NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men's hockey team won the second half of its home-and-home against Mercyhurst by a 3-1 score on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena.
 
Game Recap

• The Purple Eagles got out to a strong start, opening up a 7-2 lead in shots on goal in the first seven minutes of the game.
• Niagara's downhill play was rewarded less than eight minutes into the contest. The team's eighth shot on target, from Ben Sokay, went in and put the Purple Eagles up, 1-0.
• Later in the second period, Eric Cooley was camped to the left of the Mercyhurst net. With Niagara pouring on pressure, a long shot pinballed around the crease, but Cooley's whack at the wide open back side but couldn't connect to make it 2-0.
• Tied at 1-1 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation, the Purple Eagles turned the puck over right in front of their own net. Brian Wilson kicked his right leg out and made the point blank save to keep Mercyhurst from taking the lead.

• Alex Truscott buried his second in as many games to put Niagara in front, 2-1, inside six minutes to go. Truscott hauled in a long feed from Ryan Cox and Chris Harpur on an aggressive counter-attack to net the eventual game-winner.

• With the Lakers' net empty and less than two minutes remaining in the third, Cooley hurled the puck the length of the ice to break up Mercyhurst's six-man attack. Jack Billings chased down the dump-in and nestled an empty-netter in to seal the game with 63 seconds left.

 
Beyond The Boxscore

• Niagara has now won each of its last four games against the Lakers. The Purple Eagles also swept Mercyhurst in the teams' lone series of the 2018-19 season, with both wins coming at Dwyer Arena.

 
Up Next

• Air Force will pay a visit to Dwyer Arena next weekend, with games on Friday, November 29 and again on Saturday, November 30. Both matchups are set for 7:05 p.m. starts. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster. And as always, Coach Lammers encourages all fans to attend his public press conference following the conclusion of the game.

 
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