fairfield, CT—The Niagara hockey team defeated the Pioneers 5-1 on Saturday night in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals, snapping a two-game winning streak against Sacred Heart.
Early period
The Pioneers took the lead just 19 seconds into the game, taking a 1-0 lead.
Neither team was able to score the rest of the first period as Sacred Heart had a 10-8 shot advantage.
The Purple Eagles used the man advantage, didn't allow any shots, and shut down Sacred Heart's power play.
Second period
The Purple Eagles tied the score just 3:11 into the second period.row of Jay Ahern, tyler wallaceand Carter Landkleff I went to work in the Sacred Heart Zone. Ahearn won a battle deep in the Pio zone and kicked the puck to Wallace. Wallace made a quick pass to Landklev who was low and placed the puck in the top corner of the net for his 11th point.th season goals.Wallace and Ahern both scored 15 points.th Assist this season.
The trio of Ahern, Wallace and Lundkleff fought back to give Niagara the lead at 14:32 of the second period. Wallace and Lundklev forced a turnover in the Niagara zone, with Wallace passing the puck to Lundklev, who bounced the puck back to Ahearn, who was behind a Sacred Heart defenseman. Ahearn put on his gloves, lowered the puck, and went for the breakaway. Ahearn drove to the goal and beat the goalie short side to give Niagara a 2-1 lead.It was Ahern's eighth goal of the season, while Landklev had 18.th Wallace scored 16 points with an assist.th Assist.
Less than a minute later, the Purple Eagles were on a 4-on-3 power play.Niagara called a timeout to set up a power play and was ejected. Shane Ott, Ahern, Landkleff, and Wallace are out. Wallace was in front of the net, while Lundklev, Ott and Ahern were spread out at the top of the circle. Landklev passed the puck from the left circle to Ott in the high slot, who slid it to Ahearn in the right circle. Ahern looked in front of the net and fired a shot into the bottom corner of the goal, giving Niagara a 3-1 lead. It was Ahern's ninth goal of the season and Ott's 15th.th Landklev picked up 19 points with an assist.th Assist.
After the second period, Niagara led 3-1 despite being down 20-16 through two periods.
Niagara was up 13-7 in the faceoff circle in the second period.
third period
The Purple Eagles returned to the power play at the 3:25 mark of the third period. Just over a minute into the power play, the Purple Eagles made a comeback. jack richard He entered the Sacred Heart zone at high speed and momentarily lost control of the puck before it was found. Glebus Prokhorenkovs Who gave the puck back to Richard? Richard used his speed to move the goalie out of position and drive his puck into the open net.Richard scored 10 goals, becoming the third Purple Eagle to reach double digits in goals.th season goals.Prokhorenkovs picked up 11 pointsth Lars Rodne had 12 assists and was named assist of the season.th Assist this season.
The Pioneers pulled their goalie with 5:25 left in regulation.Niagara's lane blockhoff He ended the game by scoring a goal in an empty net with 3 minutes and 18 seconds left in regulation time. Connor Mailimoku It was Brockhoff's second goal and fifth assist of the season.
niagara notebook
· Jarrett Fisk picked up his 16th He made 36 saves in the win, giving him the win of the season. This postseason, he has made 110 saves on 115 shots for a 1.67 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.
· Landklev and Ahern both took three points.
· In the last three playoff games against Sacred Heart, Lundklev has 11 points.
· Niagara went 2-4 on the power play while hitting five shots.
· The Purple Eagle penalty kill allowed just four shots but went 3-3 on kills.
· Niagara blocked 19 shots in the game. Drew Wieten He blocked four shots, the most on the team. Noah CarlinRichard and Brockhoff all blocked three shots.
· The Purple Eagles improve to 15-0-2 when scoring four or more goals this season.
· Niagara has a total of 22 wins, 17 losses, and 2 losses against Sacred Heart.
· Since Martire Family Arena opened in January 2022, Niagara is 5-2-0 with two wins in playoff series at the new arena.
· This is the second straight season Niagara has eliminated Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals.
· Niagara advanced to the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals for the seventh time in program history.
· The sweep marks the first time Niagara has swept a playoff series since Niagara swept Air Force in the AHA quarterfinals in the 2018-19 season.
· Prokhorenkovs is currently on a four-game point streak, with three goals and three assists in four games.
· Landklev is on a three-game scoring streak and has three goals and three assists in three games.
· Richard has recorded points and goals in four consecutive games. He had four goals and three assists in four games.
· Wallace is currently on a three-game winning streak with two goals and three assists.
next
The Purple Eagles will play the top-seeded RIT Tigers in a three-game series in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals. Niagara has five points against RIT this season with one win, one loss and one draw. The Purple Eagles and Tigers last met in the AHA postseason in the 2019 season, when they met in a one-game AHA semifinal series. Niagara won 1-0 and advanced to the AHA Championship.
The trifecta begins Friday, March 15, with the showdown scheduled for 7 p.m. The second game will be played on March 16th at 7:00 p.m., with the third game, if necessary, scheduled for March 17th at 5:00 p.m.
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