It took three attempts, but No. 15 Ohio finally defeated No. 18 Niagara 7-3 in the first round of the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament on Thursday.
The Purple Eagles swept the Bobcats at Bird Arena earlier in the season. For Ohio, it wanted revenge. Both losses to Niagara were suffered in overtime. The Bobcats were able to continue to build off their hot start throughout the game in their huge victory against the Purple Eagles.
Here are the numbers to know from Ohio’s win against Niagara:
5
Ohio had five goals in the first period. The Bobcats were able to start things off hot against Niagara and that benefited them down the stretch. Trevor Wittkopf started things off for Ohio after scoring within the first three minutes of the game. Nick Erker had two goals of his own for the Bobcats in the opening period. Andrew Sacca and J.T. Schimizzi only padded the lead after finding the back of the net in the first period. Niagara had four shots on goal, but it was left scoreless entering the second period.
12
Both Ohio and Niagara each racked up 12 total penalty minutes. That time allowed each team to get their shot on the power play. Although both Ohio and Niagara had multiple chances on the power play, both were only able to score on one of those opportunities. The Bobcats were 1-of-4 on the powerplay while the Purple Eagles went 1-of-5.
26
Matt Server served as the goalie for Ohio against Niagara. Server faced a total of 26 shots and made 23 saves, ending with a save percentage of 88%. The Purple Eagles didn’t get the puck past Server until the second period and were only able to sneak the puck past him two more times. On the other side, the Purple Eagles’ goalies saved 20-of-27 shots on goal. Server was able to prevent Niagara from scoring and played a crucial part in leading Ohio to the second round.
2
Two different Bobcats had two goals of their own Thursday night. J.T. Schimizzi and Nick Erker both dominated and each were able to find the back of the net twice to extend the Bobcats' lead. For Schimizzi, he scored once in the first period and once in the third period. Both of the goals from Erker came during the first period.
