Fairfield, CT—The Niagara hockey team fell 4-1 to the Sacred Heart Pioneers to close out their first Atlantic Hockey road series.
First Period
The first half of the first period was controlled by Niagara as they were outshooting the Pioneers 6-2 at the media timeout.
Despite the early pressure, Sacred Heart struck first at the 6:37 mark of the period as Sacred Heart scored on an odd man rush.
Niagara did not respond in the remainder of the first period despite outshooting Sacred Heart 11-6 in the first period. Jay Ahearn had three shots in goal in the opening period.
The Purple Eagles won the faceoff battle in the first period as they edged out the Pioneers 9-8.
Second Period
Niagara tied the game in the second period as Lars Rodne scored his second goal of the year at the 13:34 mark. Ahearn took a breakout pass from Josef Mysak and drove down the right side wall. Ahearn slid the puck to the middle of the slot that found the stick of Rodne who split the defensemen and scored to tie the game at one.
With the Pioneers on the power play they scored at the 19:05 mark of the period to take the 2-1 lead.
Niagara outshot the Pioneers 11-4 in the second period and were outshooting the Pios 22-10 after 40 minutes.
The Purple Eagles went 13-6 in the faceoff circle in the second period.
Third Period
Trailing by a goal, the Purple Eagles really turned up the pressure in the third period as they totaled 16 shots in the final 20 minutes. Niagara could not solve the Sacred Heart netminder despite all the pressure.
Sacred Heart scored a pair of empty netters at the 18:25 and 19:48 marks to seal the game.
Niagara Notes
· Niagara set a season high with 38 shots, it is the sixth most shots by a team in an AHA game this season. It is the second game this season that Niagara has had 30+ shots, last season they had 16 games with 30+ shots.
· The Purple Eagles allowed just 15 shots, it is the least amount of shots since they allowed just 14 shots on Feb. 22, 2022 in a 4-2 win over RIT.
· Shane Ott had a game-high seven shots while 14 players tallied a shot on goal.
· Ahearn is currently on a three game point streak. He has two goals and three assists in the three games.
· Rodne also has a three game point streak as he has two goals and two assists across three games.
· Mysak has three assists in his last three games and has tallied an assist in four of five games this season.
· Ryan Ouellette made 11 saves on 13 shots against Sacred Heart. He has a .907 save percentage this season and a 2.49 goals-against average in four starts as a junior.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles return to Dwyer Arena on Friday and Saturday as they host Air Force. On Friday, Nov. 3 the Purple Eagles will host Military Appreciation Night. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 PM.
