HARMAR TWP., Pa. — The Duquesne Dukes opened their home season Friday night at Alpha Ice Complex in dramatic fashion, defeating the Towson Tigers, 5-1. They fell to Towson on Saturday, 5-4.
Friday, the Dukes opened the scoring early on a goal by sophomore forward Greg Scolieri, followed by two goals just 34 seconds apart midway through the first period by PJ Breslow and Ryan Sweeney. Early in the second period, Tigers forward Benjamin Murphy drew a hook on a breakaway that awarded Towson a penalty shot. Forward Ryan Dieter took the shot and buried it past Duquesne goaltender Alex Taylor, cutting the Dukes lead to 3-1.
Halfway through the second period, on a Towson power play, Tigers forward Matt Curtin attempted to bring out his inner Sidney Crosby by batting the puck out of the air and off the bottom of the crossbar to cut the deficit to one. Unfortunately for Towson, it was called a no goal on the ice due to a high stick. The Dukes escaped the second period with their two-goal lead intact.
In the third period, Sean Lloyd scored an insurance goal and Manny Mancha added an empty net goal to seal the win, 5-1.
On Saturday morning, Duquesne started goaltender Jonathan Braden between the pipes. Braden faced 30 shots, allowing five goals. Unfortunately, the Dukes were only able to net four goals on 80 shots on goal. Towson goaltender Jacob Snyder made 76 saves to preserve the 5-4 win for the Tigers.
Duquesne travels to Oakland University (Mich.) next weekend to play a team that has been the subject of recent NCAA hockey expansion talks. Oakland defeated Duquesne in both games the teams played last year at Alpha Ice Complex. The Dukes return home on Oct. 6 for a conference matchup against Robert Morris.
MAJOR FOCUS: Duquesne Trounces Towson on Friday, 5-1, then falls 5-4 on Saturday
Also on Friday, the Pitt D2 men’s team fell to the Maryland Terrapins, 9-4. After trading goals early on to make it 2-2, the Terps took control and cruised to a victory. Maryland also defeated Pitt in the second game, on Saturday, 10-1.
MAJOR FOCUS: Pitt D2 swept by Maryland
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Weekend scores from around the CHMA:
Friday:
Towson 1, Duquesne 5
Trine 5, Slippery Rock 4 (OT)
Robert Morris 4, Mercyhurst 5 (SO)
Temple 0, West Virginia 5
Saturday:
Towson 5, Duquesne 4
Trine 0, Slippery Rock 1
Temple 2, West Virginia 5
IUP 3, Canisius 4 (OT)
Sunday:
IUP 2, Buffalo 3
CHMA STANDINGS
| Team | W | L | OTL | Points | Games Played (Out of 14) |
| Duquesne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Mercyhurst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Robert Morris (PA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Carroll | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Slippery Rock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana (PA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Check out the ACHA schedule here for other upcoming ACHA games.
