NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Led by Reed Robinson’s first collegiate hat trick, the Niagara men’s hockey team scored eight goals in the final two periods to bury Canisius College, 9-6, on the back end of a home-and-home. Robinson was one of four Purple Eagles to notch at least three points, and 14 of the team’s 19 skaters registered at least one point.
Game Recap
· After Canisius opened the scoring 6:19 into the contest, Kris Spriggs got his third goal of the year on a wicked backhand shot from the left side of the net. The junior put the puck into the opposite upper corner to tie the game up less than three minutes after the Griffs’ tally.
· Robinson got his first of the game four minutes into the second period. A Canisius turnover gave the Purple Eagles a 2-on-0 breakaway and the rookie kept it himself and squeaked it by the goalie to give Niagara its first lead of the night.
· 55 seconds after the Golden Griffins knotted the game at two apiece in the second period, Ludwig Stenlund put Niagara back on top by gunning home Dylan Mills’ faceoff to the right of the Canisius net.
· Chris Harpur got his first goal of the year just 1:12 later, hammering a top-shelf laser into the back of the net to expand Niagara’s lead to 4-2.
· Stenlund added his second goal of the period with 5:07 left before the break to make it 5-2, and Robinson collected his second of the night with 1:46 remaining in the frame.
· After Canisius made a goaltending change to open the third period, Eric Cooley got Niagara’s fifth unanswered goal 1:45 in. With Justin Kendall coming down the left wing, Cooley skated to the front of the net, where Kendall dished him a beautiful pass he tipped in to open the game up to 7-2.
· The Griffs got four of the game’s next five goals, with Noah Delmas’ strike 11:14 into the period breaking up the run.
· Trailing 8-6, Canisius opted to pull the goaltender with 2:12 left in regulation, making it 5-on-5 with J.D. Pogue in the box for the Griffs. Robinson took a shot from near center ice and watched it coast into the empty net for his third of the game, icing it for the Purple Eagles.
Beyond The Boxscore
Freshman rookie Stenlund continued to shine at Dwyer Arena. The Swede has made a second home of the building in his first year, recording eight points (4 G, 4 A) in five games played at Dwyer so far this season.
With his goal in the second period, Harpur became the 19th skater to score for Niagara this year. Entering tonight, the Purple Eagles led the nation in that category, with #5 Penn State (17 skaters) and #12 Union (16 skaters) next in line.
Delmas has now strung together four straight games with at least two points, extending the longest such streak of his career.
With the win, the Purple Eagles registered their first series sweep of the Golden Griffins since 4-1 and 4-2 wins against Canisius on February 14 and February 16, 2012, respectively. It was only the third such occurrence, with the first sweep coming on February 15 and 18, 1997 to close out Niagara’s first season as a varsity squad.
Up Next
· Niagara will head to West Point for a Thanksgiving weekend showdown with the Army Black Knights. The first contest will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23, with the concluding game starting at 4 p.m. the following day.
