NU Shuts Down Army With 5-0 Win Over Army
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Five different players scored for the Niagara men’s hockey team as the Purple Eagles extended their unbeaten streak to six games with a convincing 5-0 victory over the Army Black Knights on Friday evening at Tate Rink.
With the win, the Purple Eagles (5-2-3; 4-0-0 AHA) have shut out their opponents for three-straight contests, netting 13 goals in that span. During its six-game unbeaten streak, NU has outscored its opponents by a 22-7 margin.
Isaac Kohls picked up a career-high three points with a goal and two assists to hand the Black Knights (2-4-1; 2-1- AHA) their first loss in conference play this season, while Matt Williams, Chris Lochner, Ryan Rashid and Marc Zanette each added to the scoresheet.
Niagara goaltender Carsen Chubak remains solid between the pipes, pushing aside 27 Army shots for his fifth win of the season and fourth shutout of the season. The junior has not allowed a goal in 199 minutes of play.
“Army was coming off a week off and they were flat in the first. We did a great job in capitalizing and pounced on them early,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “They definitely got better as the game wore on and the last 40 minutes was an even game. It’s a great road win and we made the best of our chances. We need to get ready for a battle tomorrow night.”
The Purple Eagles continued their recent scoring touch in the opening stanza against the Black Knights, totaling four goals in the first 20 minutes of play, and outshooting its AHA opponent by a 17-7 margin.
The Purple Eagles came out firing in the opening minutes of play, grabbing the 1-0 lead with 18:33 on the clock on the second shot on goal. Kohls got the offense started for the Purps with the first shot on goal that went wide of starting Army goaltender Ryan Leets, but he made sure his second attempt found the back of the net. The sophomore received a pass from Giancarlo Iuorio before sniping a wrister from the top of the slot for his second tally of the season.
Army responded with pressure on Chubak, peppering him with a handful of shots, but Niagara took advantage of its opportunities, grabbing a two-goal cushion with 11:41 on the clock. Williams skated into the offensive zone alongside Jeff Hannan. The duo combined for a tic-tac-toe play that ended with Hannan sliding the puck to Williams for the easy tap in.
A little more than a minute later Lochner extended NU’s lead with his fourth goal of the season. Patrick Divjak slipped a pass from behind the bet to the waiting Lochner who fired an unbalanced shot past Leets glove-side.
The Purple Eagles wrapped up the opening period with a score from Rashid at the 2:26 mark off an assist from Kohls.
The final goal of the contest came at the 12:07 mark of the second period as the Purps capitalized on a mistake by Leets to bring the score count to five. The Army keeper attempted to clear a dump in, but the puck hit the pressuring Zanette who slipped in a bad angled shot under the pads of Leets for his second goal of the season.
The game ended with NU outshooting Army, 35-27.
