NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (4-12-2, 1-3-1 CHA) could never get into a groove, falling 7-2 to the St. Lawrence Saints (10-7-3, 4-3-1 CHA) at Dwyer Arena on Friday evening.

"We took a step backward tonight and what stings about it is the way that it happened," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "St. Lawrence out-worked us and out-hustled us tonight, plain and simple."

St. Lawrence would strike early, sneaking a rebound past sophomore netminder Chris Noonan (Portage, Mich.)nearly six minutes in to take a 1-0 lead. Niagara would respond moments later, when senior defenseman Tyler Gotto (Calgary, Alb.) entered the offensive zone and fired an innocent shot on net, which was put past Saints netminder Kain Tisi by his own defender. The Saints would beat Noonan twice more, taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Niagara would strike first in the second period on a two-on-one, with junior Paul Zanette (Nobleton, Ont.) dropping a pass backward for junior Bryan Haczyk (Nutley, N.J.), which he would put past Tisi to bring the Purps within one. The Saints would pull away from the Purple Eagles in the second stanza, scoring three straight after Haczyk's goal to enter the second intermission with a 6-2 lead.

Jeremiah Cunningham rounded out scoring in the game, putting one past freshman Andrew Hare (Burlington, Ont.) nearly 12 minutes in the third period.

The Purple Eagles take on St. Lawrence again on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.