ERIE, Pa. – Despite a stronger effort from the Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team at Mercyhurst Saturday night, the Purple Eagles fell by a final score of 3-2 to the Lakers for a second consecutive night. Justin Kendall and Nick Farmer scored for the Purple Eagles, who held a 35-24 shots on goal advantage in the matchup. Niagara looks to snap a three-game losing streak next weekend with two conference games on tap at Holy Cross.
 
Game Summary

• Final Score: Mercyhurst 3, Niagara 2
• Niagara Goal Scorers: Nick Farmer, Justin Kendall
• Niagara Assists: Eric Cooley, Johnny Curran, Zach Mills, Derian Plouffe
• In Goal: Brian Wilson (8-11-2) – 3 GA, 21 SV
• Power Plays: Niagara – 0-for-3 (5 SOG); Mercyhurst – 1-for-4 (9 SOG)
• Records: Niagara – 10-12-2 (9-7-2 AHC); Mercyhurst – 10-10-2 (7-7-2 AHC)
• Location: Mercyhurst Ice Center – Erie, Pennsylvania
• Attendance: 1,008

Game Recap

• The Purple Eagles controlled possession through the first half of the game, and were rewarded with the game's first goal at the 10:12 mark of the opening period. Eric Cooley chipped a puck deep to the Mercyhurst end, outmuscled two defenders behind the goal, and found Justin Kendall in front for the tap-in goal.
• Shortly after taking the lead, however, Niagara stared down a 5-on-3 penalty kill. Mercyhurst's Jack Riley tied the game on the two-man advantage, but the Purple Eagles killed the second penalty.
• Niagara ended the first period with a 14-12 shots on goal lead, but goaltender Brian Wilson had to preserve the tie just before the intermission, shutting down a breakaway bid from the Lakers' Nathan Ferriero.
• Ben Sokay ripped a chance for a go-ahead goal off the crossbar in the opening minute of the second period, but Niagara would convert for the 2-1 lead at the 7:08 mark as Nick Farmer buried a rebound of Johnny Curran's shot, with Zach Mills picking up the second assist.
• 2:38 after Farmer's goal, a turnover behind the Niagara net led to the tying goal for Mercyhurst, as Michael Verboom set up Brendan Riley, who beat Niagara's Brian Wilson to the post for the equalizer.
• Early in the third period, Mercyhurst sped ahead on a 2-on-0 rush with Verboom again setting up Brendan Riley to make it a 3-2 game.
• Niagara held Mercyhurst to just one shot on goal for the rest of the game and put significant pressure on the Lakers, but managed just six shots on goal for the period without a game-tying goal, falling 3-2 for the second consecutive night.

 
Coach's Corner

• Head coach Jason Lammers: "I thought we played a lot better than last night. I think we're coming I thought some guy made some steps, we had a lot of good looks at the net to at least get a tie or at least put it away. Credit to Mercyhurst, they played hard and they played their style and they really challenged us in a couple of situations. I'd like to see a little more from our power play on the weekend, we just need to find a way. We're going to keep on working and working on our detail throughout this process right now."

 
Inside the Numbers

• With his first-period goal, Justin Kendall has four points (1+3) in his last five games.
• Nick Farmer scored his second goal in as many nights and now has 12 points (7+5) in 24 games this season. Farmer is one point from matching his career-high for points in a season, when he had 13 (4+9) during the 2015-16 campaign.
• Niagara outshot Mercyhurst 35-24 for the game, with 14 shots on goal in the first period and 15 in the second.
• Farmer also had a game-high four blocked shots, but Mercyhurst held a slim 15-13 advantage in that category.
• Niagara won the faceoff battle 40-34, led by Farmer (10-7) and Derian Plouffe (19-13).

 
Up Next

• Niagara heads to Holy Cross next weekend for a two-game series with the Crusaders, with opening faceoff set for 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 and Saturday, Jan. 20. Jeremy White has the play-by-play call all weekend on WLVL 1340 AM.

 
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