NIAGARA, New York - The American International College ice hockey team beat Niagara University, 7-2, on Saturday, January 21 at Dwyer Arena, to take the weekend sweep and post back-to-back seven-goal performances.
It is the first time in the team's Division I history that the Yellow Jackets have posted 14 goals in a single weekend series. The only other time AIC scored 14 goals in a two-game span was in 1999, with a 5-4 win over Quinnipiac on January 16 and a 9-3 win over Fairfield on January 22.
Junior winger Jackson Dudley had his first two goals of the season, and added an assist to post a six-point weekend. Freshman right wing Kyle Stephan had his second goal of the season, and his second in as many games, while fellow rookie right wing Dominik Florian notched his 10th goal of the year, becoming the first freshman to record double-digit goals.
AIC improves to 7-13-6, tying last season's win total with eight games remaining, and a 6-9-5 mark in conference. Niagara falls to 3-18-3 and 3-13-2 in league play.
Junior goaltender Alex Murray had 40 saves for the Yellow Jackets, while Purple Eagles goalie Joe O'Brien made 24 stops.
For the second straight night, Stephan opened the scoring in the game, when his shorthanded shot found its way past O'Brien to give AIC a 1-0 lead at 9:21 of the first period. Vinny Muto answered quickly with a goal at 10:48, but Florian's goal at 15:49 gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 lead headed into the first intermission.
Niagara tied things up not long into the second period, but AIC had two unanswered goals in the frame, first from senior captain Austin Orszulak, who broke a scoring drought with a chance at 5:23 to give AIC the 3-2 lead. Dudley then sent in a snipe on a power play at 8:24 to put AIC up by a pair.
That 4-2 score held until the 11:48 mark of the third period, when Dudley recorded his second of the night; freshman wing Jared Pike added his third goal of the weekend at 15:01 and freshman center Hugo Reinhardt added another 49 seconds later to push the score to 7-2.
AIC will next be in action on Friday, January 27 and Saturday, January 28 against Canisius College at the MassMutual Center. Puck drop on both days is set for 2:05 p.m.
