Tryouts for the Western Region women’s ice hockey team that will participate in the Empire State Games will be held as follows.
Sat Dec 22nd, 10PM North Buffalo Rink, Tacoma Ave, Buffalo NY
Sat Jan 5th, 1030AM Nichols School, Amherst St, Buffalo NY
Sun Jan 6, 11am ESL, Rochester, NY
Sat Jan 12th, 630PM North Buffalo, Tacoma Ave, Buffalo NY
Ages 18+ are eligible to play in the games.
You must attend one of the icetimes to be eligible to be selected for this team. Questions, contact Head Coach Scott Then, [email protected] or via facebook or phone 716-868-3673
Purple Eagles Net the No. 16 Spot in USCHO.com Poll
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles pocketed their highest ranking of the season on Monday, pulling down a No. 16 ranking in the USCHO.com Division I Poll.
This is the team’s best position in the USCHO.com poll since the 2006-07 season when the Purps earned the 16th spot for two consecutive weeks (Jan. 22 & Jan. 29). Niagara has been ranked for the prior three weeks, cracking into the poll at the 20th position on Nov. 19 before holding the 18th spot for the last two weeks.
The Purps have gone eight consecutive games without a loss on the scoresheet, and are currently riding a nation-best 11-game unbeaten streak, going 9-0-2 in that span. The team is a perfect 9-0-0 in Atlantic Hockey Conference action, outscoring their opposition 34-8 to top the nation for the fewest goals allowed during conference play this season.
Niagara has several Purple Eagles who have cracked into the top-10 in several statistical categories. Giancarlo Iuorio is one of the top offensive threats in the nation, ranked first in goals per game (0.80), and 10th in points per game (1.33). Mike Benedict has scored a career-high six goals so far this season, including three game-winning tallies which rank him eighth in the nation.
Goaltender Carsen Chubak holds the top spot in the nation in save percentage (.962), goals-against average (1.21) and shutouts (5), while his .821 winning percentage places him third nationally.
Along with the team’s present unbeaten streak, the Purps are ranked in the top-10 in five statistical categories including third in team winning percentage (.767), fourth in combined special teams (57.4), seventh in penalty killing (90.5) and ninth in scoring defense (2.00).
The NCAA Tournament Pairwise Comparison Ratings has NU tied at No. 15 with Harvard and Colgate, while D1Hockey.com lists the Purple Eagles at the No. 14 spot in the country.
Fresh off a weekend sweep of the Sacred Heart Pioneers, the Purps will enter their final home game of the 2012 portion of the schedule with a battle against the RIT Tigers on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 7:05 p.m.
A reminder for those attending, Niagara will be hosting its Teddy Bear Toss during Wednesday’s game, benefiting the Carly’s Club for Kids & Cancer Research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Fans that bring a new, stuffed animal to the game will receive a discounted ticket, and will be able to toss them onto the ice following the Purple Eagles’ first goal of the game. There will also be teddy bears for purchase provided by the Beverly Hill Teddy Bear Company.
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Paul Rodrigues (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario) and Andrew Hare (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) of the men’s ice hockey team have all been named the SUNYAC Player of the Week and Goaltender of the Week for the week ending Dec. 9. It marks the second time this season that both players have received conference recognition.
Rodrigues netted a goal in each Oswego State game against ninth-ranked Utica and fourth-ranked Hobart. Rodrigues’ goal versus the Pioneers pulled the Lakers to within one goal with 4.4 seconds left in regulation. He scored the Lakers’ second goal in the first minute of the second period at Hobart, where Oswego State handed the Statesmen their first loss of the season in overtime. Rodrigues leads the nation in scoring with 24 points (9-15-24) and 2.18 points per game for the Lakers.
Hare compiled 74 saves and a .949 save percentage against ninth-ranked Utica and fourth-ranked Hobart this past weekend. Against the Pioneers, Hare stopped 30 shots, including a pair of 1-on-1 breakaways to keep Oswego State within striking distance of the Pioneers in a 3-2 loss. On Saturday, Hare handed Hobart its first loss of the season after turning aside 44 shots, including 15 in the third period.
