WEST POINT — In their first game in 10 days, the Niagara hockey team got out to a quick start against the Army Black Knights, scoring the game’s first goal just six minutes in. However, the Black Knights tied the game later in the first period and used a five-goal second to pull away and send Niagara to a 6-1 loss Friday evening at Tate Rink.
Niagara struck first off an end-to-end sequence of crisp passing just over six minutes in. Caleb Boman fed Stanislav Dzakhov in the neutral zone to start the play. Dzakhov paused after gaining the blue line, slipping a pass through an Army defender to put Derek Brown all along on goal. Brown’s backhand finish beat Army netminder Parker Gahagen for the 1-0 lead. Brendan Soucie knotted the game at 1-1 with 7:06 to play in the first period. Brendan McGuire dug a puck out of the corner behind the Niagara net. Soucie drove to the low slot and beat Jackson Teichroeb over the shoulder for his 11th goal of the season. Army outshot Niagara 17-6 in the first stanza, and Teichroeb held up strong for the Purple Eagles stopping 16 of them. Niagara was awarded the first power play of the game early in the second period, where Noah Delmas had a pair of chances turned away by Gahagen. Army came back off the kill and scored a pair of goals 10 seconds apart, as Tipper Higgins and Conor Andrle made it 3-1 Black Knights. At the 6:00 mark of the second, Ian Mansfield capitalized on a chance in the slot for Army to make it 4-1, after which Guillaume Therien relieved Teichroeb. Army was able to extend the lead to 6-1 in the remainder of the second period on goals by Brendan Soucie and C.J. Reuschlein. Joe O’Brien took over in goal for the third period and stopped all nine shots he faced. Niagara put six shots on goal at the other end but could not narrow the deficit.
NU Head Coach David Burkholder said, “The quick second-period blitz by Army was the difference in this game. With this shortened lineup, we have to be way more engaged and harder to play against, and tonight we weren’t. They are a tough team to play against and they wore down our five defensemen.”
Friday’s game marked the 750th behind the Niagara bench for head coach David Burkholder. 584 of those games have come as the team’s head coach, as Burkholder is in his 16th season at the helm of Niagara hockey. Derek Brown’s goal was his fifth of the season and first since Dec. 3, 2016 versus RIT. Brown and Stanislav Dzakhov are now tied with Noah Delmas for second among the Purple Eagles with 12 points each. Kris Spriggs holds the team scoring lead with 13 points in 26 games. Noah Delmas had six of Niagara’s 23 shots on goal, a season-high for the freshman defender. Army’s 48 shots on goal in the game were tied for the third-most by a Niagara opponent this season.
Niagara and Army conclude the weekend series at Tate Rink Saturday night, Feb. 11 at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (Ch. 52/323) throughout New York State. Jeremy White has the radio play-by-play on 1340 AM WLVL.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
