MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team is receiving votes in the USCHO.com Men’s Division I Poll for a fourth-straight week. Niagara received the most points of any team from the Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC) in Monday’s poll with a season-high 19 points.
Niagara hockey opened last week with an intense matchup at current No. 5 Cornell on Nov. 21. The Purple Eagles held leads of 3-1 and 4-2 before the Big Red stormed back at Lynah Rink, eventually scoring the game-winning goal with 2:49 to play in a 5-4 Niagara loss. Noah Delmas (0+2) and Derian Plouffe (1+1) led the Purple Eagles offensively with two points each, and freshmen Justin Kendall and Zach Mills scored their first collegiate goals.
The Purple Eagles then split a two-game road swing at American International with a 3-1 win on Nov. 24 followed by a 4-1 loss on Nov. 25. Plouffe scored the game-winning goal Friday with 11 minutes left in regulation and freshman Eric Cooley tallied one goal and one assist. Tanner Lomsnes scored the only goal of Saturday’s contest with Plouffe and James Roll picking up the assists. Freshman goaltender Brian Wilson had a 1.54 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in the two games against the Yellow Jackets.
Niagara currently sits at 7-5-1 with a 6-2-1 record in AHC play heading into a challenging two-week schedule to close out the first half of the season. The Purple Eagles fly to Colorado this weekend for a two-game series against the defending AHC champion Air Force Falcons on Dec. 1 and 2. Next week, Niagara takes on longtime local rival and current AHC leader Canisius for the first two of four games in this season’s Battle of the Bridge.
