NIAGARA UN., N.Y. – The men’s hockey team (18-11-5, 9-4-5 CHA) skated to a 3-3 tie with Robert Morris (13-16-2, 9-8-1) at Dwyer Arena in the Purple Eagles’ final home game of the season. With the tie, Niagara finished the year as the only team in the nation with an undefeated mark at home (12-0-2).

The one-point effort gives Niagara 23 points in College Hockey America play, putting the first-place Purple Eagles in good position for the final weekend of the regular season. If Niagara earns one point at Alabama-Huntsville next weekend, it will clinch its second-straight CHA regular-season title.

"What a great season at Dwyer," Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder said, "It is a true tribute to all the guys in our locker room. This team, especially the seniors, know that (the Dwyer record) is something that has never been done here before, and we are all extremely proud of that."

The seniors all shined on Senior Day, including Sean Bentivoglio (Thorold, Ont.) and Allen Barton (Spencerport, N.Y.). Bentivoglio assisted on Niagara’s first two goals, and Barton made 33 saves to improve his record to 4-1-3 this season.

A trio of sophomores also pitched in, as Ted Cook (Hogansburg, N.Y.), Les Reaney (Ceylon, Sask.) and Vince Rocco (Woodbridge, Ont.) each tallied a goal in the tie.

Cook started the scoring for Niagara with his nation-leading 31st goal of the season. The sophomore has tallied a goal in each of the last five games. Sean Berkstresser even the score early in the second with a rebound goal on the power play.

Reaney broke out of his personal slide with an assist on Cook’s goal, and found the back of the net himself in the second period with a rebound tally. Freshman Jim Burichin (Strongsville, Ohio) took a shot from the point and the rebound trickled right to Reaney in front of the net.

Rocco made it 3-1 before the second intermission as he received the puck from Matt Caruana (Orono, Ont.) from behind the net. Caruana stole the puck along the boards and dumped it to the waiting Rocco right in front of the right post for the quick one-timer.

RMU controlled the puck throughout the final period, and scored a pair of goals 35 seconds apart to knot the score at 3-3. Ryan Cruthers scored on the power play and Brett Hopfe deflected the game-tying goal in at the 10:16 mark.

The crowd at Dwyer Arena again made its mark in the record books, as 1,645 fans packed the arena, the third-highest total in Niagara history. This season, Niagara fans averaged a new single-season record, as well.

"The fans were great this season," Burkholder added. "They increased as the streak grew and our pride grew. It was a lot of fun at the Dwyer this season."

The Purple Eagles head to Alabama-Huntsville for their final two games of the regular season, March 2-3, at 8:05 p.m. and 8:35 p.m., respectively.