HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. - A third period rally by the Niagara men's hockey team (3-11-2, 1-3-1 CHA) fell a tad short, dropping a close 3-1 decision to the No. 6 North Dakota Fighting Sioux (10-6-3, 6-6-2 WCHA) in the opening round of the 2010 Shillelagh Tournament.

With Niagara down 2-0 halfway through the third period, the Purps would dent the scoreboard to come within one. Senior Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) picked up a bouncing puck due to a Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) shot, spun around and fired it low past Fighting Sioux netminder Brad Eidsness to come within one. The goal extended the point-scoring streaks of both Olidis and Moran to 10 games, but the Purple Eagles fell short when the Fighting Sioux put the game away by adding an insurance goal just a few moments later.

"We gave up way too many opportunities to score an ugly goal today," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "To be in the game late with a possibility of overtime is uplifting, but we caught a bad break in the third North Dakota goal which we couldn't overcome."

Niagara's first game in the state of Illinois was played mostly from behind, when North Dakota scored twice in a 5:45 span during the first period. On the man-advantage, Brett Hextall received a perfect cross-ice pass and roofed it over the blocker of sophomore goalie Chris Noonan (Portage, Mich.) for the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Carter Rowney scored his first career-goal when he threw a puck on net, which just squirted past Noonan.

The Purple Eagles picked up their play in the second and third periods, but were stifled by a strong North Dakota penalty kill unit that held Niagara to an 0-5 mark on the man-advantage.

"North Dakota is one of the best penalty-killing teams in the nation and they showed why tonight," Burkholder said.

Noonan made a career-high 40 saves in the game against the Fighting Sioux, including several clutch saves down the stretch the kept the Purple Eagles within striking distance.

The Purple Eagles are back in action against Colgate on Sunday at 4 p.m. eastern.