NIAGARA UNIV. — In their second of two games at Dwyer Arena against No. 15/14 Ohio State, the Purple Eagles hockey team was able to contain the Buckeyes’ offense in the early minutes. Two power-play goals late in the first period gave Ohio State a lead they would not relinquish, as Niagara fell 6-2 Saturday night.
Sean King scored his second power-play goal of the 2016-17 season midway through the second period to bring the score to 2-1. Ohio State went on to score four unanswered goals before Stanislav Dzakhov scored the Purple Eagles’ second goal of the night with 4:40 to play.
The game started with both teams playing tight defensively, as Ohio State held a slim 3-2 advantage in shots on goal through the first 10 minutes of the game. At the 11:52 mark of the first, Niagara went to a five-minute penalty kill as Johnny Curran received five minutes and a game misconduct for contact to the head. Jackson Teichroeb made a pair of strong saves against Ohio State’s David Gust and Tanner Laczynski, but Ronnie Hein gave the Buckeyes the first goal of the game at the 13:18 mark of the first period.
Ohio State received a 5-on-3 chance after a hooking penalty called on TJ Sarcona. Niagara killed off the remainder of Curran’s major penalty, but three seconds later, Laczynski corralled a loose puck in front of the goal and doubled the Buckeyes’ lead. At the 9:39 mark of the second period, Niagara cut the lead in half courtesy of a power-play goal from Sean King. Vinny Muto’s point shot was redirected towards the corner by Derian Plouffe, but King collected the loose puck and fired a shot home from just to the left of the goal. Niagara’s defense turned in a tremendous effort in the second period. Teichroeb made 15 saves in the middle stanza, including a pair of stops on Ohio State’s only penalty kill of the period. Before the second period concluded, Hein scored his second tally of the contest for Ohio State, pushing the lead to 3-1 after 40 minutes.
Just 36 seconds into the third period, Ohio State’s Nick Schilkey scored a breakaway goal against Teichroeb. Matthew Weis and John Wiitala then scored 39 seconds apart to make it 6-1 Ohio State.
Dzakhov scored his first goal of the 2016-17 season at the 15:20 mark of the third. Off a faceoff in the Niagara end, Tanner Lomsnes found Stanislav Dzakhov streaking up the right wing. Dzakhov gained the Ohio State zone, and his shot trickled in under the glove of Ohio State’s Matt Tomkins to make it a 6-2 game.
Niagara continues play against Big Ten opponents next weekend when the Purple Eagles head to Penn State for a two-game set with the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions. Niagara and Penn State, who played to a 1-1 tie at Dwyer Arena last season, face off on Thursday, Nov. 3 and Friday, Nov. 4, with a 7 p.m. puck drop for both games. Niagara returns home on Nov. 15 at 7:05 p.m. against the Mercyhurst Lakers.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
