NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Returning home after a two-game weekend sweep, the Purple Eagles hockey team and the Mercyhurst Lakers dueled in an offensive battle that ended in a tie. Derian Plouffe’s game-tying tally with 0.8 seconds left in the second period was the final score in a 2-2 tie Friday night at Dwyer Arena.
Prior to Plouffe’s tally, Johnny Curran picked up his second goal in as many games for Niagara (5-20-4, 5-15-3 Atlantic Hockey) at the 12:48 mark of the second period. TJ Sarcona, Albin Karlsson, and Tanner Lomsnes tallied assists on the night. Jackson Teichroeb made his third straight start in net and stopped 30 shots, including five in the overtime period to preserve the tie.
“That goal at the end of the second period was a mood change for us,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “I thought we were pretty good in the third, outshooting them and hoping to get a game winner but didn’t. That was a really good college hockey game, run-and-gun like Mercyhurst likes to play, and I thought we went toe to toe with them.”
The first period featured 27 total shots on goal, with 14 credited to Niagara and 13 to Mercyhurst. Only one goal came out of that outburst, however, and it came in the opening two minutes. After an early hooking call to Vinny Muto, the Lakers (14-13-2, 12-9-2 Atlantic Hockey) capitalized on an odd-man rush as Derek Barach fed Kyle Cook, who made a deke in front and lifted a backhand over Teichroeb. Lakers netminder Adam Carlson made 14 of his 36 saves in the first 20 minutes at the other end for Mercyhurst.
The pace of the game slowed down considerably in the second period, and just past the halfway mark, Niagara was able to find the back of the net. Immediately after Mercyhurst killed a penalty, Curran curled to the high slot with the puck, faked a pass to a teammate, and lofted a shot in the top corner over the blocker of Carlson.
Jonathan Charbonneau returned the lead to Mercyhurst just 46 seconds after Curran’s goal, but Niagara stole the momentum for the remainder of regulation with Plouffe’s goal. A late dump in the closing seconds was scooped from behind the Mercyhurst net by Lomsnes, and he found Plouffe at the right side of the net. The sophomore poked the shot home in the final second for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Niagara carried the energy of that goal throughout the vast majority of the third period, where they outshot the Lakers 12-6 but were unable to put another puck past Carlson. Once the game shifted into the overtime period, however, it was Mercyhurst that had the better chances, outshooting Niagara 5-2.
In the final minute, Mercyhurst’s Taylor Best put a shot on net that was denied by Teichroeb, but Matthew Whittaker put the rebound on net. The puck beat Teichroeb, but as the puck was just inches from crossing the goal line, a Niagara defender saved the day and batted the puck out of the crease. From there, the two teams could not find a scoring chance strong enough to secure a win, and each side took one point on the evening.
Niagara and Mercyhurst are right back in action tomorrow night as the home-and-home series shifts to the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. Paul Hamilton will have the play-by-play on 1340 AM WLVL and PurpleEagles.com/Watch. Opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
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