POTSDAM, N.Y.– SUNY Potsdam hockey players Izzy Fayerman (Calgary,
Alberta/The Edge) and Sally Mooney (New Albany, Ohio/Wyoming Seminary)
have been recognized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference West for
their play during the week ending Dec. 9. Fayerman was named the
conference’s Player of the Week, while Mooney earned a spot on the honor
roll.
Fayerman scored in each of the Bears three games last week. After scoring
Potsdam’s final marker against Hamilton on Tuesday, the sophomore forward
scored the game-tying goal in the Bears’ 2-2 draw with Saint Michael’s on
Friday. She then notched the game-winner in Potsdam’s 3-1 victory over the
Purple Knights on Saturday. Fayerman leads the team in goals with five and
is second on the team in scoring (5g-0a-5a).
Mooney had four points in the Bears’ three games. The forward scored her
first collegiate goal and recorded an assist in the Bears’ contest at
Hamilton. She then added an assist in each of Potsdam’s contests against
Saint Michael’s over the weekend. The freshman leads Potsdam in scoring
and assists with one goal and five helpers for six points.
The Bears (3-8-1, 2-5 ECAC West) are off until Jan. 4-5, when they travel
to South Burlington, Vt. for the Double Tree Ice Hockey Classic hosted by
Saint Michael’s. Potsdam faces Nichols College on Friday at 4 p.m. and the
host Purple Knights at the same time on Saturday.
###
Hamilton College forward Katie Zimmerman ’13 (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) was selected the NESCAC women’s ice hockey player of the week on Dec. 10.
Zimmerman, who picked up her second player of the week honor at Hamilton, posted five goals and one assist in two wins last week and helped guide the Continentals (6-2-0 overall) to their best eight-game start in program history. She recorded her second hat trick this season in a 4-2 win against SUNY Potsdam on Dec. 4.
With two goals in a 3-1 victory at Utica College on Dec. 8, Zimmerman moved into fifth place on the team’s all-time list with 47 for her career. She ranks first in Division III with 1.38 goals per game and fourth with 1.62 points per game. Zimmerman’s 11 goals and 13 points lead the NESCAC.
Hamilton breaks for finals and resumes play on Saturday, Jan. 5, for another non-conference game at Elmira College.
The No. 16 Niagara hockey team closed out the first semester with a 2-2 draw against Atlantic Hockey opponent RIT on Wednesday evening at Dwyer Arena.
For the second straight game, the Purple Eagles (10-2-4; 9-0-1 AHA) came back from two goals down, but had to settle for the tie, extending its unbeaten streak to a nation-best 12 games.
“We just stuck with it again tonight,” head coach David Burkholder said. “I think the shot chart will say that we were doing what we wanted to do, but I don’t think we made it very difficult on the RIT goalie. We didn’t spend enough time at the top of the crease, but overall it was two very even teams that played toe-to-toe in the final round. It was a couple of breakdowns on our part and RIT scored two goals. Other than that it was a pretty good effort from our guys.”
The victory also extended Niagara’s current home ice unbeaten streak to 13 games, dating back to the Purple Eagles 3-3 draw against Air Force on Feb. 11, 2012.
“We kept the home-game unbeaten streak alive and we’re unbeaten in league play at Christmas,” added Burkholder. “We have a lot to be happy and thankful for heading into the second half of the season.”
The Tigers (4-8-4; 3-5-3 AHA) jumped out to a two-goal lead halfway through the contest off a pair of tallies from Ben Lynch.
RIT capitalized on a Purple Eagle defensive mistake while on the man-disadvantage just under the 10 minute mark of the first period to make it 1-0. With 14 seconds remaining on the Niagara powerplay, Dan Schuler forced the turnover, slipping a feed to Lynch who skated in on goaltender Carsen Chubak and roofed his fifth goal of the year under the crossbar.
