NIAGARA UNIV. N.Y. - Trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, the Niagara men's hockey team (11-7-1, 5-3-1) battled back to a 7-2 win over CHA rival Robert Morris in front of a crowd of 1160 at Dwyer Arena on Jan. 11.

Starting off the scoring for the Purple Eagles, Ted Cook (Hogansburg, N.Y.) , who recently got inducted into the 100-career point club at Niagara, marked a power-play goal just over one minute into the game. Robert Morris answered to tie the game at one, and added a second late period goal, and advanced the score to 2-1 heading into the intermission.

"In the locker room [coach] pretty much told us to believe," said Cook, "and that's what we did."

At the start of the second period Niagara took control and never looked back scoring four goals in the 20 minutes. Scoring Niagara's second and fifth goal and receiving the game's first star, was senior captain Matt Caruana (Orono, Ont.) both goals shot from the slot, in the second period. Niagara's play-maker Tyler Gotto (Calgary, Alb.) had a hand in both of Caruana's goal's, setting No. 19 up for his two markers and advancing Gotto to 13 assists on the season. David Ross (Bowmanville, Ont.) recorded Niagara's third goal with a shot from the top of the crease. Banking the Purple Eagle's fourth goal was Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) with help from Ryan Annesley (Ajax, Ont.) and Scott Langdon (Ancaster,Ont.).

Continuing to lay the pressure on the Colonials, Niagara added two power-play goals in the final stanza. Scoring his first of the season and continuing to prove as a huge asset for the Purple Eagles was Tyler Gotto from the top of the circles off a pair of passes from Egor Mironov (Toronto, Ont.) and David Ross. Finishing off the game for the Purple Eagles, Ted Cook banking his second power-play goal of the night assisted by Matt Caruana and Vince Rocco (Woodbridge, Ont.), who both had two helpers on the night.

With the win, Niagara snapped a three-game winless streak, including a heart-breaking loss at Cornell on Jan. 5.

"That's now six periods in a row where we executed and played very well," said coach Dave Burkholder. "We need to sustain it and carry the spirit and energy and just keep it going tomorrow night."

Niagara will continue it's two goal home series with conference opponent Robert Morris on Jan. 12 in Dwyer Arena at 7 p.m.