HUNTSVILLE, ALA. - For the second time in as many nights, the Niagara men's hockey team (7-15-3, 2-6-1 CHA) dropped a 3-2 decision to the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (7-13-2, 3-6-1 CHA) at the Von Braun Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Purple Eagles held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but the Chargers struck twice in the third to seal the sweep. Halfway through the final 20 minutes, Cale Tanaka took a wrist shot from the slot that beat sophomore Chris Noonan. With 24 seconds remaining, Neil Ruffini banged home a one-timer on the door step with the man-advantage to give the Chargers two points.

"Considering all the momentum that we had, especially in the second period, we just couldn't score the back-breaking goal," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "We just couldn't put them away. They played well enough to stay in it and got some power-plays at crucial times."

The Chargers took the lead early in the first period, when Tom Durnie ripped a slap shot from the left faceoff circle that got past Noonan. Alabama-Huntsville would retain the 1-0 lead until the 9:43 mark of the second period, when senior Chris Moran banged home a rebound from a Tyler Gotto point shot for a power-play goal.

Niagara would take the 2-1 lead late in the second period, when Moran sent a pass to junior Bryan Haczyk, who then went coast to coast and beat Chargers netminder Cameron Talbot five-hole for the 2-1 lead.

Moran's two-point outing now gives him 127 points, sole possession of ninth place on Niagara's career-points list, just two points behind Matt Caruana and Kyle Martin who are tied for seventh place. Freshman Marc Zanette set a new career-high with two assists, his first multi-assist game of his career. Zanette also tied his career-high in points, which he set in the 6-4 triumph over Bemidji a few weeks ago.

The Purple Eagles return home to begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday, February 3, when they host CHA rival Robert Morris at 7 p.m.