November
2, 2006
Niagara
Bounces Back From Blowouts
By
Warren Kozireski
Niagara had the Beavers eating wood chips
this past weekend at Dwyer Arena as they launched an offensive
assault that netted three goals over the first six minutes
of the series-opener on the way to a 6-2 win and a 2-2 tie.
The Purple Eagles built a 6-0 lead before Bemidji State
got on the board.
CHA
Notebook
Niagara goaltender Juliano Pagliero made 36 saves
in a win and a tie against conference rival Bemidji
State last weekend.
This, coming off a weekend in Nebraska-Omaha
that saw Niagara beaten by a combined 17-5 by the host Mavericks
and UMass-Lowell.
"It was a bad weekend that doesn't reflect
what we have in the locker room," said head coach Dave
Burkholder about the Mutual of Omaha Stampede tournament.
"We did some teaching off it, but mainly we needed
to be more detail-oriented in practice. We took some momentum
into this past weekend with the way we finished the second
game against Lowell."
Sophomore Juliano Pagliero cemented his status
as the number one keeper by stopping 36 shots both nights,
including nine in the overtime session Saturday.
"As the weekend wore on, he got better
and stole a point Saturday," said Burkholder. "For
the last seven or eight minutes of regulation and overtime,
Bemidji was really coming on and he held them off."
Les Reaney and Ted Cook each scored twice
and Scott Langdon and Egor Mironov added single tallies
in the opener. Cook and Reaney accounted for the only offense
in the Saturday tie. Sean Bentivoglio finished the weekend
with four assists to move into a tie for eighth all-time
at Niagara in helpers.
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CHA
Slow Start for Bemidji State: As
the preseason favorite to win the CHA title, Bemidji State
at 0-3-1 has not gotten off to the start many envisioned.
But two of the losses were at top-ranked Maine, and Niagara's
Dwyer Arena has not traditionally been friendly to Beavers.
But there are some alarming signs and happenings.
Like their defenseman collectively having one point in 25
games of action. Congratulations Riley Weselowski.
And in the blowout Friday at Niagara, senior
Shane Holman was on the ice for five of Niagara's six goals
— but four of those came whil Niagara was on the power
play. Meanwhile, junior Matt Pope was on the ice for four
goals, but only two were while short-handed. On Saturday,
Holman started the game again on the top line while Pope
was dropped to center the fourth line on the line chart.
Maybe the pair with rival Minnesota State
will wake up the green and white. They'll need to generate
more offense to win however, as the Mavericks are averaging
almost four goals per game. Bemidji handed the Mavericks
4-3 and 7-3 losses last year at the Glas. Luke Erickson,
who has four goals in four games to this point, netted three
goals in those two victories over Minnesota State last season.
Great Weekend Getaway
Niagara
at Robert Morris (Fri.-Sat.) After a stretch of playing just one game
in 19 days, Robert Morris will play their first conference
games of the season when they host Niagara. The Colonials
will try to snap a three game losing streak after
winning the first two games.
The series will feature the two top
goaltenders in GAA and save percentage in the conference
in junior Christian Boucher and sophomore Juliano
Pagliero.
The Purple Eagles enter the second weekend
of four consecutive against conference opponents.
Niagara won all four games against RMU last season
and the last six overall, but three were one-goal
affairs including an overtime victory.
While You’re There: The city
of Pittsburgh offers an Urban Bike Tour of the city's
waterfront. Guides lead bicyclists through the trails
that front all three of the city's rivers.
Stick
Salute
It feels like
the first time. Freshmen Jeff Caister from Wayne State
and Egor Mironov of Niagara each scored their
first collegiate goals over the weekend.
Bench
Minor
Bemidji
State fell to 3-11-2 all-time at Niagara
over the weekend. Starting goaltender Layne Sedevie
played just 317 seconds in the Friday opener and allowed
three goals on four shots before taking a seat. Maybe
it's the chicken wings.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• It looks highly probable that Alabama-Huntsville
senior forward Brett MacConnachie will surpass his career-high
10 goals from last season. He has six already in the first
eight games.
• Also in Huntsville, Charger junior
Tyler Hilbert picked up his second short-handed goal of
the season over the weekend and is tied for tops in the
nation.
• First and last: Robert Morris leads
the conference allowing just 3.50 goals per game and is
tops in penalty killing at 84.1 percent, but is last in
scoring offense at 1.75 goals per game and on the power
play (12.5 percent).
• Wayne State needs to reverse its third-period
numbers. Through the first six games, they have scored just
two goals in the third period, but allowed 10. Both of those
third-period goals came in the same game — their only
win to this point at Huntsville.
• By November 18th, Niagara will have
played eight games of its 20-game conference schedule. By
the same date, Wayne State will have played just twice in
conference.
A variety
of sources were utilized in the compilation of this report
