NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team continued its hot start to the 2017-18 season and pushed its unbeaten streak to four games with a 4-3 win over the Bentley Falcons Saturday night at Dwyer Arena. Tanner Lomsnes led the way offensively with two goals and one assist, while Noah Delmas (0+2), Nick Farmer (0+2), and Sean King (1+1) all tallied multiple points. The win moved Niagara to 4-0 in one-goal games.
Derian Plouffe scored the game-winning goal 3:46 into the third period to extend his season-opening scoring streak to eight games, and Brian Wilson made 23 saves in goal, including 15 in the third period, to help Niagara to victory.
Game Summary
* Final Score: Niagara 4, Bentley 3
* Niagara Goal Scorers: Tanner Lomsnes (2), Sean King, Derian Plouffe
* Niagara Assists: Eric Cooley, Noah Delmas (2), Nick Farmer (2), Sean King, Tanner Lomsnes, James Roll
* In Goal: Brian Wilson (3-1-1) – 3 GA, 23 SV
* Power Plays: Niagara – 1-for-3 (3 SOG); Bentley – 0-for-2 (2 SOG)
* Records: Niagara – 5-2-1 (4-0-1 AHC); Bentley – 1-4-3 (1-4-3 AHC)
* Location: Dwyer Arena – Niagara University, NY
* Attendance: 728
Game Recap
* Just 4:36 into the game, Niagara was able to capitalize on an early power play and open the scoring. James Roll set up Noah Delmas for a point shot that went off the pipe and sat right behind Bentley goaltender Jayson Argue. Tanner Lomsnes crashed to the front of the net and buried the loose puck to put the Purple Eagles up 1-0.
* Just 1:40 later, Bentley’s Matt Riggleman sprung Ryner Gorowsky on a breakaway behind the Niagara defense, and Gorowsky put the Falcons’ first shot of the game past Wilson to tie it at 1-1.
* Late in the first period, Wilson made a sprawling highlight-reel save to keep the game tied. With Bentley’s Kyle Schmidt streaking up the right wing, he had a shot that seemed destined to go in but Wilson lunged out and snatched the shot with his glove.
* The Purple Eagles held Bentley to just three shots on goal in the first period but went into the intermission with the 1-1 tie. The Falcons found the back of the net first in the second period, as Jonathan Desbiens put home his fourth tally of the weekend to make it 2-1 Bentley 3:37 into the second.
* Niagara tied the game up about six minutes later as Sean King fed Nick Farmer on the rush. Farmer settled up behind the Bentley net, spun around and found Lomsnes alone at the post of the Bentley goal. Lomsnes was able to stuff home his second of the game past Argue to tie the score.
* With 35 seconds left in the second, King scored his third of the season to give the Purple Eagles momentum heading into the intermission. King dug a loose puck out from the left wing boards, drove the net and had his initial shot stopped by Argue. King was able to corral his own rebound and launch a shot top-shelf to make it 3-2 Niagara.
* Schmidt was able to put home the tying goal early in the second, but that was followed up just 1:11 later by the game-winner from Plouffe. The senior capitalized on a big rebound of a point shot from Delmas, burying his fifth goal of the year to put Niagara ahead 4-3.
* Wilson closed the game out with 15 saves in the third period and the Purple Eagles’ defense helped him out with four blocked shots in the final minute to preserve the victory.
Coach’s Corner
* Head coach Jason Lammers: “It’s nice to win. There’s certain things we want to grow at, certainly maybe we could be calmer in the last seven minutes or so. Again a credit to these guys and how hard they’ve worked. The details we really thought delivered for us.”
Inside the Numbers
* Niagara’s 5-2-1 record remains the best in program history since the 2007-08 season, when Niagara boasted a 6-2 record through eight games played.
* The Purple Eagles moved to 7-2-1 all-time against Bentley at Dwyer Arena.
* Tanner Lomsnes recorded three points for the second time in the last three games. The junior is now on a four-game point streak with six goals and two assists in that time.
* Noah Delmas and Derian Plouffe extended their season-opening point streaks to eight games. Delmas (1+10) and Plouffe (5+6) are tied for the team lead with 11 points.
* Delmas’ 10 assists ranks first among all Atlantic Hockey skaters. He closed the weekend for Niagara with four assists and seven blocked shots in the two-game series against Bentley.
* Sean King (1+1) picked up two points for a third-straight game.
* Niagara committed just two penalties in the win, holding Bentley scoreless in two power-play chances while going 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
* Brian Wilson’s 15 saves were his most in any period this season, and it came after he faced just 10 shots in the first two periods.
* Niagara is 4-0 in one-goal games this season, a vast improvement from a 2-6 record in that department in 2016-17.
Up Next
* Niagara is right back at Dwyer Arena next weekend. The Purple Eagles will clash with the Army Black Knights in a matchup of Atlantic Hockey’s top two teams. Opening faceoff between Niagara and Army is set for 7:05 p.m. on both Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11.
