winning goal glanced past Teichroeb off the skate of a Purple Eagles defender.
- A five-minute penalty and game misconduct on Rennaker had the Purple Eagles shorthanded at the end of the second period and at the beginning of the third. The Purple Eagles responded strong to start the third period and killed the penalty.
- The Golden Griffins were able to hold off the Purple Eagles in the third period, eventually extending their lead to two with Parrottino's second goal of the night with 3:58 to play. An empty-net goal scored by Jesse Pereira in the final minute sealed the scoring at 5-2.
Coach's Corner
- Head coach David Burkholder: "I thought it was a great hockey game. I thought we battled really hard, it was a 50-50 game midway through the second."
Inside the Numbers
- Stephen Pietrobon achieved a milestone with his first period assist to Rennaker for the second Purple Eagles goal. With the assist, the senior forward now has 25 assists in his career.
- Kris Spriggs took over as Niagara's leading scorer last weekend vs. Mercyhurst, and padded his lead against the Griffins with his seventh goal of the season. The freshman currently has the scoring lead with a team-high 13 points (7+6) in his 25 games this season.
- Keegan Harper had his second game of the season with six blocked shots, tied by the most by a Niagara player in a game this season. Harper also blocked six shots Jan. 27 at Mercyhurst, and Vinny Muto blocked six shots Dec. 9, 2016 at Air Force. In the loss, Niagara blocked 19 shots to Canisius' nine.
- Jackson Teichroeb has been leading the way as of late between the pipes. He is now averaging 29 saves per game starting the past four games in goal.
- Niagara has scored at least two goals in six of their last seven home games at Dwyer Arena.
Up Next
- Niagara now prepares for a trip to Tate Rink in West Point as it battles Army. The Purple Eagles and Black Knights square off on Friday night, Feb. 10 at 7:05 p.m.
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@NUPurpleEagles and for hockey updates, follow
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