BUFFALO — The Purple Eagles hockey team continued their recent flurry of shots at the offensive end, putting 36 shots on goal against the Canisius Golden Griffins in the first of four Battle of the Bridge games this season. Nicolas Carrier was the only Purple Eagle to find the back of the net, picking up his third goal of the season in a 4-1 loss Tuesday night at HARBORCENTER.
Canisius picked up the first goal of the game 2:30 into Tuesday night’s contest. Matt McLeod came up the middle on the rush and had his shot stopped initially by Teichroeb, but the puck trickled through and into the goal, giving Canisius the early 1-0 advantage. With eight minutes left in the first, Canisius doubled its lead. Sam Rennaker and Noah Delmas were stopped on a pair of shorthanded chances by Canisius’ Charles Williams. The Golden Griffins came back on the next rush and Ryan Schmelzer buried a loose puck past Teichroeb for a power-play goal.
Niagara outshot Canisius 13-10 through the first period, but was held scoreless early. Caleb Boman had the team’s best chance of the period, with a point-blank wrist shot getting gloved down by Williams midway through the stanza. The Purple Eagles killed off an extended 5-on-3 to start the second period. Keegan Harper and Kevin Patterson were called for penalties 12 seconds apart, but Teichroeb stopped both shots he saw to hold Canisius off the board. With less than two minutes to go in the second period, Matt McLeod picked up his second goal of the season to push the lead to 3-0. Dylan McLaughlin scored a power-play tally early in the third, extending the Canisius lead to four goals. Just 1:10 after McLaughlin’s goal, Niagara countered with a power-play goal of its own. Boman and Nick Farmer worked the puck into the Canisius zone, where Nicolas Carrier corralled a loose puck in front of the Canisius goal and roofed a shot over Williams. Niagara put seven more shots on goal in the final 14:33, but could not narrow the deficit from 4-1, dropping the first game in this year’s four-game Battle of the Bridge series.
Niagara takes on the Mercyhurst Lakers in a home-and-home series this coming weekend. The Purple Eagles start the weekend Friday night in Erie, a 7:05 p.m. faceoff from the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The series shifts back to Dwyer Arena on Saturday for a 7:05 p.m. game that will be regionally televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (Ch. 52/323). Paul Hamilton has the play-by-play call for both Mercyhurst games this weekend on 1340 AM WLVL. Niagara hosts the second game of the Battle of the Bridge series as Canisius comes to Dwyer Arena on Jan. 31 at 7:05 p.m.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
