Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's hockey team lost the second game of the series at home, 1-4. The Colonials are now 2-6-3 overall in the 2023-24 season and are 1-4-2 in Atlantic Hockey conference contests. Niagara moves up to 4-6-1 overall and are 4-4-1 in conference play.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Returning to home ice for the backend of the series, the Colonials scored the first goal of the night.
With about five minutes remaining in the first period, the third line got to work. Digging for the puck in the corner, alternate captain
Gavin Gulash fed the puck to his line mate
Dallas Tulik. Freshman
George Krotiris skated into open space and received a tape-to-tape pass from Tulik. Krotiris's wrister went in, giving RMU a 1-0 lead.
Before the opening period ended, on the penalty kill, Tyler Wallace of Niagara tied up the game with 51 seconds left.
Onto the second period, moments prior to the halfway point of the game, the Purple Eagles earned their first lead of the night, as Noah Hackett scored his first goal of the season.
Heading to their third power play opportunity of the night, the away side cashed in again to gather a 3-1 advantage.
Fighting back in the last period, the Colonials outplayed the opposition, posting 14 shots compared to Niagara's four.
RMU received two man-up chances, registering four shots but weren't able to climb back down the final stretch.
Pulling the goalie late, Niagara capped off the night with an empty net goal by Jack Richard to win, 4-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
RMU led in shots, 25-18. Niagara's 18 shots are the least amount of shots on goal allowed, in a game by the Colonials this season. In the faceoff circle, RMU also held the edge, winning 35 of 61 draws. Alternate captain
Dallas Tulik was almost perfect from the dot, winning nine of 10.
Logan Ganie won his team possession on nine of 17 faceoffs and freshman
Charles Merkley won eight on 12 faceoff chances. Defenseman
Michael Craig and forward
George Krotiris both finished with a +1.
GEORGE GETS HIS FIRST GOAL
From Markham, Ontario,
George Krotiris ripped in his first career goal for RMU. Through nine games this season, he's produced one goal and two assists.
QUOTABLE
"We wanted more energy and more compete tonight and I thought we did that in spurts. We had our chances and just didn't finish our opportunities around the net."
– Head Coach Derek Schooley
"We need to be ready to play at Canisius. Our schedule is challenging for the next couple of weeks. It won't get any easier so we need to find ways to get better."
– Head Coach Derek Schooley
UP NEXT
Before the Thanksgiving break, the Colonials will travel up to Buffalo, N.Y. to face Canisius. The game will be played on Tuesday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m.
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