SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After 70 minutes of scoreless play, the Niagara men's hockey team skated off the ice after claiming their first-ever bonus point result in a shootout. Noah Delmas scored the first shootout goal in program history, while Brian Wilson stopped all 24 shots against to earn his second shutout of the year.
 
Game Recap

• Early in the game, Niagara made its presence felt with hard, physical play. With AIC threatening to break the Purple Eagles' line just three minutes in, Brandon Stanley pried his man off the puck to help create a turnover down low, giving the Niagara defense an opportunity to recover and possess.
• Brian Wilson's first big save of the game came on a breakaway for the Yellow Jackets. The junior held fast, cutting off the angle and slapping the puck into the corner to deny the chance.
• With less than 30 seconds left in the first period, Eric Cooley grabbed the puck next to the AIC net and got dumped. Despite falling down, the forward was able to swat the puck in front for Justin Kendall, who fluttered the shot wide.
• Wilson opened the second period with a fantastic diving effort to keep the puck off the stick of the many AIC jerseys that swarmed his crease. Moments later, Stanley and Kendall each had a good look on AIC's Zackarias Skog, but were foiled by equally impressive stops.
• With 32 seconds on the clock in the second, AIC hammered away at a loose puck in front of the Niagara net, but a quick kick of Wilson's right leg was enough to redirect the puck and keep the game scoreless heading into the intermission.
• After Niagara successfully thwarted the third power play for the Yellow Jackets halfway through the third, Kendall came out of the box and put the Purple Eagles on a 3-on-2. Kendall backhanded a shot on net, but saw it shrugged off to keep the score 0-0.
• With 3:12 left in regulation, the Purple Eagles mounted their best offensive attack of the afternoon. Alex Truscott, Ryan Cox, and Reed Robinson combined for five shots (four on goal) in a span of 16 seconds but saw each attempt rejected as they tried to break the deadlock.
• As time ticked away in the first overtime, AIC's Brennan Kapcheck was whistled for a contact to the head penalty with just 2.5 seconds left. The call resulted in a five-minute, 4-on-3 man-advantage for the Purple Eagles heading into the five-minute bonus overtime.
• In the second overtime, Niagara generated 13 shots, but had six blocked and only put two on net. Both shots on goal were saved.
• With no scoring in the second overtime, the two teams skated into a shootout. After two rounds without a goal, Noah Delmas finally got a puck across the line to put Niagara one step away from the extra point. Wilson made the save on the next shot to put a bow on a brilliant performance.

• Niagara will be off for the next two weekends for the winter break. The team will return to action on January 3-4, 2020 when they head to Penn State for a two-game series.

 
 
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