ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (3-10-2, 1-3-1 CHA) continued its recent success against RIT  (9-6-1, 9-2-1 AHA), by downing the Tigers 3-2 at a soldout Ritter Arena on Saturday night.

Niagara is now 6-0-2 against the Tigers since the 1996-97 season, including a recent 4-0-1 stretch with Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder, an All-American goalie at RIT behind the bench. The Purple Eagles are now 20-3-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey teams.

With a 3-2 lead and a minute remaining, RIT pulled netminder Jared DeMichiel for the extra attacker, but it was to no avail. Niagara was able to keep RIT at bay until one last Tiger rush, which resulted in a scrum in front of the Niagara net as time expired.

"For us to answer the call in the third period was great," Burkholder said. "We had to do whatever it took to win and the team did just that."

Niagara dented the scoreboard just five minutes into the game, when junior Paul Zanette (Nobleton, Ont.) found a rebound in front of a sprawled out  DeMichiel and slammed it home for the lead. The Purps got into penalty trouble late in the period, giving the Tigers a five-on-three advantage, but sophomore Chris Noonan (Portage, Mich.) helped Niagara hold onto the 1-0 lead by stopping all 11 shots.

The Tigers finally got on the board approximately half way through the second period, when a one-timer from Brent Alexin beat Noonan glove-side. Despite getting outshot by a 12-4 margin in the middle stanza, Noonan stood tall, keeping the game tied through 40 minutes.

The Purps took their second lead of the night early in the third period, when Zanette settled down an odd rebound from a point shot and ripped it past a diving DeMichiel. Just a few moments later, RIT tied the game on the penalty kill, when Stevan Matic ripped a slap shot from the right face off circle past the glove of Noonan.

Not to be outdone, Niagara would respond 19 seconds later, when senior Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) beat DeMichiel for the 3-2 lead. Seniors Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) both earned assists on the play, which extends their point-streaks to nine games apiece.

Zanette finished the game with two goals, while Noonan finished his first career win with a career-high 30 saves.

The Purple Eagles will now have a few weeks until they return to the ice, when they take on nationally-ranked North Dakota as part of the 2010 Shillelagh Tournament on Jan. 2.