Air Force Upends No. 13 Niagara, 6-1 to Sweep Weekend Series
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Air Force built a 3-0 lead on its way to a 6-1 win over the No. 13 Niagara Purple Eagles Saturday evening in Atlantic Hockey action at the Cadet Ice Arena to sweep the weekend series. Patrick Divjak was the lone Purple Eagle to get on the score board as Niagara wrapped up the regular season with a 21-8-5 overall record, and a 20-5-2 AHA mark. The Falcons (17-11-7; 15-7-5 AHA) peppered starting NU goaltender Cody Campbell with 15 shots in the opening 20 minutes, while limiting the Purps to just five looks on net. Niagara ran into some penalty trouble, finding itself in the box three times which led to the first Air Force goal with 2:48 on the clock. With 56 remaining on the Falcons’ third man-advantage, Chad Demers rang a shot off the post that dropped behind Campbell for the easy tap in by John Kruse. Twelve seconds later the Falcons extended their lead to two off a Ben Persian slap shot from the top of the slot. Niagara fell into a 3-0 hole 3:40 into the second frame off the stick of Kyle De Laurell. The senior picked up a rebound off his own shot, and backhanded his 18th goal of the year over the Campbell stick side. The Purple Eagles were finally able to breakthrough on the scoreboard as Divjak netted his seventh goal of the season close to the midway point of the contest. The left winger chopped the puck towards net right off the face off and saw it beat Air Force goalie Jason Torf with 11:36 on the clock. The deficit was stretched to three goals again though off a score from Chad Demers, sending the teams into the second break with AF up 4-1. Adam McKenzie added a power play goal 42 seconds into the final frame, and Ben Persian netted the Falcon’s sixth goal to hand the Purps their first back-to-back loss of the season. With his third start of the season, Campbell ended the contest with 39 saves. Niagara will enjoy a weekend bye in the opening round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs before hosting a best-of-three quarterfinal series from March 15-17. To purchase tickets, contact the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or emailing [email protected] to reserve your seats today!
Air Force Thumps No. 13 Niagara, 5-2
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The No. 13 Niagara hockey team dropped a 5-2 decision to Air Force on Friday evening at the Cadet Ice Arena as the Falcons erased a two-goal deficit with five unanswered goals.
Despite being outshot 14-7 in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Purple Eagles went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead off a pair of goals from Hugo Turcotte. The rookie started the scoring at the 11:15 mark with a short-handed tally on Niagara’s second shot of the game. The Purple Eagle forecheck forced a turnover in the Air Force defensive end, which Turcotte picked up and slapped past AF goaltender Jason Torf for his sixth of the season. A little over two minutes later the centerman struck again to make it 2-0, this time ripping a rolling puck just inside the blue line over the shoulder of Torf for his first two-goal game as a Purple Eagle. C.J. Chartrain and Sam Alfieri pocketed assists on the play. It did not take long for the Falcons to cut the lead in half as Scott Holm netted his eighth score of the year while on the power play. Chad Demers passed the puck across the blue paint to Holm who barely snuck a shot under the pads of NU goalie out Carsen Chubak to make it 2-1. Air Force continued to dictate play in a physical second period, as it heavily outshot the Purps 24-7 in the frame. Niagara saw its two-goal cushion disappear at the midway point of the second as AF knotted the game at 2-2 off the stick of Stephen Carew. The Falcons broke the deadlock just 26 seconds in the final 20 minutes of the game. The goal was credited to Cole Gunner after his initial shot to the left of Chubak was saved, but the rebound bounced off an NU player and trickled over the goal line. Kyle De Laurell added an empty net tally and Mike McDonald solidified the victory with another score with just seven seconds left on the clock to hand the Purps their fourth conference loss of the season. Chubak wrapped up the game with a career-high 45 saves. Niagara looks to bounce back against Air Force when the two teams do battle again Saturday night in the regular-season finale at Cadet Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 9:05 p.m. ET.
