NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (9-9-1; 3-1-0 CHA) battled the Quinnipiac Bobcats (12-7-2; 6-4-2 ECAC) in a back and forth affair on Friday evening at Dwyer Arena, with the Bobcats pulling out a 6-4 decision.

The 1,551 fans in attendence saw the Purps mount a strong third period comeback, scoring three times to tie the Bobcats at four. Despite Niagara's buzzing forecheck, the Bobcats were able to notch a goal on the man advantage and then iced the game with an empty netter within the final two minutes of the game.

"Tonight was a tough one," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "I thought five-on-five, we dominated play for many stretches, but their power-play unit outplayed our power-play unit. It seemed tonight that every bounce that could go wrong, went wrong."

Digging a deep 2-0 hole after one period of play, the Purps scored on an odd misdirection by junior Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) to come within one in the second frame. Quinnipiac would answer just three minutes later, on an odd shot that went straight up in the air, went off of senior netminder Juliano Pagliero (Dalroy, Alb.) and in the net.

The Purps came out flying in the third period, taking it right at their opponent. Senior Ted Cook (Hogansburg, N.Y.) would bring Niagara again within one at 3-2 in the third period, as after a nifty pass from junior Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.), Cook was all alone on the doorstep to beat a sprawling Bud Fisher.

After the Bobcats scored two minutes later to take a 4-2 lead, the Purps would again come within one, via a goal by sophomore Bryan Haczyk (Nutley, N.J.). With Niagara seizing momentum, the Purps upped the forecheck, with freshman Brian Dowd (Buffalo, N.Y.) in the offensive corner, he sent a seeing-eye centering feed which found senior Travis Anderson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) in front of the net for his second career-goal, which tied the game with 4:57 left.

Pagliero made 21 saves in the loss, while Anderson finished with a goal and an assist, tying his career-high for points in a game with two.

The Purps take on the Bobcats again on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.