NIAGARA UNIV. — Nicolas Carrier led the Purple Eagles hockey team with the first two-goal game of his career in the first of two games this weekend against the Bentley Falcons. Despite a 37-21 advantage in shots on goal, Bentley used a four-goal third period to secure a 6-3 victory over Niagara Friday night at Dwyer Arena.
Nicolas Carrier opened the scoring on the first shift of the game, setting the tone for the game 28 seconds in. A point shot from Noah Delmas was loose in the crease and Carrier corralled the rebound, firing a low shot over the right pad of Bentley goaltender Jayson Argue. Just over two minutes later, Bentley came back and tied the game. Brett Orr carried the puck up the left wing on the rush and found Ryan McMurphy in the slot for the quick goal. Niagara outshot Bentley 11-6 in the first period, controlling the majority of the momentum. The Falcons came out early in the second and took the lead as a shot from Connor Brassard found its way through traffic and past Therien. After a scrum at the end of the second period put Niagara on the penalty kill to start the third, Max French converted on the ensuing power play for Bentley. His ninth goal of the season made it 3-1 Bentley 33 seconds into the final period of play.
With French in the box for cross-checking, Carrier scored his second goal of the evening on the man advantage. Nick Farmer’s shot from low on the right wing went off the pads of Argue, but Carrier was in front of the net to bury the rebound and bring Niagara back within one. Right after Niagara killed a penalty in the final seven minutes of play, Kyle Schmidt beat Guillaume Therien from a short angle, pushing the Falcons’ lead to 4-2. Kevin Patterson picked up his first goal of the 2016-17 campaign just 1:07 after Schmidt’s goal, converting on the rush with Ben Sokay. Bentley was quick to retaliate, however, as Matt Riggleman broke loose on a breakaway and beat Therien just 13 seconds later to reestablish the two-goal lead once again. Niagara pulled Therien with just over two and a half minutes to play and got some strong pressure in the Bentley zone, but Schmidt buried his second goal of the night into the empty net, sealing the 6-3 decision.
Niagara and Bentley conclude the weekend series at Dwyer Arena Saturday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. Paul Hamilton has the play-by-play call on 1340 AM WLVL, and the game can be viewed locally on LCTV.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
