Omaha, Neb.—The Niagara hockey team opened its season on Friday night as they faced Omaha on the road. The Purple Eagles fell 8-1 in the season opener.

First Period

Omaha took the early lead just 2:20 into the opening period and then doubled their lead at the 5:05 mark of the period.

At the 11:05 mark of the opening period, Carter Randklev took a breakout pass and went on a two on one. Randklev took the shot on the left wing and beat the goalie for the first Niagara goal of the season. Josef Mysak picked up the primary assist while freshman Aron Jessli notched his first collegiate point on the goal.

At the 15:50 mark of the period, Omaha made it 3-1.

Shots were 11-10 in favor of Omaha in the first period, the Purple Eagles won the faceoff battle 11-8 in the first period.

Second Period

After a scoreless 18 minutes in the second period, Omaha scored at the 18:15 and 18:28 marks of the period to take a 5-1 lead.

Niagara won eight faceoffs in the second period while staying out of the penalty box.

Third Period

Omaha extended its lead just 39 seconds into the period on the power-play. They scored two more times in the third period, once at the 9:02 mark and the 12:40 mark of the period.

Mitchell Day relieved Jarrett Fiske in net to start the third period. Day made eight saves in the third period.

Niagara Notes

·       Fiske made 19 saves in his Purple Eagle debut.

·       Niagara tallied 16 shots on goal with Jaedon Leslie leading the team with three in his Purple Eagle debut.

·       Leslie, Jessli, Day, Fiske, Luke Mylymok, Jack Richard, Tyler Wallace, and Alex Murray all made their Niagara debuts. Day, Jessli, Richard, and Wallace made their collegiate debuts.

·       Niagara blocked 16 shots with Noah Carlin and Lane Brockhoff each blocking two shots to lead the team.

·       Glebs Prohorenkovs went 8-3 in the faceoff circle, his 72.7 winning percentage was the best among both teams.

·       The Purple Eagles are now 6-4-1 all-time against Omaha.

Up Next

The Purple Eagles close out the weekend series on Saturday night as they take on Omaha at 8 PM EST.

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