Niagara University, N.Y. – Men's Hockey fell short, losing 4-2 to Mercyhurst on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena. The Lakers improved to 4-18-1 (4-10-1) while Niagara dropped to 7-14-0 (4-9-0).
Mercyhurst capitalized early with a goal just 53 seconds into the contest. Andrew LeBlanc beat Purple Eagles netminder Tomas Anderson, assisted by Will Schumacher and Jacob Leblanc, to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.
Niagara managed just four shots on goal and trailed 1-0 heading into the intermission.
Brendan Lamb extended Mercyhurst's lead to 2-0 at the 8:29 mark with an unassisted tally.
The Purple Eagles outshot Mercyhurst 16-6 in the second frame , but couldn't solve goaltender Salvatore Evola.
Mercyhurst extended their lead to 3-0 on a goal from Sean James, but the Purple Eagles finally broke through midway through the final period. Ray Murakami cut the deficit to 3-1 at 8:09, assisted by Ross Roloson and Glebs Prohorenkovs.
Marshall Finnie brought Niagara within one at 15:09, finishing off a setup from Ziskie and Prohorenkovs to make it 3-2. The Purple Eagles pulled goaltender Tomas Anderson in the final minutes searching for the equalizer, but Schumacher sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:36.
Post Game Thoughts
Game Notes
Niagara is now 27-24-7 all-time against Mercyhurst
The Purple Eagles outshot the Lakers 38-18
This is Niagara's first five game losing streak since 3/19/21-10/22/21
The 100 combined penalty minutes were the most in a Purple Eagles game in the last 12 seasons
Up Next
Niagara stays at home to face in-state rival RIT Friday January 23 at 6 pm inside Dwyer Arena.
