Niagara University — The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced it’s monthly awards for the month of November. After being named Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Month last week, Niagara goaltender Chad Veltri has been named HCA Goalie of the Month.
In November, Veltri went 4-0-0 for the Purple Eagles while having sweeps against Bentley and Colgate. To open the month Veltri took the net against Bentley and made 34 saves to notch a shutout of the Falcons. The shutout was the Pittsburgh natives fifth career shutout, and it made him the active lead in career shutouts for Atlantic Hockey. The next day Veltri took the crease once again and made 32 saves on 34 shots to earn his second win of the month. Against Bentley he had a .971 save percentage and a 1.01 goals against average.
After a bye week and an exhibition game against the USNTDP U-18 team in which he made 17 saves in a win he suited up against ECAC foe Colgate. In the opening game of the series with Colgate, Veltri turned away 22 shots in a 3-2 win over the Raiders. The next night Veltri got the nod once again and made a season high 46 saves as the Purple Eagles won 3-2 in overtime. Veltri made 22 saves in the third period to keep the Raiders off the board and force overtime. In the two game series against Colgate he had a .944 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average.
Over the four games in Nov. he had a .957 save percentage and a 1.49 goals against average and a shutout. Currently after a split with Army last weekend he has a career 2.55 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. This year he has a 2.45 goals against average which is second in Atlantic Hockey and his .924 save percentage is the best in the conference.
Niagara is back in action on Thursday as they head to AIC to face the Yellow Jackets in a two game Atlantic Hockey series.
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