The Purple Eagles would have to battle back from a two-goal deficit as Lynch gave RIT the 2-0 lead at the 13:30 mark of the second stanza. Lynch’s second goal came on the rush off a blast from the slot that beat Chubak over the shoulder.
Isaac Kohls jump started the Purple Eagle offense with 7:57 remaining in the second period off assists from Hugo Turcotte and Ryan Rashid Turcotte raced in to the right of RIT goalie Josh Watson and faked a shot before finding Kohls at the top of the blue paint for the easy tap in. The goal was the right winger’s third of the season.
With just under five minutes remaining in the period, Patrick Divjak knotted the game at two apiece with his second tally of the year. A wrister from Jason Beattie could not be controlled by Watson and the rebound jumped out to Divjak who ripped one top-shelf.
After a scoreless third period, the teams skated into overtime, but neither could find the game-winning tally. The game wrapped up with Niagara outshooting RIT by a 46-21 margin.
Chubak made 19 stops in goal for the Purps, improving his record to 10-1-4.
The Purple Eagles will take two weeks off for the holidays before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 29, at Bowling Green in a non-conference battle against the Falcons.
Williamsville’s Sarah Scolnick was named Super 7 Athlete of the Week for December 9.
Sarah is a member of the Williamsville Girl’s Varsity Ice Hockey Team. She is a forward in tenth grade at Williamsville East HIgh School.
Williamsville will face Amherst/Sweethome on Friday (Dec. 14) at Amherst Northtowns Ice Arena at 3:50 p.m.
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Williamsville’s Sarah Scolnick was named Super 7 Athlete of the Week for December 9.
Sarah is a member of the Williamsville Girl’s Varsity Ice Hockey Team. She is a forward in tenth grade at Williamsville East HIgh School.
Williamsville will face Amherst/Sweethome on Friday (Dec. 14) at Amherst Northtowns Ice Arena at 3:50 p.m.
Buffalo State freshman defenseman Nikki Kirchberger (Buffalo, NY/W. Seneca West) was named the ECAC West Women’s Hockey Rookie of the Week.
Kirchberger scored the Bengals first two goals, her third and fourth of the season, in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Cortland. Both goals were unassisted and came while even strength.
Jordan Lee (Colorado Springs, CO/Widefield) was named to the weekly honor roll after posting a .925 save percentage and a 1.46 GAA in the two weekend games, a 1-1 tie and Saturday’s win over Cortland.
Buffalo State will not play again until a home set against Adrian on Jan. 5 and 6.
ROCHESTER, NY—Mike Zannella (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) had a goal and an assist to lead Buffalo State (5-7-1) to a 2-1 non-conference victory over host Nazareth (4-8-1) tonight.
All three goals came in the middle frame. After the Golden Flyers opening the scoring early in the period, Buffalo State evened the score with a goal Shane Avery (Fort Covington, NY/Salmon River). Zannella then scored his 12th of the season on the power-play just 1:10 later to give the Bengals a lead they would not relinquish.
The Bengals outshot Nazareth, 36-26. Kevin Carr (Uniondale, ON/Uniondale) turned aside 25 shots for his fifth win of the season between the pipes.
Buffalo State will break for the holidays and return to action at home on Jan. 4 against New England College.
Kara Goodwin (Avon Lake, OH/Avon Lake) scored with 50 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime as Buffalo State (3-6-1) rallied to tie Cortland (1-8-1), 1-1 in a non-conference game tonight at the Ice Arena.
The Red Dragons took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period and held the Bengals scoreless until Goodwin scored her third of the season, after Buffalo State pulled its goalie, to tie the game. Courtney Carnes (Winslow, ME/Winslow) picked up an assist.
Buffalo State outshot Cortland, 25-21, and Jordan Lee (Colorado Springs, CO/Widefield) had 20 saves between the pipes.
In the second of the weekend series, Freshman Nikki Kirchberger (Buffalo, NY/W. Seneca West) scored twice to propel Buffalo State (4-6-1) to a 3-2 win over visiting Cortland (1-9-1) in a non-conference game this afternoon at the Ice Arena.
