Apparently Robert Morris and Niagara both
looked in the mirror this weekend, and saw each other.
Tied for second place in College Hockey America,
the Purple Eagles took it to the Colonials 7-2 in game one,
but Robert Morris returned the 7-2 favor one night later
at Dwyer Arena.
College
Hockey America Notebook
Niagara
forward Matt Caruana scored two goals in the Purple
Eagles' 7-2 win over Robert Morris last Friday.
The mirror image goes a step further. Friday,
the Colonials were leading 2-1 before Niagara scored six
unanswered goals. Saturday it was the home team holding
a 2-1 advantage before RMU netted six in a row.
“We weren’t happy with how we
played last night, but I was very proud with how our guys
responded,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley
following Saturday's victory. “We had some key points
we wanted to stress and I think we did a good job of it.
Last night was not indicative of us and I’m sure Niagara
is saying the same thing about tonight.”
The split leaves the two teams tied for second
place, seven points behind league-leading Bemidji State,
but Robert Morris has two games in hand on Niagara and four
on the first-place Beavers, who easily swept Alabama-Huntsville
and still control their own destiny.
Niagara forwards Matt Caruana and Ted Cook
both netted two goals and defenseman Tyler Gotto had a goal
and two assists to lead the attack Friday.
For Robert Morris on Saturday, Chris Margott
tied the game in the second period with his second goal
of the game. Thirty seconds later, Sean Berkstresser put
the Colonials ahead for good. Third-liners Tom Biondich
and J.C. Velasquez helped ice the game with third-period
goals.
Both teams are having goaltender issues of
late. Robert Morris yanked starter Christian Boucher in
favor of backup Jim Patterson late in the second period
of Friday's rout. The Purple Eagles used two netminders
in each game of the series. In five games since Jan. 1,
Niagara has used two goaltenders in a game four times. The
Purps are 1-4 over the stretch.
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CHA
DEE-FENSE! (clap clap): Bemidji
State continued its torrid defensive pace by limiting Alabama-Huntsville
to just one goal in two games in its sweep of the host Chargers,
extending the lead in CHA to seven points.
Goaltender Matt Climie, the INCH National
Player of the Week, made 54 saves over the two games, one
of which was his fourth shutout of the season. The senior
from Leduc, Alberta is tied for the NCAA lead in that category.
Climie, who has blanked the Chargers three times this season,
also extended his school record to 11 career shutouts and
also earned wins nos. 39 and 40 of his career, which also
broke the school's Division I-era record for victories held
previously by Grady Hunt (2000-2004).
The Beavers held the Chargers' power play
in check at 0-11 on the weekend. The wins marked the third
time this season that BSU held an opponent to a lone goal
over a two-game series.
This weekend, it’s off to Colorado to
face Colorado College and the University of Denver. The
Beavers upset the then-no. 8 Tigers in Colorado Springs
as the teams split a series last season.
Wayne State went 3-for-14 on the power play
— two of the extra-man markers coming in Saturday's
3-2 overtime win — in its series sweep of Northern
Michigan. The wins were the Warriors' first against the
Wildcats, who entered the weekend with an 8-0 edge in the
series between the two teams.
Sophomore defenseman Jeff Caister had a four-point
weekend, while senior forwards Mike Forgie and Tylor Michel
each scored three points. The biggest surprise was freshman
goaltender Mike Devoney. In his first two collegiate starts,
the Buffalo Grove, Ill. native picked up two victories,
stopping 54 of the 57 shots he faced.
The Warriors' overtime win Saturday came exactly
one year after their last extra-session victory, a 2-1 triumph
over another CCHA member, Ferris State.
Wayne State hosts Niagara for two games this
weekend. Friday’s tilt will be played at the Taylor
SportsPlex, where the Warriors are 2-1 all-time. Saturday
's game takes place at the Palace at Auburn Hills, with
faceoff set for 3:30 p.m. Wayne State is currently riding
a three-game home unbeaten streak against the Purps dating
back to the 2005-06 season, but the Warriors have dropped
six of the last eight meetings between the two teams overall.
Great Weekend Getaway
Niagara
at Wayne State (Fri.-Sat.)
The Warriors are coming off a road sweep
at Northern Michigan, while the Purps need a sweep
to stay within hailing distance of Bemidji State.
Friday's game is at the Taylor SportsPlex. Saturday's
match starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Palace at Auburn
Hills, the opener of a college hockey doubleheader.
Michigan and Notre Dame meet in the nightcap.
While you’re there: Stick
around for the Wolverines and the Irish, or if you
want to see how the other half lives, drive to the
western suburb of Plymouth, where the Ontario Hockey
League's Plymouth Whalers host the London Knights
in an OHL match-up at Compuware Center Saturday night
at 7pm.
Stick
Salute
Wayne State’s Mike Forgie set
a school record by scoring just 11 seconds into the
Warriors' win over Northern Michigan Friday.
Bench
Minor
So Robert
Morris forwards J.C. Velasquez and Brandon Gay were
playing in just their fifth and fouth games of the
season, respectively. It’s January; there's
no excuse for them not having names on the backs of
their jerseys.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE BAG
• Niagara sophomore forward Egor Mironov
scored his sixth goal of the season Saturday against Robert
Morris, but his first since Nov. 17. It was the first time
this season the Purps have lost a game when he has tallied
after going 5-0.
• Niagara sophomore defenseman Tyler
Gotto will miss the first game at Wayne State this weekend
due to a game disqualification for fighting in the final
minutes of the Saturday loss to RMU.
• Wayne State senior forward Stavros
Paskaris had a goals and two assists in his team's 3-2 overtime
win at Northern Michigan Saturday, his first three-point
game since 2005.
• Bemidji State sophomore forward Tyler
Lehrke snapped a 31-game goal-less drought with a tally
at Alabama-Huntsville Friday.
• Alabama-Huntsville hosts Yale for
two games this weekend. The Chargers are 4-4-1 all-time
against Ivy schools.
• Wayne State has scored the first goal
of the game three times this season with a 3-0 record in
those contests. They are 2-15-2 in games in which the other
team scores first.
• In conference games, Robert Morris
has allowed 11 goals in the second period and a total of
11 against in the first and third periods combined.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report. Warren Kozireski can be
reached at warrenkozireski@yahoo.com.
