Skip To Main Content

Niagara University Athletics

Hockey Hugs vs Canisius
Nick DeMarchi
2
Winner Niagara NIA 19-16-3
1
Canisius CAN 17-18-3
Winner
Niagara NIA
19-16-3
2
Final
1
Canisius CAN
17-18-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Niagara NIA 1 1 0 2
Canisius CAN 0 1 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey |

Purple Eagles Take Game One Of AHA Semifinals

Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara hockey team headed south on a wintery day in WNY to face longtime rival Canisius in the first game of a best of three Atlantic Hockey Semifinal series. The Purple Eagles took game one 2-1 on Friday night.
Game Recap
First Period
  • The Purple Eagles controlled the opening 20 minutes and outshot the Golden Griffins 11-5 in the first period.
  • At the 8:54 mark of the period the Griffs took a board penalty to give Niagara its first power play of the night. While on the power play at the 10:33 mark, the Purple Eagles opened the scoring. Ryan Cox took a pass from Ryan Naumovski next to the goal post and Cox stuffed it in for his team leading 14th goal of the season. Noah Carlin picked up his 11th assist of the season on the play.
  • Neither team scored in the remainder of the period despite 11 shots from the Purple Eagles. Canisius had one power play in the first period and failed to generate a shot on the man advantage.
  • Niagara won 12 of 22 faceoffs in the period.
Second Period
  • The Griffs evened the game at the 1:46 mark of the second period.
  • The game did not stay tied for long as the Purple Eagles took the lead at the 2:42 mark of the second period. Glebs Prohorenkovs picked up the puck in the Niagara zone and flipped it over a pair of Canisius players to Casey Carreau. Carreau batted it out of mid air to the ice and went in on goal and scored five hole on the Canisius netminder. The play was challenged by Canisius but the goal stood. For Carreau it was his 10th goal of the year, it was Prohorenkovs' sixth assist of the season.
  • Shots in the second period were 16-10 in favor of the Purple Eagles while six of the Niagara shots came on two power plays.
  • The Purple Eagles were on the penalty kill for four straight penalties after a pair of Niagara penalties. Canisius was held off the scoreboard and had just one shot in the two minutes.
Third Period
  • The Griffs turned on the pressure in the third period as they outshot the Purple Eagles 14-9.
  • Niagara did not fold under the pressure as Chad Veltri turned away all 14 shots.
  • The Purple Eagles also killed off two power plays which included a five minute major. Canisius had just five shots in the seven minutes of power play time.
  • In the faceoff circle Niagara won 11 of the 18 draws in the third period.
Niagara Notes
  • The Purple Eagles are now one win away from advancing to the AHA Finals for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
  • Niagara blocked 16 shots in the game with Jordan Wishman having a game high four blocks. Lane Brockhoff was second on the team with three blocks.
  • The Purple Eagles went 34-30 in the faceoff circle with Jason Pineo leading the way with a 11-5 record. Prohorenkovs and Ryan Cox both won 10 draws.
  • Niagara senior Brandon Stanley skated in his 100th game as a Purple Eagle.
  • Tonight was Niagara's tenth win this season when they outshot their opponents and their 12th win when they score on the power play.
  • Niagara is now 17-1-2 this season when they lead after two periods of play and are now 10-4-1 when leading after 20 minutes.
  • The all-time series with Canisius is now tied with both teams having 31 wins and six ties.
Up Next
  • The Purple Eagles and Griffs square off tomorrow at 7:30 PM at LECOM Harborcenter in game two of the series.
Print Friendly Version