NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The No. 17 Niagara Purple Eagles came out with a 2-1 victory over the Bentley Falcons in an Atlantic Hockey match up on Friday evening at Dwyer Arena.
The Purple Eagles (16-4-5; 15-1-2 AHA) got scores from Jeff Hannan and Chris Lochner to remain the only team in nation without loss on home ice. Niagara is currently riding a 16 game unbeaten streak at Dwyer Arena, dating back to NU’s 3-3 draw against Air Force on Feb. 11, 2012.
“Bentley is really good offensively and they have some dangerous players, but we shut them down pretty well and ended up making one more play on offense,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “I thought Chubak made a couple saves on their great opportunities, and on offense it’s a different guy every game for us. Jeff Hannan is a great two-way player for us and plays so hard every game, so for him to be rewarded like that is key for us.”
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play, it was the Purps who broke the scoreless draw midway through the second period. C.J. Chartrain threw the puck into traffic that Bentley goaltender Branden Komm could not get a hold of. The rebound jumped out to Sam Alfieri who had the initial whack at the loose puck, but it was Jeff Hannan who the puck home for his fourth goal of the year, one shy of tying his career high.
Niagara grabbed the two-goal advantage on the 12:41 mark of the final frame as Lochner snagged his eighth tally of the season. Ryan Rashid flew into the Bentley defensive zone with Hannan and Lochner flanking him, slipping a feed to Hannan to the right of Komm. Hannan connected a crisp pass to Lochner for the easy tap in.
The Falcons (11-12-1; 9-8-1 AHA) would cut the lead in half less than two minutes later, but it was not enough to battle back against the first-place Purple Eagles. Michael Reardon one-timed a loose puck just inside the blue line that was deflected by Brett Hartung over the shoulder of Niagara netminder Carsen Chubak.
With the two-point night, Hannan now has a career-high 11 points on the season. Lochner now has nine points in nine games, scoring four goals and five assists in that span.
Chubak wrapped up the game pushing aside 20 Falcon shots to improve to 16-3-5 to help the Purps extend their unbeaten streak to four games.
