The Purple Eagles Tangle with RIT on National TV
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara hockey team will make a national television appearance on CBS Sports Network on Jan. 24 in a home contest versus RIT before traveling to Rochester, N.Y. on Jan. 25 to wrap-up the season series against the Tigers. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.
Niagara enters the series 5-14-3 overall and 5-7-3 in the AHA, putting it in eighth place, 12 points behind league-leading Mercyhurst. The Purple Eagles were swept on home ice by Holy Cross on Jan. 17-18, losing the opener, 4-2, and falling in game two, 3-2. Niagara leads the all-time series with RIT 12-3-9, and leads at Dwyer, 8-0-4 The teams played to a 2-2 tie earlier this season during the Frozen Frontier in Rochester, N.Y. The Purple Eagles took the season series 3-0-2 during the 2012-13 campaign, including sweeping RIT in the AHA Quarterfinals at Dwyer on March 15 and 16. Niagara is 4-5-0 on home ice this season.
The Tigers are riding a two-game win streak and have posted an overall mark of 8-11-3 and a 7-7-1 ledger in AHA play, good for sharing sixth place with Robert Morris. The Tigers swept Army, 6-0 and 4-3, on Jan. 17 and 18. They are 3-7-2 away from home this season.
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES
• Friday’s game will be broadcast live nationally on CBS College Sports Network. Fans in Western New York can find it on Time Warner Cable channel 315 (Standard). Fans are also able to catch the game on DirecTV (channel 221) and Dish Network (channel 158). Please check with your local cable provider for availability. Saturday’s contest will be on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
• Niagara’s games against RIT on Friday and Saturday will be broadcast live on 1340 WLVL. Covering Friday’s game will be Jeremy White, while Steve Warzala will take over play-by-play duties on Saturday.
T-SHIRTS AND PIZZA
• The first 250 students to attend the game on Friday will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of the Niagara Athletics Department.
• Pizza will also be available for all students in attendance.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
• This is the fourth Niagara game to be televised on CBS College Sports since the 2007-08 season.
• The Purple Eagles and Tigers match-up is one of two AHA games chosen by the network for the 2013-14 campaign. The first contest aired nationally was on Jan. 10 as Air Force traveled to West Post to take on Army.
• The last nationally-broadcasted game from Dwyer Arena took place on March 13, 2010 in the College Hockey America Championship game vs. Alabama-Huntsville where NU lost 3-2 in overtime.
• This is not the first time NU and RIT will play a nationally-televised game on the CBS Sports Network, the last being on Feb. 25, 2011 where the Purple Eagles came out with a 5-2 victory at Ritter Arena.
NIAGARA TIDBITS
• Isaac Kohls leads the Purple Eagles in scoring with 17 points. Kohls, along with Ryan Rashid and Hugo Turcotte, have a team-leading seven goals, while Kohls has pocketed 10 helpers.
• Kevin Ryan is first with a +9 plus/minus rating.
• Patrick Divjak leads the squad with 70 shots on goal. Hugo Turcotte is close behind with 70 looks on net.
• NU goaltenders have been splitting time in net – Jackson Teichroeb (3-8-1) has a .895 save percentage and a 3.01 GAA while Adrian Ignagni (2-6-2) owns a .886 save percentage and a 3.54 GAA.
LAST TIMEOUT
• The Purple Eagles were swept on home ice for the first time since the 2008-09 season, dropping a pair of games to the Holy Cross Crusaders on Jan. 17-18 at Dwyer Arena.
• Despite holding a 43-27 advantage in shots on goal, NU failed to capitalize on its chances in a 4-2 loss in the opening game on Friday. The Purple and White ran into the solid goaltending of HC netminder Matt Ginn who snuffed 41 Niagara shots, including 19 in the final period. Niagara received goals from Chris Lochner and TJ Sarcona, while Jackson Teichroeb was credited with the loss after making 17 saves on 20 shots. Adrian Ignagni stepped in at the start of the third period and pushed aside six shots.
• Game two saw NU hold a 2-0 lead heading into the second period off goals from Patrick Conte and Brock Edwards, but Holy Cross would rally back with a trio of goals to take the contest, 3-2. For the second straight night, Ginn was solid in net, stopping 38 of the 40 shots Niagara fired on goal. Teichroeb finished with 21 saves, suffering the loss for the second straight night.
CONSISTENT OFFENSE
• Junior Isaac Kohls and sophomore Hugo Turcotte saw their three-game point runs snapped during the loss to Holy Cross on Jan. 17, but each grabbed a point the following day to make it eight and seven points in five games for Kohls and Turcotte, respectively.
• Senior Ryan Rashid saw his three-game point streak snapped on Jan. 10 vs. AIC, but he bounced back with a goal the following day. Rashid has totaled three goals and three assists in his last seven games.
• Freshman Brock Edwards has tallied seven points in the last 10 games (two goals, five assists).
THE NU-RIT SERIES
• The Purple Eagles are 12-3-9 all-time against the Tigers and 10-1-7 in the Division I era. The one NU loss came in the 2012 AHA Semifinal, a 2-1 overtime decision at Blue Cross Arena.
• Last season, Niagara went 3-0-2 against RIT with two of the victories coming in the AHA quarterfinal sweep at Dwyer Arena.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• RIT currently owns an 8-11-3 overall mark, while holding a 7-7-1 AHA record. The Tigers sit in sixth place with Robert Morris in the AHA standings with 15 points.
• The Tigers have won two consecutive games, tying them with seven other teams in the nation for the seventh best unbeaten streak in the nation.
• The Tigers are averaging 2.91 goals a game and are allowing 3.32, placing them 24th and 48th in the nation, respectively.
• The power play has gone 23-for-96 while the penalty kill is 73-for-92, ranking them fourth and 43rd in the NCAA, respectively.
• Mike Colavecchia leads the team in scoring with 23 points on a team-leading 10 goals and 13 helpers. Todd Skirving (5-12-17) and Greg Noyes (4-13-17) have also contributed offensively for the Tigers.
• Jordan Ruby has seen the majority of time between the pipes for the Tigers, making 418 saves for a 3.47 goals against average and a .899 save percentage.
NOT ON OUR TURF
• RIT has never won on Niagara’s home ice, holding a 0-8-4 record when it plays at Dwyer Arena.
SHALL WE CALL IT A DRAW?
• Since Niagara entered the AHA in 2010-11, the Tigers and Purple Eagles have found themselves in extra time eight out of 14 times.
WHAT’S UP NEXT
• Following this weekend’s home-and-home series against RIT, Niagara heads out for its final weekend series away from Dwyer when it travels to Sacred Heart on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
• Including the Jan. 24 contest against RIT, the Purple Eagles host six of the team’s final 12 games.
