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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY MEN'S HOCKEY
Niagara Purple Eagles (4-12-4, 4-6-4-2 Atlantic Hockey) at Air Force Falcons (6-10-4, 6-6-4-3 Atlantic Hockey)
GAME 21	Friday, January 17 | 9:05 PM ET
GAME 22	Saturday, January 18 | 7:05 PM ET
LOCATION	Cadet Ice Arena – Air Force Academy, CO
LIVE VIDEO	flohockey.tv
LIVE AUDIO	PurpleEagles.com
RADIO	1340 AM / 105.3 FM WLVL
GAME NOTES	Niagara (PDF)| Air Force (PDF)
LIVE STATS	Sidearm Stats

The Niagara men's hockey team is preparing to travel to the Air Force Academy to play a two-game set against the Falcons. The Purple Eagles will open the series in Colorado on Friday night at 9:05 p.m. Eastern Time.

Matchup Preview

• This is the second series of the season between the longtime rivals. At Dwyer Arena on November 29-30, the Purple Eagles defeated the Falcons, 4-3, in the opener in overtime. Air Force bounced back to win the finale in double overtime, 2-1.
• Niagara has played more games against Air Force than any other opponent, as Friday's game will mark the 77th all-time meeting between the two schools.
• In the previous 76 games, the Purple Eagles have posted a mark of 39-31-6-0 against the Falcons.
• Niagara is 5-1 at the Academy since Jason Lammers took over prior to the 2017-18 season. The last time the Purple Eagles made the trip to Colorado Springs was for the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals on March 15-16, 2019. Niagara swept the Falcons in two games to advance to the conference semifinals.
• In the last 10 overall meetings, Niagara is 6-3-1-0 against Air Force.

 
Niagara Notes

• The Purple Eagles are coming off a one-point home weekend against Holy Cross. The Crusaders won, 6-3, on January 10, then eked out a shootout win the next night following a 2-2 draw after 70 minutes of play.
• By seeing 58:35 minutes of ice time on Friday, Brian Wilson surpassed Rob Bonk ('04) for the fifth-most minutes played by a Niagara goalie. The junior has seen a total of 4656:41 minutes on the ice in 78 career games.
• On Thursday, Wilson was named as Niagara's nominee for the Hobey Baker Award. He currently ranks second among Atlantic Hockey goalies in terms of save percentage (.924), and sixth with a 2.44 goals-against average. A recent seven game stretch saw Wilson allow just 10 goals, including two to eighth-ranked Penn State. Between November 22 and January 4, Wilson owned the nation's highest save percentage (.960) and the fifth-best goals-against average (1.25).
• With one goal and three assists against the Crusaders, Jack Billings posted his second four-point weekend of the season. The forward now leads the team with six goals and is second on the roster in points (11).
• Ben Sokay's two-assist night on January 10 was his first career game with multiple helpers. Each of his previous 13 assists came in their own outings. By adding a goal in Saturday's overtime result, Sokay posted his first three-point weekend since a four-point (2 G, 2 A) performance against Bentley on February 14-15, 2019.

Scouting The Falcons

• Air Force is coming off a one-point weekend at Army West Point on January 10-11. The Falcons dropped two points in a nine-round shootout in the series opener. The Black Knights then took the straight win, 5-2, to close things out the next night.
• With an average 29.85 shots on goal per game, the Falcons rank second in the AHA in that category, trailing only Sacred Heart. Air Force is the conference's top-ranked team in terms of shutting down opposing shots, holding teams to 24.20 shots on goal against through the first 20 games of the season.
• With six goals apiece, senior forwards Brady Tomlak, Kieran Durgan, and Matt Pulver are tied for the team lead in that category. Tomlak's 11 assists make him the team's overall leading scorer with 17 points.
• Alex Schilling has played the majority of minutes for the Falcons in net, manning the crease for 1224:08 in 15 total games. He holds a goals-against average of 2.43, a save percentage of .899, and one shutout.

 
Milestone Watch


 
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