NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Despite a quick start by the Niagara men's hockey team, the Purple Eagles dropped Friday's series opener against Holy Cross, 6-3.
 
Game Recap

• Niagara opened with a force, thanks in part to Jack Billings. Exactly 2:00 in, Billings charged hard to the net after hauling in a pass from Ben Sokay and muscling it through with one hand from in tight.
• Reed Robinson opened the second period in similar fashion. Niagara sliced up the Crusader defense, and the sophomore took Sokay's perfectly-placed pass and tapped it in to double the Purple Eagles' lead 1:58 into the frame.
• After Holy Cross cut into the Niagara lead with 7:00 to play in the second, the Purple Eagles nearly regained their two-goal edge minutes later, but Sokay's heavy blast rang off the iron.
• Niagara successfully killed off two late penalties to hold onto the lead. Then, with a faceoff deep in the Crusaders' end and 11.4 seconds before intermission, the Purple Eagles capitalized on a golden opportunity to seize some late momentum. Luke Edgerton won the draw and overpowered the Holy Cross defense behind the net to slip Eric Cooley a pinpoint pass, which he calmly buried with loads of space and 6.8 seconds on the clock.

 
Beyond The Boxscore

• Jason Pineo made his debut in the purple and white tonight.

 
Up Next

• Tomorrow's series finale opens up at 4:05 p.m. at Dwyer Arena. Tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster or by contacting the ticket office at 716-286-TIXX And as always, Coach Lammers encourages all fans to attend his public press conference following the conclusion of the game.

 
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