MILFORD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles fell in overtime to the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 2-1, on Sunday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion.to conclude the weekend series.
In a true goaltending duel, the Purple Eagles and the Pioneers were carried by Jackson Teichroeb and Brett Magnus, respectively. With a closely-contested game in overtime, Sacred Heart’s Justin Danforth broke loose on a breakaway, beating Teichroeb with 17 seconds remaining.
“The team played incredibly hard all night and deserved better in the end,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “We had so many point-blank chances, but only one goal to show for our efforts.”
Albin Karlsson scored the lone goal out of 40 shots for Niagara (3-13-2, 3-8-1 Atlantic Hockey), with assists coming from linemates TJ Sarcona and Stephen Pietrobon. Teichroeb turned away 30 of 32 saves, but Magnus made 39 saves for the Pioneers, who improved to 7-10-2 overall and 6-7-1 in Atlantic Hockey.
After giving up a goal to Danforth 12 seconds into the game, Niagara was able to settle in to the pace of the first period. Dan Kolenda missed wide on a break midway through the period after forcing a turnover at the red line. As Niagara returned to full strength in the closing minutes of the first, Sean King sprung loose on a breakaway and had Magnus beat on the backhand, but the shot fluttered wide.
The Purple Eagles continued to push their shot advantage in the second period, leading 28-18 after 40 minutes of play in that department. Derian Plouffe had a pair of chances off wraparounds for their best chances of the middle stanza. Through two periods of play, the Purple Eagles killed all three Sacred Heart power plays, allowing just one shot on goal in the process.
Niagara’s strong efforts were rewarded right off the bat in the third period. Just 22 seconds in, Pietrobon chipped a pass to Sarcona to start a two-on-one chance. The shot from Sarcona bounced off the right pad of Magnus straight to Karlsson, who hammered the rebound home. Niagara finished regulation with 39 shots, but Jackson Teichroeb needed to make four big saves in the final minute of the third to force overtime.
Plouffe had the best chances of the overtime period for Niagara, working his way to the front of the net and getting a deflection twice in a 30-second span, but neither shot found the net. In the closing seconds, Danforth snuck behind the Niagara defense off a change and did not miss the net with his breakaway chance. The Purple Eagles fell to 1-3-2 in overtime games despite generating their second-highest shot output of the season.
With the first weekend of the new year in the books, the Purple Eagles turn their attention to next weekend’s series against the Mercyhurst Lakers. Niagara travels to Mercyhurst on Friday, Jan. 8 for the first of two games and will head to Dwyer Arena on Saturday, Jan. 9. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m, and Jeremy White will be calling the games on 1340 AM WLVL and PurpleEagles.com/Watch. Tickets for Saturday’s game are available at the Dwyer Arena ticket office or by phone at (716) 286-TIXX (8499).
Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and follow Purple Eagles hockey on Twitter @NiagaraUHockey. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.
