ERIE, Pa. – The Purple Eagles hockey team had a late comeback attempt foiled in Friday night’s opener of a home-and-home series with the Mercyhurst Lakers. Trailing 3-1 entering the final two minutes, Nick Farmer drew Niagara within one with a late goal, but with the goaltender pulled, Niagara could not find a tying goal, as Mercyhurst secured the 3-2 win Friday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Both teams came out of the opening faceoff flying at each end of the ice. Niagara and Mercyhurst each had odd-man chances in the first minute, neither finding the back of the net. Through the first half of the opening period, Mercyhurst controlled the possession and eventually found the game’s first goal. Lakers defenseman Zach Todd picking up the first goal of the night at the 10:38 mark of the first, as his wrist shot from the blue line found its way through traffic in front of Jackson Teichroeb.
The Purple Eagles ran into a bit of penalty trouble in the second period, but killed all three penalties in the middle stanza with Jackson Teichroeb making four stops against the Mercyhurst power play.
Niagara was able to convert on its first power play of the night, leveling the score at one 4:58 into the second period. Mercyhurst’s Brandon Wildung turned away a shot from Christian Cakebread, but Stanislav Dzakhov helped get the rebound back to Vinny Muto at the blue line. Muto crept in to the high slot and fired a wrister over the glove of Wildung. Just after failing on their fourth power play of the night, Mercyhurst cashed in to reclaim a one-goal lead. Jack Riley fed Wes Baker with a breakaway pass, and Baker beat Teichroeb low to the blocker side to make it 2-1 Lakers.
Niagara killed off its fifth penalty of the night early in the third period to keep the deficit at one, but Mercyhurst was able to convert on a breakaway chance with 13:07. The Lakers’ Stephen Hrehoriak outraced a Niagara defender for a loose puck flying back into the defensive zone, and his quick shot found the back of the net past Teichroeb. The Purple Eagles were held scoreless on two third-period power plays, but Nick Farmer picked up Niagara’s second of the night with 1:44 remaining in regulation. Noah Delmas sent a stretch pass to Farmer up the left wing, and the sophomore flew around the Mercyhurst defense and beat the goaltender with a shot just under the crossbar. Teichroeb was pulled in favor of an extra attacker right after Farmer’s goal, but the Purple Eagles could not draw even, falling 3-2 at Mercyhurst.
Niagara plays two straight home games, starting tomorrow night with the back end of this weekend’s home-and-home series against Mercyhurst. Puck drop between the Purple Eagles and Lakers at Dwyer Arena is 7:05 p.m. Kevin Sylvester and Randy Schultz will call the game on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, while Paul Hamilton has the radio play-by-play on 1340 AM WLVL. Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., Niagara hosts Canisius in the second of four games in this season’s Battle of the Bridge series. Jeremy White will be calling the game on 1340 AM WLVL, and it will also be carried regionally on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
