Cross-Town Rivals Clash in Home-and-Home Series
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara hockey team returns to action this weekend with a home-and-home series against cross-town rival Canisius. The Purple Eagles host the Golden Griffins at Dwyer Arena on Thursday, Feb. 6, with the two teams returning on Saturday to play at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Both puck drops are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Niagara enters the series 8-15-3 overall and 8-8-3 in the AHA, putting it in seventh place, 11 points behind league-leading Mercyhurst. The Purple Eagles split the season series against Sacred Heart on Jan. 31-Feb. 1, dropping the opener 4-3, and bouncing back with a decisive 4-1 victory in game two.
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES
• Thursday’s game at Dwyer will be available on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel with Kevin Sylvester and Andrew Peters on the call, and Sal Capaccio reporting from the sideline.
• Niagara’s games against Canisius on Thursday and Saturday will be broadcast live on 1340 WLVL, with Jeremy White covering both games.
DON’T MISS OUT – PACK THE BUS!
• Tickets for Thursday’s game are still available so call the Niagara Tickets Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or by emailing [email protected] to reserve your seats today!
• Bus transportation will be available to any Niagara student wishing to support the Purple Eagles take on Canisiuson Saturday. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at Campus Activities in Lower Gallagher.
NIAGARA TIDBITS
• The statistical board has been taken over by Isaac Kohls who leads the Purple Eagles in points (22), and goals (11). The junior is tied with Hugo Turcotte for the team-lead in assists (11). Turcotte is second on the team with 19 points (8-11-19), while Ryan Rashid has pocketed nine goals and nine assists in 6 games.
• Kevin Ryan is first with a +15 plus/minus rating.
• Patrick Divjak leads the squad with 86 shots on goal. Kohls is close behind with 85 looks on net.
• Freshmen goaltenders Jackson Teichroeb (4-9-1) and Adrian Ignagni (4-6-2) have split time between the pipes in 26 games thus far. Teichroeb has a pair of shutouts to his name, owning a .903 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average. Ignagni has made 313 saves for a .902 save percentage and a 3.14 goals-against average. He has one goose egg on the year.
NU EARNS SEASON SPLIT AGAINST PIONEERS
• NU battled back from two goals down, but was dealt a blow as the Purple Eagles fell victim to the Pioneers, 4-3 on a last second goal at the Milford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 31, before bouncing back the following day with a 4-1 win.
• Sophomore defenseman Matt Chiarantano secured his first goal as a Purple Eagle in game two and added a helper the day before for a two-point weekend. Ryan Rashid pocketed three points in two games, including a two-point night during Saturday with two assists, while Isaac Kohls (1-1-2), Hugo Turcotte (1-1-2) and Vincent Muto (0-2-2) also had a two-point night in the victory.
• Teichroeb pushed aside 59 shots on the weekend, including 27 stops during Saturday’s game.
CONSISTENT OFFENSE
• A quartet of Purple Eagles have consistently generated offense in the second half of the season.
• Junior Isaac Kohls has 13 points in the previous nine games off eight goals and five assists.
• Sophomore Hugo Turcotte grabbed a two-point evening in the win over SHU on Feb. 1 to extend his point total to 11 points in nine games. He has four goals and seven assists in that span.
• Senior Ryan Rashid has been reliable up front, scoring four goals and adding five assists in the last 11 games for nine points.
• Freshman Brock Edwards had a six-game dry spell from Oct. 25 through Nov. 22, but his assist in the game at Cornell on No. 26 put the rookie at eight points in 13 games (2-6-8).
SERIES HISTORY
• The Purple Eagles and Griffs have played 31 times since first meeting in the 1997 season, and Niagara holds a 19-10-2 advantage, including a 14-8-2 advantage in DI meetings.
• NU was 2-2-0 against Canisius in its four meetings last season. The teams met up in the AHA semifinal round where the Golden Griffins picked up a 5-3 victory at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
LAST MEETING
• Then-No. 20 Niagara produced an amazing comeback from 3-0 down to defeat Canisius in front of a sellout crowd at Dwyer Arena on Oct. 12, 2013.
• Niagara goaltender Adrian Ignagni relieved Jackson Teichroeb in the second period and backstopped the Purple Eagles to the 6-4 win, behind a two-point night from Matt Dineen and the go-ahead goal by Ryan Rashid. Niagara also got a two-point night from Hugo Turcotte in the team’s first AHA matchup of the season.
• Special teams was the difference in the game as three power play goals and a pair of shorthanded tallies were netted between the two teams. Canisius went 2-for-7 on the man-advantage, while Niagara went 1-for-5.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
• Canisius currently owns a 10-14-2 overall mark, while holding a 9-8-2 AHA record. The Griffs sit in sixth place in the AHA standings with 20 points.
• The Griffins are averaging 2.77 goals a game and are allowing 3.12, placing them 32nd and 44th in the nation, respectively.
• The power play has gone 21-for-100 while the penalty kill is 88-for-110, ranking them 15th and 41st in the NCAA, respectively.
• Kyle Gibbons leads the team in scoring with 25 points on a team-leading 12 goals and is second on the squad with 13 assists. Ralph Cuddemi (8-10-18) and Ben Danford (3-13-17) have also contributed offensively for Canisius.
• Tony Capobianco has seen the majority of time in net for the Golden Griffins, making 491 saves for a 3.19 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
ON DECK
• Following this weekend’s series against Canisius, Niagara and Robert Morris go head-to-head in a home-and-home series on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Dwyer and Saturday, Feb. 15 at the RMU Ice Complex.
• Including the Feb. 13 contest against RMU, the Purple Eagles host four of the team’s final six games.
