Rob Bonk and Niagara(7-3-3) shut out Findlay,6-0, at the Clauss Ice Arena in CHA action on Friday night.
Ryan Mills had a spectacular night with his first two collegiate points with one goal and one assist. Hannu Karru also had a multiple point night with one goal and one assist. Both of these of players received stars of the game along with Rob Bonk.
“Our defensemen did a great job getting pucks to the net. As a group we crashed the net and got some timely goals. Overall I was very pleased with the team?s energy and execution,” said Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder.
Niagara started the scoring for the game at the 16:11 mark of the first as Hannu Karru tipped a Ryan Mills point shot to put Niagara up 1-0.
Not only did Ryan Mills get his first collegiate point off Karru’s goal, but with 14 seconds left in the first period Mills got his first career goal as a Purple Eagle with a screen shot from the left point to give the Purple Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The score at the end of the first could have easily been 4-0, as Niagara’s Ryan Gale was robbed on a breakaway and Chris Sebastian missed a wide open net.
Jason Williamson added a third goal for Niagara at the 6:09 mark of the second as Bernie Sigrist found Williamson on the door step all alone. Just 21 seconds later Niagara’s leading scorer Joe Tallari made the score 4-0 as he found the back of the net from the edge of the crease for his 21st goal of the season. Andrew Nahirniak added Niagara’s third goal of the period on the powerplay at the 19:26 mark of the second sending the Purple Eagles to the dressing room with a 5-0 lead.
Chris Welch added his ninth goal of the season at the 12:19 mark of the third to give the Purple Eagles a 6-0 win.
Rob Bonk got the start for Niagara making a total of 27 saves, several of them keys saves to keep Findlay off the board. Tonight’s win marks Bonk’s second shutout of the season against Findlay.
The two teams meet again on Saturday.
