STORRS, Conn. – The Niagara hockey team suffered its fourth consecutive loss after dropping a 3-2 decision to the UConn Huskies on Friday evening at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.
Niagara (3-10-1; 3-3-1 AHA) battled back in the final minute of the contest to make it 3-2 as Kevin Ryan cashed in on the team’s fourth shorthanded goal of the season. Isaac Kohls began the play, digging out the puck in the corner before finding Kevin Albers at the top of the faceoff circle. The junior captain dished a feed to Ryan who slapped it past UConn goaltender Matt Grogan for his third of the year. The Purple Eagles would not be able to find the equalizer though, as the team continues to search for its their first road victory of the season.
Special teams played a role in the outcome of the game as Niagara went 0-for-8 on the power play, while UConn’s goal on the man-advantage (1-for-5) ended up counting as the game-winning tally.
“It was a very hard fought game between two evenly matched teams,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “We didn’t make any plays while on the power play and UConn made one play on the man-advantage that ended up costing us. I thought it was a battle between two really good teams that wanted to play, but they were hindered by all the disruptions that happened throughout the game.”
The Huskies (5-5-2; 4-2-1 AHA) came out with the early opportunities, but after successfully killing off an UConn power play Niagara’s began to kick up the offensive pressure while on its first man-up opportunity. The Purps almost grabbed the lead as an initial shot from Vincent Muto was poked away by Grogan. The rebound was picked up by Isaac Kohls, but the junior’s attempt sailed just wide of the top corner.
Despite the ample time spent in the UConn defensive zone and having a trio of power play opportunities, it was the Huskies that went into intermission with the lead. UConn picked up the first goal of the game with5:28 left in the first frame as Jordan Sims jumped on a loose puck in front of the blue paint, slapping it past NU goaltender Adrian Ignagni for his third of the season to make it 1-0.
The Huskies began the second period on the man-advantage, including 50 seconds of 5-on-3 action. UConn came inches away from extending its lead as Jacob Poe rang a shot off the post in the opening minutes of the stanza.
The Purple Eagles were finally able to get on the board with 7:11 remaining in the second as Phil Nasca pocketed his first collegiate goal to tie the game at one apiece. The Huskies’ goalie could not handle the puck in front of a trafficked net as several Purple Eagles chopped at the loose puck, but it was Sarcona who stuffed it under the pads of Grogan. Brock Edwards was credited with the helper.
The tie game did not last long as UConn scored the game’s next pair of goals to dig Niagara into a two-goal deficit. The Huskies regained the lead four minutes after Nasca’s goal as Brent Norris scored goal number two on the year to pull ahead, 2-1. Shawn Pauly ripped a shot from the top of the slot that hit the crossbar and bounced off Norris before trickling over the line. UConn’s third tally of the contest came in the final period with just two seconds remaining on the man-advantage as Trevor Gerling put away his fourth goal of the year at 5:38.
The Purple Eagles created several scoring chances after falling behind 3-1, but Grogan stymied each attempt. NU’s best chance came off the stick of Kohls as he was denied once again by the pipe.
Ignagni snuffed 26 UConn looks on net, while his counterpart made 30 stops.
