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The Niagara Purple Eagles return to conference action with a two-game series against the Mercyhurst Lakers.
Match Preview
• The Purple Eagles and Lakers renew their rivalry Wednesday night when the two teams meet for the 37th time in the first leg of a home-and-home series.
• Niagara and Mercyhurst will meet two days later at Dwyer Arena for a 7 p.m. start.
• Niagara swept the four-game season series last year to improve to 16-15-4 all-time against Mercyhurst.
• Niagara is 1-1-1 on the season after defeating No. 7 Clarkson 4-1 on Wednesday, December 9. In that contest, junior goalie
Mike Corson picked up his first career win as he made 23 saves in his season debut.
• Mercyhurst defeated No. 18 Bowling Green to open the season but have since dropped three straight non-conference games. Wednesday night's contest will be the first AHA matchup for the Lakers.
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Niagara Notes
• Niagara picked up its first win of the 2020-21 campaign on Wednesday, December 9 when the Purple Eagles upset No. 7 Clarkson by the final score of 4-1.
• The Purple Eagles were set to play Robert Morris on December 11-12, however, the games were postponed. No date has yet been announced.
• Junior forward
Ludwig Stenlund leads the team with three points (1 goal, 2 assists) through the first three games of the season.
• Goalie
Mike Corson made his Purple Eagle debut against No. 7 Clarkson, stopping a total of 23 shots, a career-high for the transfer from Denver.
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Mike Corson was named AHA Goalie of the Week on December 15 for his performance against then-No. 7 Clarkson on December 16.
• Four Purple Eagles scored in Niagara's win over Clarkson and never trailed en route to the upset victory.
Ryan Cox,
Jack Billings,
Jason Pineo, and
Carter Randklev each tallied their first goal of the campaign in the game.
• Niagara opened the season with a home-and-home series vs. RIT on December 4-5. The Purple Eagles and Tigers tied 3-3 in the opener despite Niagara taking an early 3-0 lead. RIT would go on to win the second game by a final score of 5-1 to take three points in the standings.
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Scouting The Lakers
• After beating then-No. 18 Bowling Green, 2-1, to open their season on December 5, the Lakers have dropped their last three games.
• All of four of their games have been against ranked opponents – No. 18 Bowling Green and No. 7 Clarkson.
• Dante Sheriff (2 g, 1 a) and Josh McDougall (0 g, 3 a) lead the team in points.
• Hank Johnson has been between the pipes in all four games and had a 3.47 GAA. Johnson was named AHA Goalie of the Week on December 8.
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