NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The No. 18 Niagara hockey team rallied from behind twice to remain unbeaten in Atlantic Hockey play, as the Purple Eagles dropped Air Force, 4-3, Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd in Dwyer Arena.
Now riding a 14-game unbeaten streak on home ice since Feb. 11, 2012, Niagara (11-3-4, 10-0-1 AHA) got the game-winning tally from Matt Williams. With a little more than 10 minutes remaining and the game knotted at three apiece, the puck landed on Williams’ stick as he streak down the left boards toward Falcon goaltender Jason Torf. The defenseman stuffed the puck top-shelf over the right shoulder Torf for his third of the season, two of which have been game winners.
“That was a great college hockey game. It was two even teams going toe-to-toe until the final buzzer,” head coach David Burkholder said. “I was really pleased with the back-and-forth of it, the moment changes and how the goals happened. I was really proud of how the guys stuck to it. We said the top of the crease was going to win or lose the game tonight. Those are where the goals were scored. We paid the price in the last 40 minutes and that’s how we got the win.”
Rookie Hugo Turcotte contributed a goal and an assist in the win, while Kevin Ryan pocketed a pair of assists. Niagara netminder Carsen Chubak made 31 saves in net in the win.
Air Force (6-9-4; 4-5-2 AHA) jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Ryan Timar put away a powerplay tally at the 7:32 mark of the opening period. With 21 seconds remaining on the Falcon man-advantage, an initial wrister from the slot by Jason Fabian was pushed aside by Chubak, but the rebound found Timar who snapped it home.
Niagara knotted the game up at the midway point of the contest off the stick of junior Ryan Rashid The left winger received a pass from Ryan at the top of the slot and his one-timer slid under the pads of Torf for his third goal of the season.
The Purps would have to battle from behind yet again as Cole Gunner gave back the lead to AFA with 7:27 left in the period. Stephen Carew shouldered his way around Kevin Albers down the left boards before slipping a backhander to the streaking Gunner who tipped it in to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead heading into the final period of play.
The next pair of scores came off the stick of Niagara to give the Purps their first lead of the contest. The first tally came just 56 seconds into the stanza as a rising shot from C.J. Chartrain from just inside the blue line was tipped in by Turcotte.
Chris Lochner gave Niagara a 3-2 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining in the third period on a superb individual effort. After being tripped up during the play in front of the net, the center pushed the loose puck behind Torf while on his stomach for his fifth goal of the season.
Just 30 seconds later, the game was leveled for the third time as Scott Holm made it a 3-3 contest with just five minutes remaining. Ben Persian had the puck behind Niagara’s goal before sending the puck to Holm at the point where his one-timer beat Chubak to tie the game at three.
Williams would steal the game from the Falcons with the eventual game-winner, and the Niagara defense would rally to shut down the Air Force offensive pressure.
“We have found a different way to win every game,” added Burkholder. “Those are experiences that are going to pay off in March. I’m so proud of the perseverance and how we keep winning games.”
The Purple Eagles will now start their longest road trip of the season, starting off with a trip to Springfield, Mass. to face off against American International College in a weekend series. The first game is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11, with the battle wrapping up the following day. Both contests have a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.
