NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Five unanswered goals capped a furious comeback by the Niagara men's hockey team (5-3-2, 4-1-0 AHA) as the Purple Eagles defeated the Bentley Falcons (2-5-1, 1-2-0 AHA) by a 5-3 margin on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena.

With the game tied at three late in the third period, freshman Kevin Ryan earned his first collegiate point by pinching in along the far boards, skating to the net and feeding junior Sam Goodwin a perfect centering feed for the game-winning goal. Nearly a minute later, sophomore Giancarlo Iuorio iced the game for the Purple Eagles with an empty net goal.

Niagara has extended its winning streak to four games, the longest since the 2008-09 season, when Niagara swept  Robert Morris and Sacred Heart around the mid-point of the season.

"This was a big win and the team showed a lot of character," Niagara head men's hockey coach Dave Burkholder said. "There was no magic to tonight's comeback, just blue collar hockey."

Bentley took a quick 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes of the game, on goals by Brett Hartung and Dustin Cloutier. Back and forth play continued until Erik Peterson scored his fourth goal of the season 17 minutes into the game, giving Bentley a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

The Purple Eagles outshot the Falcons by a 17-4 margin in the middle stanza and had several scoring opportunities. Niagara got on the board with 1:32 left in the second period, when junior Robert Martini spun around in the slot and fired a shot that caught the glove of Bentley netminder Joe Calvi and trickled into the net.

Down 3-1 entering the third period, Niagara went to work. Halfway through the third period, senior Paul Zanette slammed home a puck that was just lying on the door step to come within one. Fellow senior Bryan Haczyk would tie the game four minutes later when he let go of a perfect shot past the stick side of Calvi.

Sophomore Andrew Hare made 11 saves in just 16:40 of action, while freshman Carsen Chubak made 12 saves in relief for Niagara the rest of the way. Chartrain, Goodwin, Haczyk, Iuorio and Ross all finished with two points on Saturday night.   

The Purple Eagles are back in action on Friday, Nov. 19 when they host Western New York rival and 2010 Frozen Four participant RIT at 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer Arena.