With just one conference victory over their first five games this season and five wins overall, Niagara wasn’t thinking of milestones heading into their weekend series with nationally ranked Bemidji State. But the Purple Eagles torched the Beavers, who entered the game with the second-best defense in country, for six goals, two by freshman Marc Zanette, in a 6-4 win at Dwyer Arena.
In that game, Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder registered his 150th career victory and senior forward Chris Moran moved into sole possession of second place on the school’s all-time assist chart with his 90th and 91st—first among active players and just four from tying Barret Ehgoetz for first on the list. All this happened on the same night Niagara protected its status as the only team in CHA history to finish the season without a blemish on its conference record. BSU recovered Saturday, posting a 4-3 victory to salvage a split.
Go go, Zanette: Niagara's Marc Zanette had a pair of goals in the Purps' 6-4 win over visiting Bemidji State last weekend.
Undoubtedly, though, the most important accomplishment was Niagara proving it could compete with the best in the conference; the Purple Eagles were outscored 11-4 in two games against the Beavers in Bemidji earlier this season.
“They clearly outplayed us in the first period—they came in and outworked us and we can’t have that,” said Burkholder, whose team trailed 2-0 lead after one period. “We called a couple of guys out, they responded; we outshot them 16-5, tilted the ice on them, and carried that into the third. Our transition game in the second turned things around for us.”
“The way we played in the second and third was the first time we’ve played that way all year,” said Zanette. “We fed off each one line after another and each line went out and built confidence. I think this was a turning point for us after the first period.”
“Sometimes you forget what it takes,” said Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore after game one. “Things have gone well for us this year, so hopefully this is a good little reminder.”
In game two, the Beavers twice held two-goal leads and survived a late Niagara power play with five minutes left and an extra attacker late to protect their one-goal win.
Freshman Brance Orban, seeing his first game action since mid-October—he didn’t know he would be in the lineup until the team’s Saturday morning skate—paced the Beaver attack by scoring twice and adding an assist for his first collegiate points.
“It’s been a long time coming but I’m just happy to contribute,” said Orban. “The first one Reado (Matt Read) made a short six-foot pass in the neutral zone and I was looking to give him the puck on the two-on-one because you want to get the puck in the hands of one of the best players in the country. But the d-man slid over to him, so I had no choice to shoot and it went in.”
The Purps head to Quinnipiac this weekend; Bemidji State has a home-and-home series with Minnesota Duluth.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
· Robert Morris, which moved into sole possession of second place in the conference with a weekend sweep over Alabama-Huntsville, got a four-point weekend from converted defenseman Andrew Blazek. The freshman, who has just nine games under his belt, registered his first collegiate points with a pair of assists in game one and followed that with his first goal and another assist in game two.
· Alabama-Huntsville has just two games (the Chargers host Niagara next weekend) over a 26-day period spanning Jan. 17 to Feb. 11.
· UAH leading scorer Cody Campbell has eight points over eight conference games but only five points in 15 non-conference tilts.
· Niagara was already without the services of freshman defenseman Dan Weiss, who injured a shoulder in practice the week prior to the Bemidij State series and will be out for a total of 2-4 weeks. Then they lost senior forward Egor Mironov early in the first game of the BSU series with a shoulder injury. Slings are in short supply at Dwyer Arena with senior defenseman Ryan Annesley also out for most of the season with wing joint trouble.
· Bemidji State freshman forward Jordan George, the team’s second-leading scorer, was scratched for game two against Niagara. It marked his first scratch of the season.
“He didn’t have a great game last night and sometimes it’s healthy to watch from up top. He’s probably the best freshman in the league, but I thought it was a good time,” said Serratore. The Beavers expect to also get injured forward Darcy Findlay back this weekend.
· Bemidji State is now 10-1 this season when junior Matt Read scores a goal and 27-6-1 since his freshman year.
