MILFORD, Conn. – Sophomore defenseman Matt Chiarantano secured his first goal as a Purple Eagle and Jackson Teichroeb made 27 saves as the Niagara hockey team picked up a 4-1 victory against Sacred Heart on Saturday evening at the Milford Ice Pavilion to split the season series against the Pioneers.

Isaac Kohls and Hugo Turcotte each pocketed a two-point evening off a goal and an assist each, while Ryan Rashid and Vincent Muto earned a pair of points off two assists each.  TJ Sarcona wrapped up the scoring for Niagara, who pushed its record to 8-15-3 overall, and 8-8-3 in conference play.

The Purple and White outshot their conference opponent, 35-28 on the game, including limiting SHU’s to seven opportunities in six power play opportunities that consisted of  a five-minute major in the third period.

“We faced some adversity with the five minute kill to start the third period,” head coach Dave Burkholder said.  “Tonight’s game had playoff atmosphere to it so it was nice to come through in the final period and earn the victory.”

The Purple Eagles came out of the opening faceoff energized, looking to avenge last night’s last second upset to the Pioneers (7-19-0; 6-13-0 AHA).  The two teams combined for 10 minutes in penalties in the opening period, with Niagara being the only squad to capitalize with the extra attacker.   Sacred Heart’s Ben Lake was called for goalie interference at17:53, allowing the Purple Eagles’ power play unit to go to work for the second time that evening.  With a little over a minute remaining on the man-advantage, Chiarantano finished off a play set up by Muto and Kohls with a slap shot from the point to make it 1-0.

Matt Chartrain had a golden chance in the second stanza to double up Niagara’s lead, but his shot towards a wide open net from just outside the blue paint sailed wide.  Turcotte followed that will an opportunity of his own, causing a Sacred Heart turnover in its defensive end that led to a breakaway opportunity, but his attempt to go top shelf was deflected high of the cage by Bodnarchuk.

After killing off a five-minute major in the opening seconds of the final period, Niagara gave itself a two-goal cushion at 8:51 when Kohls made it a 2-0 game on a scrum in front of the net.  Bodnarchuk could not handle Rashid’s initial shot, and Kohls jumped on the loose puck to the right of the goaltender and pushed it home for his team-leading 11th of the season what would eventually stand as the game winner.

Teichroeb remained perfect between the pipes up until the 12:27 mark of the third period when Jacob Brightbill let fly a shot from the top of the slot to make it a 2-1 game.  Sarcona was able to secure a critical separation goal for the Purple and White at 14:40 with his eighth of the year.  Latching onto the rebound from an unsuccessful shot from Chartrain, Sarcona tucked the puck inside the near post before Bodnarchuk could get there.

Turcotte would make it a 4-1 game with 1:50 remaining in the contest to lock up the victory.

Niagara and cross-town rival Canisius go head-to-head in a home-and-home series onThursday, Feb. 6 at Dwyer and Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.  Both contests are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. starts.

GENESEO, N.Y.— Sophomore forward Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York
Bobcats) scored two goals and added two assists to help the SUNY Potsdam
men’s hockey team (7-12, 2-8 SUNYAC) to a 5-2 road victory over
14th-ranked SUNY Geneseo (14-5, 8-2) on Saturday night. Four other Bears
scored and sophomore Jon Hall (Dexter, N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) made 28
saves as Potsdam ended a four-game skid.

Potsdam got on the board just 3:34 into the contest as freshman forward
Tommy Telesca (Selden, N.Y./New York Bobcats) connected for his first
collegiate goal. Senior forward Adam Place (Scarbourgh,
Ontario/Bowmanville Eagles) and Pascalli assisted on the marker. The
one-goal advantage a lasted about five minutes before the Ice Knights tied
the score. Zachary Vit made it a 1-1 contest at 8:36. A minute later
Justin Scharfe beat Bears sophomore goalie Jon Hall (Dexter,
N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) to put the Geneseo in front 2-1. The Bears
outshot the Knights 12-8 in the first period, but the score was unchanged
at the intermission.

Potsdam dominated the middle 20 minutes, outshooting Geneseo 18-9.
However, Knight goalie Bryan Haude stopped shot after shot. The effort
finally paid off with just 1:35 remaining in the period. Place tied the
score with helpers from junior defenseman Erick Ware (Huntsville,
Ala./Kenai River Brown Bears) and Pascalli.

The Bears broke out in the third period. At the 8:28 mark, Pascalli put
Potsdam back in front with a power-play goal on an assist from senior
captain Mike Arnold (Didsbury, Alberta/Kingston Voyageurs). Just 59
seconds later, Arnold made it a 4-2 contest with an even-strength tally.
Sophomore forward Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) notched
the lone assist on the play. Geneseo pulled Haude for an extra attacker
with 25 seconds left. Pascalli made the Knights pay with an empty-net goal
24 seconds later. Pascalli’s empty-netter also came on a Bears’
man-advantage.

Haude finished with 42 saves as Potsdam outshot the Knights 47-30 on the
evening. The Bears were 2-4 on the power play, while holding Geneseo to a
0-5 performance.

Next, Potsdam returns home next weekend to close out the regular season
with a six-game home stand. The Bears host Buffalo State at 7 p.m. on
Friday and Fredonia at the same time on Saturday.

Tyson Spink Extends Point Streak at Yale
Mihalik Makes 30 Stops in Loss to Bulldogs

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The 18th-ranked Colgate men’s hockey team got behind in the first period against No. 13 Yale and dropped a 4-1 decision on Saturday night at Ingalls Rink.

