Niagara University, N.Y.—The Niagara Hockey team (3-3-0 (1-3-0 AHA)) fell to Sacred Heart in the second game of the weekend series. With the 5-1 loss the Purple Eagles split the weekend series with the Pioneers.

Game Recap

First Period

·       The opening five minutes of the game were controlled by the Purple Eagles as they were outshooting the Pioneers 3-1.

·       At the 4:46 mark of the period the Purple Eagles scored on their fourth shot of the game, Carter Randklev scored. With Shane Ott going to the net, Randklev flung a shot at the net that had eyes and beat the goalie for his third goal of the season. Ott and Ryan Cox picked up assists on the play.

·       At the end of the first period a Sacred Heart forward found himself one on one with Jake Sibell. Sibell sprawled to his right and made a spread eagle save to keep the Pioneers off the board.

·       After the opening 20 minutes the Purple Eagles held a slight edge in shots at 8-7 while also edging out Sacred Heart 9-8 in faceoffs.

Second Period

·       Niagara came out of the locker room flying as they registered four shots in the opening 69 seconds of the period.

·       Despite all the early shots in the period, it was Sacred Heart that struck in the period. After a Niagara turnover in the Sacred Heart zone, the Pioneers came back on an odd-man rush and beat Sibell to tie the game at one.

·       The rest of the second period saw a lot of back and forth play with limited stoppages. Despite the long stretches of play, neither team generated many top notch scoring opportunities.

·       Sibell closed the period with a kick save from a bad angle to keep the game tied at one.

·       After the second period, Niagara still edged out the Pioneers 17-16 in shots as both teams had nine shots in the middle frame.

Third Period

·       3:30 into the third period, the Pioneers took their first lead of the weekend as they beat Sibell with a one-timer to make it 2-1.

·       The two teams played traded shots until the media timeout. During the break the officials reviewed the play for a possible penalty. The officials deemed there was a penalty on the play and the Purple Eagles were tasked at killing off a five minute penalty.

·       About 10 seconds into the five minute power play, Sacred Heart scored on a rebound to make it 3-1.

·       Niagara kept trying to generate offensive chances and eventually killed off the penalty with no more damage done.

·       Sacred Heart closed out the game with a pair of empty net goals as the 17:53 mark and 19:21 mark.

Niagara Notes

·       Niagara generated 25 shots on goal, they have had at least 25 shots on goal in every game this season except for the season opener against Omaha.

·       The Purple Eagles blocked 18 shots with Noah Carlin leading the way with six. Josef Mysak, Albin Nilsson, and Lucas Bahn each had two blocks.

·       Randklev has recorded a point in four of the six games this season for Niagara.

·       Jason Pineo and Cox have led the Purple Eagles in the faceoff circle as Pineo is winning 59.1% of faceoffs, Cox is at 53.7%.

·       Jonathan Ziskie leads the team in +/- as he is currently +3.

Up Next

Niagara plays their first of two home and home series' with Mercyhurst next weekend. The Purple Eagles host the Lakers on Friday night before traveling to Erie on Saturday for the back half.