WORCESTER, Mass. – The No.15 Niagara Purple Eagles returned to the win column in top form with a big 4-1 victory over Atlantic Hockey opponent Holy Cross at the Hart Center on Saturday evening.
The Purple Eagles were able to offset the loss from the previous night with a solid effort from all across the board, receiving goals from Patrick Divjak, Rocky Gruttadauria, Marc Zanette and Dan Weiss to earn two key points in the league standings, giving them a nine point lead over second place Mercyhurst.
Junior netminder Carsen Chubak made 24 saves to elevate the Purple Eagles 14-4-4 overall and 13-1-1 in AHA play.
“That’s the best we’ve played in regards to energy and execution,” head coach David Burkholder said. “It is as thorough of a road game that we’ve had in years. That’s a huge win with a really short bench. I’m very proud of the guys for showing so much courage. This is a big win for a couple of big conference points.”
Niagara came out in the second game of the series on fire, outshooting Holy Cross 16-7 in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Holy Cross (12-8-2; 8-5-2 AHA) created several chances, but Chubak denied each attempt. The Crusaders’ best chance came at the 13 minute mark of the period off the stick of Brandon Nunn. The senior brought down a lofted puck just outside the left circle and got off a low shot that slipped underneath Chubak, but hit the post and went wide.
The Purple Eagles continued to pressure, finally getting on the scoreboard with 6:38 left in the period. C.J. Chartrain lifted the puck towards net into traffic from just inside the blue line that was tipped underneath the pads of Ginn by Divjak for his fourth tally of the year, and second in two nights.
The second period saw much of the same, as Niagara peppered Ginn with 15 shots, compared to the Crusaders’ 10 looks on net.
Gruttadauria made it a two-goal contest with a short-handed tally, and eventual game-winner, seven minutes into the middle frame. About a minute gone into the Holy Cross power play, a Niagara dump in was mishandled by Ginn behind the net and Gruttadauria pounced on the loose puck for the freshman’s second goal of the year.
Kyle Fletcher cut the Purple Eagles’ lead in half several minutes later as the senior’s shot from the left circle beat Chubak over the shoulder making it a 2-1 game with 8:05 on the clock. Divjak came inches away from regaining the Purple Eagles’ two-goal advantage less than two minutes later as the junior’s laser to the left of Ginn pinged off the crossbar.
The Purple Eagle offense netted a tally at the start and end of the final frame and the NU defense buckled down to solidify the victory. It took Niagara only 15 seconds into the third to find the back of the net as Zanette pushed the Purple Eagles ahead by a score of 3-1. Zanette picked up a pass from linemate Ryan Murphy before flying down the left boards, letting loose a top-shelf wrister that sailed past Ginn for his fourth goal of the season.
Weiss added the empty netter with less than two minutes remaining in the contest.
The Purple Eagles wrap up their five-game road trip with a home-and-home series against the RIT Tigers that starts on Friday, Jan. 25 at Ritter Arena in Rochester, N.Y. The teams conclude the series the following day on Monteagle Ridge. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.