Colgate (13-11-3, 9-5-1 ECAC) got its lone goal from Spiro Goulakos, which came on the power play. Mike Borkowski and Tyson Spink were given assists on the play. Senior Eric Mihalik got the start and made 30 stops in his first action since mid-December against UMass. Spink’s assist on the power play goal extended his point scoring streak to eight games.

The Raiders dropped to fourth in the league with the two losses this weekend. Cornell leaped over the Raiders for third and those two teams will play each other on Saturday.

Yale (11-6-4, 6-5-3 ECAC) saw four different skaters record goals with Ryan Obuchowski registering two points on a goal and assist. Kenny Agostino also had two points with a pair of helpers. Alex Lyon was between the pipes for the Bulldogs and stopped 30 shots as well.

In what could have been the fastest period by Colgate this season. Both teams played end-to-end action with limited whistles. Yale was able to gain the first lead of the game with Nicholas Weberg scoring as a Colgate power play expired. The Raiders had a shot blocked above the circles and Agostino collected the puck. He waited for Weberg to come out of the box and he found him for a breakaway. Weberg put the shot past the blocker of the Mihalik for the 1-0 advantage.

Other than the one hick up, Mihalik looked good in his first period since mid-December against UMass with 14 saves and Lyon added 12.

The Bulldogs added to their lead after killing off a Raider power play once again and then scoring on their first rush up ice. Agostino and Jesse Root started the rush up ice that ended up with a 3-on-2. Root put a shot on net that Mihalik pushed aside, but Charles Orzetti was there for the put back and the two-goal lead with 11:42 left in the middle stanza.

Yale added to its lead to make it 3-0 on a goal by Obuchowski, which came right after the Bulldogs killed off another Colgate power play. The shot was from the right point and Mihalik was screened in front by multiple players.

Colgate was able to get to within two goals at 3-1 with 6:52 left in the game with a power play goal from Goulakos. Spink gained the zone and dropped a pass down to Borkowski, who found Goulakos at the high slot. He fired a shot over the glove of Lyon to stop the shutout and it was his fourth of the year and third on the power play.

The Raiders had good puck possession down the stretch, but Gus Young sealed the win with an empty net goal to close the scoring at 4-1.

Yale had a 34-31 shot advantage and Colgate had the lone power play goal of the night on seven chances. Yale went scoreless on six opportunities.

Colgate is back on the ice next Saturday against Cornell, who earned a sweep this weekend. Tickets are going fast, so call 315-228-7600 or stop by the Colgate Ticket Officeon Monday to get your ticket.

West Springfield, Mass. – AIC ended a 15-game winless streak against the Canisius College hockey team on Saturday afternoon, earning a 5-3 victory against the Griffs. The loss drops Canisius to 10-14-2 on the season and 9-8-2 against Atlantic Hockey foes, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 7-18-1 and 6-12-1 in league play.

“AIC won the game in the first two periods today,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “They imposed their style of play on the game and were opportunistic with their opportunities. The passion that we played with in the third period needs to show up in the first 40 minutes as well for us to be our most successful. We knew coming into the weekend that AIC was dangerous off the rush and had an uncanny knack for loose pucks around the net and that’s how they got a two-goal lead after two periods.”

Senior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) and juniors Doug Jessey (Langdon, Alberta)and Braeden Rigney (Singhampton, Ontario) all scored for the Griffs in the defeat.

The Griffs grabbed the early lead in the contest thanks to Rigney’s sixth goal of the season. Jessey fired a shot off the goal post and Rigney was there to knock the rebound in for the 1-0 advantage. Freshman Josh Kielich (Orchard Park, N.Y.) also registered an assist on the goal 6:06 into the period.

The Yellow Jackets knotted the game just 68 seconds later when Alexander MacMillan scored but the Griffs responded just 32 seconds after losing the lead behind Gibbons’ 12th goal of the season. Sophomore defender Chris Rumble’s (Seattle, Wash.) was wide of the net on a shot and senior Patrick Sullivan (Derby, N.Y.) threw the puck out in front, where Gibbons would knock it for the 2-1 lead with 12:14 remaining in the opening period.

AIC once again answered back, scoring a short-handed goal with 9:25 remaining in the first when Dan Clairmont tipped a shot into the back of the net for the 2-2 score.

The Yellow Jackets then carried their momentum into the second frame and grabbed a two-goal advantage. Steven Hoshaw sent a blast on goal that netminder Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) could only get a piece of before the puck trickled past the goal line 58 seconds into the frame. AIC extended its lead to two, taking advantage of a Canisius turnover in the neutral zone when Clairmont scored on a 3-on-2 break for a 4-2 lead with9:45 remaining in the period.

Canisius pulled to within one with 17:23 remaining in regulation when Jessey scored his fifth goal of the season. The junior fired a shot into the back of the net off passes from Rumble and junior Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) while on the power play for the 4-3 score.

The Griffs, however, were unable to find the equalizer, in the final 17-plus minutes and the Yellow Jackets sealed the victory with 28.5 seconds remaining with an empty-net goal for the 5-3 win.

Canisius finished the game with a 34-25 advantage in shots, including a 14-4 edge in the third period. The Griffs were 1-for-4 on the power play, while killing the only two AIC extra-man chances.

Capobianco and junior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) combined to make 20 saves for the Griffs. Hunter Leisner stopped 31 shots to earn the win for the Yellow Jackets.

Canisius returns to action next week with a pair of games against Battle of the Bridge rival Niagara. The schools open the series in Lewiston on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.