NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team closed out its stretch of three games in five days at Dwyer Arena with a hard-fought battle against a gritty Robert Morris Colonials team. Robert Morris scored once in each period while holding Niagara off the board until Noah Delmas’ power-play tally with 4:05 to play. Delmas fired a game-high eight shots on goal, the most in a game by any Purple Eagle this season, and Brian Wilson made 20 saves between the pipes.
Game Summary
- Final Score: Robert Morris 3, Niagara 1
- Niagara Goal Scorers: Noah Delmas
- Niagara Assists: n/a
- In Goal: Brian Wilson (8-9-2) – 3 GA, 20 SV
- Power Plays: Niagara – 1-for-5 (6 SOG); Robert Morris – 1-for-6 (3 SOG)
- Records: Niagara – 10-10-2 (9-5-2 AHC); Robert Morris – 9-12-1 (8-7-1 AHC)
- Location: Dwyer Arena – Niagara University, New York
- Attendance: 597
Game Recap
- The game began with a tightly-contested first period; the Purple Eagles were able to hold Robert Morris without a shot on goal through two power plays, but were also held off the board with three shots on goal in their lone man advantage of the opening stanza.
- With 12 seconds to go until the first intermission, the Colonials’ Alex Tonge banked home the game’s first goal off a feed from Brady Ferguson.
- The Colonials were able to kill off all three of Niagara’s power plays in the second period before converting on one of their own, as Timmy Moore worked behind the Niagara goal and found Tonge for the one-time tally, his second goal of the night.
- Tonge threatened for the hat trick early in the third period off a back-door feed from Ferguson, but a sprawling pad save from Brian Wilson shut the door to keep the Purple Eagles within two.
- After Moore pushed the Colonials’ lead to three goals at the 11:50 mark, the Purple Eagles pulled Wilson in favor of the extra attacker with just under eight minutes to play in regulation. Niagara left the net empty for 7:24 and held Robert Morris without an empty-net goal.
- Niagara finished with 10 shots on goal with the net empty but just the one goal from Delmas, falling by a score of 3-1 to the Colonials.
Coach’s Corner
- Head coach Jason Lammers: “I thought Robert Morris played hard and really tried to draw it out of us, we just didn’t seem to have the juice tonight. I really liked a couple guys’ games, and there’s some guys I’m sure would like a couple plays back. We had 10 shots once we pulled the goalie, and up until that point in the third period, we had one, so our offense needs to get a little better. I thought we had some chances on the power play that if they go in, it’s a different game, but we didn’t get our traction and our feet underneath us.”
Inside the Numbers
- Noah Delmas picked up his second goal of the season, his first since scoring a power-play tally on Oct. 20, 2017 in a 4-3 overtime win against RPI.
- Delmas is now tied for the NCAA lead for points by a defenseman with 22, matching St. Cloud State’s Jimmy Schuldt and Bowling Green’s Alec Rauhauser entering the weekend.
- Delmas’ eight shots on goal were a game-high and the most in a single game by a Purple Eagle this season.
- Niagara scored a power-play goal for the third straight game, but has now allowed a power-play goal in four consecutive games as well. The Purple Eagles limited Robert Morris to just three shots on six power plays.
- The Purple Eagles led Robert Morris 17-12 in blocked shots, with Derian Plouffe and Larry Smith collecting a game-high four blocked shots.
- Robert Morris held a narrow 34-31 edge in faceoffs, with Plouffe (12-for-22) leading the way for Niagara.
Up Next
- Niagara starts a four-game road trip this weekend with a two-game series at Mercyhurst. Both games on Friday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 13 are slated for 7:05 p.m. starts. Paul Hamilton has the play-by-play call both nights on WLVL 1340 AM.
