ERIE, Pa. – The Niagara men's hockey team completed a season sweep of Mercyhurst on Saturday night following a 4-2 road win. With the victory, the Purple Eagles leapfrogged Holy Cross and Canisius to land in eighth place in the conference standings, putting them in even better position to host a first-round playoff series.
Game Recap
- Niagara opened things up early, cracking the scoreboard just 2:30 in. Mercyhurst attempted to break out of its own zone, but Jack Zielinski smacked away a Laker pass at center ice. Luke Edgerton picked it up and carried it through the defense before leaving it for a charging Chris Harpur on the left wing. Harpur let it settle on his tape, then calmly wristed it home to make it a 1-0 game.
- Ben Sokay added to the lead five minutes into the second period. Zielinski again worked his man into a turnover, with the puck going off his right foot and directly to an open Sokay. Sokay danced his way around the zone and took a roundabout way to the net, where he stickhandled his way across the crease to outmaneuver the Mercyhurst netminder.
- Noah Delmas continued to pile on, making it 3-0 with 3:31 left in the middle stanza. At the top of the zone, Sokay cycled the puck down low to Jared Brandt, who fed Delmas at the top of the crease and poked it home for the 3-0 lead.
- Nearing the end of the second, Niagara was assessed a game misconduct and a major, giving the Lakers five minutes on the power play. The penalty spanned the intermission, but the Purple Eagles special teams made the kill look easy, allowing just one shot on goal before it expired. Over the course of the Mercyhurst advantage, Alex Truscott blocked three shots, while Zielinski and Cam Cook blocked one apiece.
- Less than two minutes after the major was successfully nullified in the third, Niagara found itself on the wrong end of a 5-on-3 for 1:41. The Lakers were able to manage more shots on net, but Chad Veltri stopped all six pucks he faced to ensure the team's two-goal lead remained intact.
- With 2:38 remaining in regulation, Niagara was called for two separate penalties, sending two players to the box. Mercyhurst started the advantage with the goalie on the bench for a 6-on-3, which helped result in their goal 37 seconds later.
- Another misconduct and major kept two Purple Eagles in the box and meant the Lakers continued to skate 6-on-3 after the goal. Truscott won a faceoff to Veltri's left with 1:44 to play, and the puck was immediately rifled the length of the ice into the wide open Mercyhurst net by Harpur, his second goal of the night to restore the two-goal lead.
Beyond The Boxscore
- Delmas' goal was his first of the season and the 20th of his career. With the tally, Delmas tied Chris Mackenzie ('00) for the most goals by a defenseman in team history.
- Niagara won all four games against Mercyhurst to sweep the season series. The Purple Eagles outscored the Lakers, 15-3, in those four games, with Veltri and Brian Wilson each recording a shutout in the process.
- Tonight's win is the first time either team has won four head-to-head games in a single season. After the Purple Eagles swept both games at Dwyer Arena last season, Niagara now owns the longest winning streak in the teams' series (six), which dates back to 1996.
- Harpur became the first defenseman to score twice in a game since Delmas did so on December 1, 2018 at Western Michigan. It also marked Harpur's first career multi-goal game.
- After tallying two points (1 G, 1 A) last night, Sokay repeated the feat tonight, marking the first time in his career that he has posted consecutive multi-point games.
Up Next
- Niagara travels to Bridgeport, Conn. next weekend for afternoon games on Saturday and Sunday against Sacred Heart. Both games against the Pioneers will begin at 1:05 p.m.
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