NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – For the second consecutive night Niagara was able to fight back from two goals down against Mercyhurst, but were unable to pocket a point as the Lakers came out with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena.
Down 2-1 with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Dan Kolenda and Patrick Conte combined to knot the game at two apiece. Conte backhanded a pass from behind the cage to the waiting Kolenda who jammed it home for his second of the season.
The stalemate lasted until the final minutes of regulation as Mercyhurst answered with the game’s final two goals courtesy of Kyle Dutra and Nardo Nagtzaam. Grant Gettinger started the go-head goal, lifting a soft wrist shot through traffic that was tipped over the shoulder of starting NU goaltender Jackson Teichroeb by Kyle Dutra at 17:03. Niagara pulled Teichroeb with just under two minutes remaining to look for the equalizer, but Nagtzaam added an empty netter to secure the victory take the season series.
Teichroeb pushed aside 21 Mercyhurst looks on net, while his counterpart Jimmy Sarjeant made 38 stops. For the third consecutive contest Niagara reached the 40 shot mark, outshooting the Lakers 40-25 in 60 minutes of play.
“We played really well the last 40 minutes yesterday and I think from start to finish tonight we played pretty well,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “To lose it on an unlucky bounce was unfortunate. You can’t be displeased with the effort and how we played. This has been three consecutive games now where we’ve had 40-plus shots so if we continue to play this way we will be a very dangerous team come playoff time. You just have to trust the process and trust hard work.”
The majority of play was spent in the Lakers’ defensive zone in the first 20 minutes, as Niagara outshot its opponent 11-4, but it was Mercyhurst that went into the first break with the lead. Nagtzaam put a dent in the scoreboard via an assist from Randy Cure at 4:35 of the first as his wrist shot from the slot beat Teichroeb high, glove-side.
Niagara continued to press in the second, getting a few early chances while on its first power play of the contest, including a pair of quality opportunities at the top of the crease by Chris Lochner that were snuffed by Sarjeant.
Despite NU controlling play, once again it was Mercyhurst who found the back of the net as Ryan Misiak pushed the Lakers’ lead to two with 14:48 left in the stanza. The junior picked up a bad bounce in the Mercyhurst defensive zone and raced in on the breakaway, slipping the puck under the pads of Teichroeb for his 12th of the season.
The Purple Eagles’ pressure finally paid off at 11:37 of the period off the stick of Isaac Kohls with the assist being credited to TJ Sarcona. Sarcona skated the puck up the near boards and slipped a feed to Kohls at the top of slot for the short-range blast that sailed over the shoulder of Sargeant for his team-leading 12th goal of the year.
Niagara could not score on its lone power play opportunity of the game, while Mercyhurst went 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Niagara wraps up the regular season next weekend when it welcomes Air Force to Dwyer Arena on Feb. 28 and March 1. Both contests are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The hockey team will honor its four seniors prior to Saturday’s game.
Tickets for both games are still available so call the Niagara Tickets Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or by emailing [email protected] to reserve your seats today!
