USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Niagara University men’s hockey team (5-5-0, 3-0-0) remains undefeated in College Hockey America conference play after a 3-2 overtime win over the Air Force Academy (6-5-0, 0-3-0) at Cadet Ice Arena Friday.

Senior forward Chris Welch’s (Tonawanda, N.Y.) goal at the 2:43 mark of overtime led the Purple Eagles to their third conference win, as well as the fourth consecutive win over the Falcons, dating back to a 6-2 win Nov. 2, 2002 at Dwyer Arena. Free in front of the Falcon net, Welch turned and hit a low shot past Air Force goaltender Mike Polidor and winning the game for the Purple Eagles. The goal was Welch’s third goal of the season.

Behind first-period goals by freshmen forwards Jeremy Hall (Mays Landing, N.J.) and Aaron Clark (Peterborough, Ont.), the Purple Eagles exploded to a 2-0 first period lead.

Hall, CHA Rookie of the Week, opened scoring for Niagara, netting his third goal in two games. On a loose puck in front of the Falcon net, Hall beat Polidor at 11:03 in the first period, backhanding the puck into the open Air Force net.

Clark scored his first career goal at 16:33 of the first period, putting Niagara up two goals in the first period. On a cross-ice pass from teammate Pat Oliveto (Rochester, N.Y.), Clark aggressively skated at the Falcon defense, hitting a heavy slap shot at Polidor and beating the senior goaltender from the left point.

Starting the Air Force comeback in the third period, Falcon forward Seth Pelletier pounced on a loose puck in front of the Niagara net, beating Purple Eagles sophomore goaltender Jeff VanNynatten (Stratford, Ont.) high into the net. VanNynatten failed to cover the puck in the Niagara goal crease, leading to the Pelletier goal.

Falcon freshman forward Andrew Pelletier completed the Air Force comeback with just 4:21 remaining in the third period, redirecting a shot by teammate Buck Kozlowski and beating an already committed VanNynatten.

In the game, Air Force outshot Niagara, 34-20, including an 11-3 shot margin in the third period.

Although allowing two goals in the contest, VanNynatten shut out the Falcon attack through two periods, making spectacular saves on several Falcon scoring opportunities. The sophomore goaltender made 32 saves for his third win of the season. Polidor made 17 saves for the Falcons in the loss.

With the win, the Purple Eagles take over first place in the CHA standings with six points in conference play. Niagara faces Air Force in the second game of the weekend series Saturday at Cadet Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7:35 p.m.