Kirchberger recorded her first of the game late in the first period and added another in the second at the 10:36 mark. Melissa Ash (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) scored just 1:10 later to give the Bengals the 3-0 lead. Cortland scored on the power play with less than a minute remaining in the second and added another early in the third to get to within one, but couldn’t net the equalizer.
Buffalo State outshot the Red Dragons, 23-19 and Jordan Lee (Colorado Springs, CO/Widefield) had 17 saves in the win.
This weekend’s pair of games was the women’s hockey team’s annual “Pink the Rink” initiative. Activities icluded a t-shirt sale, bake sale and clipboard auction, with all proceeds being donated to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute to benefit breast cancer research.
Prior to the Friday night game, the Bengals conducted a ceremonial opening face-off with Jean Galbo, a breast cancer survivor who has been cancer free for the past eight years.
Breast Cancer Survivor Jean Galbo drops the puck between Cortland and Buffalo State as the Bengals hold their Annual Pink the Rink Weekend. (Photo by Janet Schultz)
The Bengals will return to action on Jan. 5 when they host Adrian at the Ice Arena at 7 p.m.
POTSDAM, N.Y.–The Eastern College Athletic Conference West has announced
that SUNY Potsdam hockey player Dawna Salvarinas (Mississauga,
Ontario/Brampton Thunder) is its Goalie of the Week for the week ending
Dec. 2.
Salvarinas stopped all 28 shots she faced in a 2-0 victory over conference
foe Cortland on Dec. 2. The junior was at her best in the third period,
making 12 stops in the final 20 minutes. This season, the goaltender is
2-2 with a goals-against-average of 3.03 and a .901 save percentage.
Salvarinas has two shutouts this year and three in her career.
HAVERHILL, Mass. – Giancarlo Iuorio and Carsen Chubak of the eighteenth-ranked Niagara hockey team earned Atlantic Hockey monthly honors for November, the league announced on Tuesday. Iuorio was named AHA Player of the Month, while Chubak was tabbed as AHA Goalie of the Month for the second time this season.
Iuorio helped lead the Purple Eagles to a 7-0-0 record during November by scoring eight goals and adding five assists. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound center recorded at least one point in six of the seven contests, including five multi-point efforts. He finished the month with two power-play goals, a game-winning tally and a +11 rating.
Iuorio, who leads the Purple Eagles in goals (12) and points (20), is ranked second in the nation in goals per game (0.80) and 12th in the nation in points per game (1.33). His four power-play tallies on the season has him sitting in the 17th spot in the nation. The two-time AHA Player of the Week honoree recorded his first career hat trick against UConn on Nov. 2.
The Richmond Hills, Ont. native has garnered 89 career points thus far. Only 13 Purple Eagles have joined the 100-point club, with Paul Zanette (’11) being the last member to join the illustrious group in 2011.
Chubak helped lead the Purps to a clean slate in November with a 0.71 goals-against average and a .977 save percentage to along with 214 saves in 420 minutes of work.
After his 27-save effort against Army on Nov. 9, Chubak became the first NU goalie to register three consecutive blank slates, tying him for third in NCAA history, in the company of goalies such as Jimmy Howard and Ryan Miller. The following day, the Prince Albert, Sask. native earned the record for most consecutive shutout minutes (258.38) by an NU goalie. Chubak took the top spot from Greg Gardner (’00) who held the record with 232.38.
Another November highlight for the five-time AHA Goalie of the Week honoree was posting shutouts in three straight home contests (Nov. 2, Nov. 3 and Nov. 9), a feat that had not been accomplished on Monteagle Ridge since Greg Gardner did it during the 1999-00 season.
As of Dec. 4, Chubak holds the top spot in the nation in save percentage (.962), goal-against average (1.21) and shutouts (5).
