SU Falls to #2 Niagara, Gears Up For ACC Playoffs
- Maria Kaffes
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Matthew Gray
LEWISTON, N.Y. — The Syracuse Men’s Hockey team (10-19-4) wrapped up its regular-season schedule with a two-game road series against #2 ranked Niagara (23-4-1).
The Purple Eagles came into the weekend on an 8 game winning streak which included weekend sweeps over #3 Ohio, #6 Liberty, and #20 Stony Brook. The Purple Eagles are now widely considered one of the top programs in the country - spending time ranked #1 in the ACHA national poll earlier this season.
After being shutout in back-to-back contests by the Purple Eagles back in early October, the Orange looked to avenge those setbacks and end the 2025-26 regular season on a high note. Instead, SU came up short in both contests, falling 4-0 Friday night before suffering a similar 6-0 loss the next day.
Since they had leaned on starter Aj Finta between the pipes in each of the past seven games, SU head coach Chris Timmons decided to make a change in goal ahead of Game 1 Friday. Fourth-year netminder John Angelino got the nod, which marked his third appearance of the campaign and first since Jan. 16.
The Purple Eagles didn’t give him much time to find his footing. 49 seconds in, Lucas Fancy opened the scoring, and Quinn Schneidmiller doubled Niagara’s lead nearly four minutes later to quickly dig SU into a hole early on.
Though Angelino endured a bumpy start, the netminder remained unfazed. He recovered well by making multiple strong saves throughout the rest of the frame, keeping the Orange within shouting distance as its offense struggled to generate chances at the other end. In front of Angelino, SU’s penalty killers also did their part by killing off three penalties over the first 13 minutes of play.
That’s why despite being outshot 16-3 in the period, Syracuse only trailed 2-0.
Out of the intermission, the Purple Eagles continued to apply pressure in the Orange’s zone. As Niagara relentlessly peppered Angelino, Syracuse’s defensive unit took a hit when Sean Caddo was assessed a game misconduct 6:48 into the second — the first of what would wind up being four ejections combined between both teams that night.
Following the Purple Eagles’ third tally at the 8:02 mark, Syracuse’s power play was given its first chance to strike thanks to an interference call on Louis Chabot, but came up empty. Again, Niagara’s high-flying offense pushed the pace with 17 shots on goal to SU’s seven, but the Orange had no intentions of going away quietly.
They showed it during the final period. Following Niagara’s tally just over a minute in, the contest quickly devolved into a special teams battle as both sides attempted to impose their will through physicality. Syracuse and Niagara combined for a whopping 77 penalty minutes over the final 20, but neither teams’ man-advantage groups found the back of the net during the scrappy stretch.
Syracuse’s four shots in the third weren’t enough to fool goalie Jacob Dubinsky, who finished the day with a 14-save shutout. At the other end, Angelino played much better than the scoreboard indicated. Faced with one of the most lethal offenses in the ACHA, he held his own by stopping 40 of the 44 shots that came his way for a .901% save percentage.
Finta was back in net for Game 2. The Orange matched the Purple Eagles’ pace at each end of the ice in the opening minutes, but it didn’t last. Eventually, Charlie Belanger broke the ice for Niagara with a goal 8:06 into the contest.
After a missed power-play chance for SU late in the first, Niagara slowly pushed the game out of reach one goal at a time, racking up four even-strength tallies throughout the second period as the Orange scrambled to find a response. Just like the day prior, the third period was dominated by repeated stoppages and trips in and out of the penalty box for the Orange and Purple Eagles.
One last Niagara goal midway through the penalty-filled period put the final nail in the coffin on a tough end to the campaign for Syracuse, which was outshot by a lopsided 40-12 margin.
However, despite falling to Niagara, SU was still given reason to celebrate shortly after they left the rink.
Thanks to Oswego State’s regulation loss to Stony Brook Saturday night, the Orange clinched the final playoff spot in the ACC North for 2026 ACC Conference Tournament. Their postseason journey begins with a matchup against the University of Kentucky at Fred Rust Ice Arena in Delaware on Friday, February 27th. Puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m.
The University of Kentucky finished their regular season with a 21-4-1 record and are currently ranked 24th in the ACHA. The Wildcats won the inaugural season of the ACC South going 6-1-1 in conference play. UK, who competed at the Division 2 level last season, is led up front by junior forward Jake Laube. The Illinois native has tallied an impressive 59 points (33-26-55) in 25 games this season.
The Orange will look to emulate the run that they went on at last year's ESCHL conference tournament. SU pulled off an thrilling comeback win over Drexel in round 1 and upset the 2 seeded Stony Brook Seawolves in round 2 before falling to top seeded Delaware in overtime in the ESCHL Conference Championship game.
The full ACC Quarterfinal Schedule includes:
Be sure to follow Syracuse Hockey (@syracusehockey) and the ACC (@acc_hockey) for streaming information, ticket pricing, and more information on this weekend's tournament.