WINTHROP, Mass. – The Atlantic Hockey Association has recognized Jack Billings and Chad Veltri with weekly awards following Niagara’s definitive sweep of Robert Morris in the final weekend of the regular season. The team’s results helped them land a spot in the AHA quarterfinals as the tournament’s fifth seed.
Billings – named the conference’s Player of the Week – had a weekend to remember. The redshirt junior scored the opening goal in Friday’s 5-0 win, then had a hand in the opening four goals the following night in a 5-2 win. With four points (1 G, 3 A) on Saturday, Billings matched his career highs for points and assists in a game, and reached 100 career points with his third assist of the night.
This marks the first Atlantic Hockey award for Billings, and his second weekly honor of the season. On November 26, Billings was tabbed as the NCAA’s Third Star of the Week.
In Friday’s series opener, Veltri stopped all 25 shots faced for his second shutout of the month. The following night, he made 32 saves in a 5-2 win. Veltri now has a .931 save percentage on the year, tops among rookie goalies in the country and eighth overall. His 2.10 goals-against average is second-best in the nation among freshman netminders.
Last week, Veltri was named the league’s Rookie of the Week following a pair of big performances against RIT. The rookie netminder also earned the Rookie designation on February 11 when the Purple Eagles managed a sweep of Mercyhurst.
In total, six Niagara skaters have combined to win nine weekly awards over the course of the season.
