NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (0-0-1) was unable to hold onto a two-goal lead, settling for a 4-4 tie against the visiting Colgate Raiders (0-0-1) on opening night in front of 1,508 fans at Dwyer Arena.

The Purple Eagles were leading 4-2 heading into the third period, but two goals in a span of 2:25 late in the final stanza sent the game into overtime.

"We battled hard and did all the right things for forty minutes," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "We just couldn't finish it off."

Niagara came out to a roaring start, with sophomore Dan Baco (Buffalo, N.Y.) scoring short-handed just three minutes into the game, when he came into the offensive zone to the left of Raider netminder Charles Long and shot a wrister that beat him low, glove side. A little over three minutes later, Brent Vandenberg (Burlington, Ont.) earned his first point as a Purple Eagle, capitalizing on a turnover in the slot, which he fired over the shoulder of Long, which hit the crossbar and then into the net.

The Purps were enjoying a slim 2-1 lead in the second period, when senior Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) put the puck past Long, something that was made possible by a great effort by sophomore Sam Goodwin (St. Louis, Mo.) to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Freshman Marc Zanette (Nobleton, Ont.) would make it 4-1 Niagara just three minutes later, when he fired a laser of a shot over the glove of Long. Colgate would cut the lead in half late in the second period, on a goal by Nick Prockow.

Junior Adam Avaramenko (Strathmore, Alb.) made 26 saves in the draw.

The Purple Eagles are back in action on Oct. 16, when they travel to take on Clarkson, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.