Niagara University, N.Y.—The Niagara hockey team earned its first home win of 2023-24 along three points on Saturday night as they defeated the Air Force Falcons 4-3 to conclude the weekend.
First Period
After neither team scored in the opening period on Friday night there was no shortage of scoring in the opening 20 minutes. At the 2:46 mark of the period, Cole Mickel skated the puck through the neutral zone, he then dumped the puck to Noah Hackett as Hackett entered the Air Force zone. Hackett found a streaking Luke Mylymok who received the pass and went to his backhand put in top right corner of the net for the first goal of the night. For Mylymok it was his first goal as a Purple Eagles while Mickel picked up his first collegiate assist on the play.
At the 4:25 mark of the period, Air Force tied the game at one, less than 10 minutes later they scored to make it a 2-1 game in favor of Air Force.
Niagara outshot the Falcons 11-8 in the opening period.
Second Period
About eight and a half minutes into the middle frame, David Posma skated the puck into the Air Force zone and took a shot that deflected back to him, Posma followed it up and threw the puck towards the front of the net. The puck found his defense partner Ethan Lund who snapped it past the netminder for his first collegiate goal. Posma picked up his first assist of the season on the play.
On the Lund goal, Air Force also took a penalty that put the Purple Eagles on the power play as they looked to break the 2-2 tie. At the 9:35 mark of the period while on the power play, Carter Randklev fed the puck to Shane Ott who was in the slot, Ott went for a one-timer but fanned on the puck, the puck found Jay Ahearn in the opposite circle. Ahearn wristed home his fourth goal of the season as he caught the netminder out of position. It was Ott's first assist of the season while Randklev picked up his third.
The Purple Eagles weren't done in the third period as with just 22 seconds left on the clock Niagara struck again. Posma took a hit on the wall in the neutral zone and floated the puck to an open area in the Air Force zone, Olivier Gauthier picked up the puck and lifted a backhand pass to Randklev who drove to the far post. Randklev one-timed it past the goalie to give Niagara a 4-2 lead.
Niagara outshot the Falcons 13-7 in the middle frame while not allowing a Falcon shot on the power play.
Third Period
Less than five minutes into the third period at the 4:37 mark, Air Force made it a one goal game.
Niagara limited the Air Force pressure for the remainder of regulation as Air Force had just six shots in the third period. In the final two minutes, just two shots found their way to Niagara goalie Jarrett Fiske in which he turned them away to secure the Niagara win.
The Purple Eagles went 13-9 in the faceoff circle in the final period.
Niagara Notes
· Fiske made 18 saves in his first win as a Purple Eagle.
· Ahearn scored his fourth goal of the season and now has seven points in seven games for the Purple Eagles. He has tallied a point in five straight games while leading Niagara with seven points.
· Mylymok's goal was his first as a Purple Eagle and his 10th collegiate goal as he scored nine goals in three seasons at Minnesota-Duluth.
· Lund notched his first collegiate goal in his 19th collegiate game.
· Posma notched his first multi-point game of his college career as he had two assists.
· Randklev has points in five of seven games this season while having six points. It was his eighth career multi-point game as he had a goal and an assist.
· Niagara's power play has now scored four times in the last four games.
· The Purple Eagles move to 43-37-8 all-time against Air Force and 19-12-7 at Dwyer Arena.
· Both teams won 30 faceoffs on the night while Glebs Prohorenkovs was the top faceoff man for Niagara at 54.2%.
· Niagara outshot Air Force, 35-21. It is the third time this season Niagara tallied 35 or more shots.
· The Purple Eagles blocked 11 shots with Noah Carlin and Tyler Wallace each blocking two shots.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles head back on the road to face Bentley on Friday and Saturday. Faceoff for Friday's game is 7 PM while Saturday is slated for a 4 PM puckdrop.
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