NIAGARA UNIV. – In the first outing for the Purple Eagles hockey team following a six-game stretch of non-conference play, Niagara was able to secure its first victory of the season on home ice. TJ Sarcona scored two goals and one assist, including the game-winning goal, to help Niagara to a 5-4 victory over Mercyhurst Tuesday night at Dwyer Arena.
Tyler Hayes, Vinny Muto, and Derian Plouffe also scored for the Purple Eagles (1-7-2, 1-2-1 AHC). Guillaume Therien made the start in goal and finished the night with 34 saves, including 15 in the third period as Mercyhurst went on the attack looking to tie the game. The win was the first for Therien in his Niagara career.
Niagara opened the scoring just 3:34 into the game with Vinny Muto’s first goal of the season. Derian Plouffe made it 2-0 Niagara with a 4-on-4 goal. Tyler Hayes scored his first career goal shorthanded with 2:02 left in the first period.
Jack Riley scored a power-play goal to get Mercyhurst on the board 2:38 into the second, beating Therien short-side from the right wing. Michael Verboom and Stephen Hrehoriak scored 59 seconds apart to make it a 3-3 game 9:08 into the second period.
Just 45 seconds after Hrehoriak’s tying goal, Sarcona returned the lead to Niagara for good. From the left point, Larry Smith found Sarcona in the high slot, and his shot found the twine to make it 4-3. Sarcona would give Niagara the 5-3 lead at the 15:57 mark of the second period. With the Mercyhurst net empty, Riley slammed home Derek Barach’s rebound to make it 5-4 with 1:24 to play.
At 5-4, Niagara held Mercyhurst without a shot on goal until the very last second of the game.
Head coach David Burkholder said “That feels good. We needed this obviously, the guys have been working their tails off. We didn’t fare too well in the Big Ten for two weeks, and the RPI and Union weekend I thought we showed some positive signs, but the guys hung with it. That’s a really good Mercyhurst team with a lot of offense, which we knew going in. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Niagara hits the road for a pair of Atlantic Hockey contests this weekend. The Purple Eagles will face off against the Sacred Heart Pioneers at 7:05 p.m. on Friday before concluding the weekend with a 2:05 p.m. contest on Saturday.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
