BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Purple Eagles (1-4-0. 1-0-0 AHA) opened conference play with a 4-1 victory over Sacred Heart (2-4-1, 0-1-0 AHA) on Friday.

Game Recap
First Period

• Walker Sommer, Jon Hill and Chris Harpur all had early opportunities for the Purple Eagles, but all three shots were saved by the Pioneers' goaltender.
• Ryan Naumovski and Jack DeBoer created chances for NU, but none of their shots made it past the goalie.
• The Pioneers scored 15:45 into the first period to take a 1-0 lead over the Purple Eagles.
• Ryan Cox and Harpur had two late chances for Niagara, but neither shot found its mark and NU trailed by just one goal going into the intermission.

Second Period

• Shots from Luke Edgerton and Christian Gorscak put early pressure on the Sacred Heart defense.
• A little under six minutes into the period, the Purple Eagles were on the power play. Mike Faulkner and Edgerton had chances, but neither found their target.
• Cox scored the equalizer a little over 12 minutes into the period. He was assisted by Harpur and Zac Herrmann.
• Niagara peppered the Sacred Heart defense with shots in the remainder of the period, but none made it past the goaltender and the teams were tied, 1-1, going into the third period.

Third Period

• Hill, Herrmann, Cox, Shane Ott and Edgerton all created opportunity for the Purple Eagles within the first 10 minutes of the period.
• Cox struck again a little over 10 minutes in, scoring his second goal of the game to put the Purple Eagles in the lead, 2-1. Edgerton assisted on the score.
• The Purple Eagles continued to take quality shots on goal and with about 1:30 to go in the period, Sacred Heart pulled its goalie.
• At 19:02, Hill scored an empty-net goal and Ryan Naumovski followed that up with an empty-net goal of his own, assisted by Herrmann and Albin Nilsson, at 19:25 and the Purple Eagles earned the 4-1 win over the Pioneers.

Eagle's Eye On

• This was the second multi-goal game of Cox's career. Naumovski's goal was his second of the season and Hill's was his first of the season. Cox and Naumovski are tied for the team-lead with two goals each on the season so far.
• Herrmann's helper was his third of the season, which leads the Purple Eagles. Edgerton's was his second of the season.
• Hill led the team in shots with five. Cox, Edgerton and Sommer each added four.
• Chad Veltri (1-2-0) made 23 saves. He made 10 saves in both the first and second periods.
• The Purple Eagles were perfect on the penalty kill and led the Pioneers in shots on goal, 31-24, and in blocked shots, 10-7.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles take on the Pioneers again on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1:00 p.m.

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