The woes continue for the Niagara Falls PowerHawks as they were soundly defeated by the Skylands Kings 10-4 on Sunday afternoon in Stockholm, New Jersey. Eric Vanderhoff and Craig Garrigan both scored four goals for the Kings on their way to victory. The pair combined for 8 goals and 6 assists during the penalty-filled game. There were 77 minutes in penalties on 24 infractions between the teams.
Garrigan opened the scoring at 2:09 of the first, assisted by Vanderhoff and Steven Gay. Garrigan added his second goal to the scoresheet at 9:37 on the power play, with the same duo of players assisting. Niagara Falls was able to score before the end of the period off the stick of Brandon Schweickert. The goal, coming with 45 seconds left in the period, was assisted by Andrew Logar and Nathan Walerowicz.
Garrigan completed the hat trick in the second period with the lone goal of that frame. Scored at 16:26, Vanderhoff and Lionel Landry were credited with the assists. Skylands carried a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Vanderhoff opened the scoring in the third period with a short-handed goal at 1:55. Niagara Falls responded with a goal by Justin King just 28 seconds later. He was assisted by Brandon Snyder. Steven Gay tallied for Skylands at 7:16.
Vanderhoff then scored three goals for the Kings in a span of four minutes. His first, at 9:06, was assisted by Landry and Garrigan. The next, at 12:08, was unassisted. His fourth goal of the night came at 13:02, with assists credited to Garrigan and Steven Ford. This rally of goals extended the Skylands lead to 8-2.
Brandon Schweickert nabbed his second goal of the game at 14:02, with assists coming from Justin King and Andrew Logar. King grabbed a goal at 15:25 to draw the PowerHawks to 8-4. The lone assist came from Branden Tripi. Skylands nipped the rally in the bud when Mike King scored a short-handed goal at 17:20. Vanderhoff once again put his name on the score sheet with his fourth assist of the game. Garrigan closed out the scoring with an unassisted goal with 42 seconds left in the game.
Jerah Siegel started the game for the PowerHawks, but they used a trio of goaltenders for the game. Collectively, Siegel, Theo Heropoulas, and Hunter Norris stopped 28 of 38 shots faced. Mathias Yettereng grabbed the win for the Kings with 48 saves on 52 shots.
The next games for the Niagara Falls PowerHawks will be a home and home series with the Roc City Royals Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s game will be at the Lakeshore Hockey Arena in Rochester. Game time is set for 8:30pm. Sunday’s game is set for 1:00pm at the Hyde Park Ice Arena in Niagara Falls. All home games can be heard LIVE on niagaraswatercooler.com.