BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Purple Eagles hockey team got two goals from Derian Plouffe and a third-period strike from Stanislav Dzakhov, but Niagara came up short in its first of two matchups this weekend against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. Sacred Heart’s Austin McIlmurray beat Niagara’s Guillaume Therien, who made 20 saves in the game, with 1:22 left in regulation to send the Purple Eagles to a 4-3 loss Friday night at Webster Bank Arena.
Neither team found the board in the first 10 minutes as both teams failed to score on their first power play of the evening. Niagara took a tripping penalty with 8:44 to play in the first, but 34 seconds in, Derian Plouffe gave the Purple Eagles the 1-0 lead. Stripping the puck from a Sacred Heart defender at the blue line, Plouffe went end-to-end on a breakaway, beating the Pioneers’ Brett Magnus low to the blocker side. Sacred Heart would take a 2-1 lead in the middle of the second period on a pair of power-play tallies. Stephen Hladin tied the game at one after Liam Clare broke up a Niagara clearing attempt to keep a play in the Niagara zone, and Zach Tsekos gave Sacred Heart the lead at the 9:59 mark.
Plouffe knotted the game up late in the second, redirecting a point shot from Noah Delmas that went into the net, beating Magnus through the five-hole. Before the second period ended, however, Justin Danforth scored Sacred Heart’s third power-play goal of the period, sending the Pioneers into the intermission up 3-2. 4:28 into the third, Stanislav Dzakhov scored a highlight-reel goal to knot the game at three goals apiece. The junior stole the puck from a Sacred Heart defender, faked a forehand shot on Magnus, pulled the shot far right to his backhand, and tucked the puck in far-side.
Niagara held Sacred Heart to just four shots on goal for the entire third period and appeared to be in control as the game headed for the end of regulation. A turnover at the Niagara blue line with just over a minute to play set up Sacred Heart’s Evan Jasper, who found McIlmurray on the back door for a tap-in goal past the left pad of Therien, the game-winning goal with 1:12 to play.
Head coach David Burkholder said, “We had all the momentum in the third period, but we didn’t finish the deal. Their top line made us pay at the last minute.”
The Purple Eagles and Pioneers close out their season series Saturday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena. Opening faceoff is slated for 2:05 p.m.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