Niagara will be in action on Dec. 12 as the Purple Eagles wrap up their four-game homestand against the RIT Tigers. Puck drop at Dwyer Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
GENEVA, N.Y. – Senior assistant captain Chris Brown (Centreville, Ontario) scored with 17 seconds remaining in overtime, as the No. 2 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (9-2-0) handed fourth-ranked Hobart (11-1-2) its’ first loss of the season by a score of 3-2 Saturday night.
The Statesmen sent the game into overtime when Ryan Corcoran scored with less than a second on the clock after the home team scored at 18:09 in the third period.
Chris Carr (So., Burlington, Ontario) got the Lakers off on the right foot early with his third goal of the season, unassisted, under two minutes into the game. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Oswego State at the break despite Hobart owning a slim 14-12 advantage in shots on goal.
The early period scoring continued in the second when Nick Rivait (So., Kingsville, Ontario) fed Paul Rodrigues (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario) for his ninth marker of the year at 1:00. The Lakers continued to pressure Statesman goalie Nick Broadwater and the Hobart defense, as the visitors out-shot the opposition, 17-12, but did not add to their lead.
The third period was mostly controlled by Hobart, as evident by it peppering Andrew Hare (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) with 16 shots. However, one of those shots went in off the stick of Tommy Fiorentino with 1:51 left in regulation. Broadwater was pulled seven seconds later for a span of one minute, 17 seconds.
Hare and the Laker defense stood its ground until both squads were called for matching roughing minors with 23 seconds to play. Hobart won the ensuing faceoff in its zone, and carried the puck down the rink as Broadwater skated off the ice a second time. This time the Statesmen were able to capitalize as Corcoran netted the game-tying goal.
In overtime, Oswego State regrouped, putting six shots on goal in the first two minutes. Hobart answered with three shots stopped by Hare. However, it would be the seventh shot that Broadwater faced that would end the game when Brown found the back of the net after receiving a pass from Zach Josepher (Sr., Wantagh, N.Y.).
Andrew Hare picked up his eighth win of the season after recording 44 saves, including 15 in the third period. Nick Broadwater stopped 40 shots in the losing effort.
The Lakers have three weeks before returning to the rink when they open the 2012 Pathfinder Bank Oswego State Hockey Classic on Sunday, December 30 at 7 p.m. against Plymouth State.
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State women’s ice hockey team (6-5-1) attempted a comeback late in the third period when Jocelyn St. Clair scored on the power play, but the Lakers came up short in a 2-1 loss to Amherst (4-4-0). All three goals registered in Saturday night’s contest came while on the power play.
In a scoreless first period, both teams had solid scoring opportunities in a back-and-forth frame, but came up empty.
Amherst struck first at 11:59 into the second period on a power play goal by Megan Doyen with an assist from Emily Flom. Doyen threw the puck at the net and bounced it off Bridget Smith‘s (So., Hamburg, N.Y.) leg into the goal, while she was standing parallel to the net along the goal line.
In the third period, the Lord Jeffs struck again on a power play goal by Doyen at 3:51. Flom and Geneva Llyod earned the assists. Oswego State turned up the intensity from that point on, as Amherst commited three penalties over the next 14 minutes. As the last of the three power-play chances was winding down, the Lakers called timeout with 1:04 left on the clock and Smith pulled from the goal. Jocelyn St. Clair (Jr., Cambridge, Ont.) capitalized 18 seconds later when her knuckle puck from the blue line went over Kasia Henley’s right shoulder into the net. Olivia Boersen (Jr., Stratford, Ont.) was credited with the assist.
Smith went back into the net, but was not there long as Oswego State won the subsequent faceoff. The Lakers tried to score the game-tying goal, but came up empty.
The Lakers ended the contest 1-for-5 on the power play, while Amherst was 2-for-3 with an extra skater.
Bridget Smith (So., Hamburg, N.Y.) made 28 saves in the loss, with Henley stopping 23 shots.
Oswego State returns to action Saturday, January 5 in the Campus Center Arena at 7 p.m. when it hosts a series against non-conference St. Norbert.
