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Niagara University Athletics

Sokay
2
Niagara NIA 11-16-2, 10-11-2 AHA
6
Winner Army ARMY 11-11-5, 8-8-5 AHA
Niagara NIA
11-16-2, 10-11-2 AHA
2
Final
6
Army ARMY
11-11-5, 8-8-5 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Niagara NIA 1 1 0 2
Army ARMY 2 1 3 6

Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey |

Early Lead Not Enough For Purple Eagles At Army

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team started fast and furious in Friday night's contest at Army, scoring one minute in to open the weekend series. After the Black Knights pulled ahead 2-1 late in the first period, the Purple Eagles would tie their opponent but never lead, as Army pulled ahead 4-2 midway through the third period before two empty-net goals yielded a 6-2 final score at Tate Rink.
 
Game Summary
  • Final Score: Army 6, Niagara 2
  • Niagara Goal Scorers: Nic Mucci, Ben Sokay
  • Niagara Assists: Noah Delmas, Stanislav Dzakhov, Zach Mills, Derian Plouffe
  • In Goal: Brian Wilson (9-15-2) – 4 GA, 25 SV
  • Power Plays: Niagara – 1-for-6 (14 SOG); Army – 0-for-3 (6 SOG)
  • Records: Niagara – 11-16-2 (10-11-2 AHC); Army – 10-11-5 (8-8-5 AHC)
  • Location: Tate Rink – West Point, New York
  • Attendance: 1,467

Game Recap
  • Just one minute into the game, Nic Mucci scored his first collegiate goal to open the scoring in favor of Niagara. Stanislav Dzakhov won a puck battle behind the Army goal and fed Zach Mills to the left side of the cage, and he found Mucci for a one-time shot that beat Army's Cole Bruns from the back door.
  • Niagara controlled the early possession with a 7-2 shots on goal lead through the first six minutes, but Army came back to tie the game on a back-door goal from John Laurito at the 6:19 mark.
  • Midway through the first period, Mills nearly returned the lead to Niagara with a wrist shot that went off the post, up off the crossbar, and out away from the goal. Army would take the 2-1 lead with 2:48 until the first intermission on a Conor Andrle goal.
  • Just under eight minutes into the second period, the Purple Eagles tied things up with a power-play goal. Noah Delmas fed Derian Plouffe along the blue line, and Plouffe drove around the Army defense and fed Ben Sokay in the low slot for the one-time tally.
  • Four minutes later, the Black Knights reclaimed the lead for good, capitalizing on a turnover at the blue line with Michael Wilson capping the passing play to make it 3-2.
  • With 11 minutes to go, Niagara had its best chance to tie the game as Niko Kovachis found Sean King for a breakaway that was turned away by Army's Cole Bruns. Just over a minute later, Army's Laurito fed a pass that beat Brian Wilson to the far post, with Mason Krueger tapping home the goal that doubled the Black Knights' lead.
  • On a late power play, Niagara pulled Wilson for the extra attacker on the power play to take a 6-on-4 advantage, but could not close the gap, and Army got two empty-net goals from Tyler Pham and Laurito to close out the 6-2 decision.
 
Inside the Numbers
  • Nic Mucci, Stanislav Dzakhov, and Zach Mills continued their hot play offensively, with Mucci extending his scoring streak to four games (1+5). Dzakhov also has six points in the last four games (4+2), while Mills has five points (2+3) in his last five games played.
  • Mucci has eight points (1+7) in 12 games since the midseason holiday break, which ranks first among all Atlantic Hockey rookies.
  • Derian Plouffe extended his scoring streak to six games (2+4), the longest active on the Purple Eagles. It is his third-longest streak of the season after starting the year on an eight-game point streak (5+6) and racking up ten points in seven straight games (6+4) from Nov. 21 to Dec. 9, 2017.
  • Plouffe is now tied for third in the AHC with 31 points (15+16) in 29 games, and he is tied for the conference lead in power-play points (14) and shorthanded goals (three).
  • Niagara outshot Army 33-31 in the game, tallying 13 shots in both the first and third periods. Niko Kovachis tied Niagara's single-game season high with eight shots on goal.
  • Noah Delmas picked up his 23rd assist of the season and now has 26 points in 29 games. He ranks second in scoring among all NCAA blueliners.
  • Plouffe won 12 of 16 faceoffs on the night, but Army held a 38-25 edge in that category for the game.
 
Up Next
  • Niagara and Army close out the weekend series back at Tate on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7:05 p.m. Jeremy White has the play-by-play call on WLVL 1340 AM.
 
Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for hockey updates, follow Niagara hockey on Twitter and Instagram. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.
 
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