NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (8-18-4, 3-9-2 CHA) gave up three goals to the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (9-15-2, 5-7-1 CHA) for the fourth consecutive time this season, but this time the Purple Eagles came out victorious, by a 4-3 margin at Dwyer Arena on Friday night.

The Purps were holding a 4-3 lead with under a minute to play when the Chargers pulled netminder Cameron Talbot in favor of the extra attacker. Despite missing an open net on the other end, the Purple Eagles were able to fend off the final Charger rush, which included a shot off the crossbar.

"This was a big victory for us tonight," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Our theme tonight was to build momentum during each period. We came out ready and we had to be since we are playing three in a row."

After Matti Jarinen gave the visiting Chargers a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game, Niagara turned on the pressure. With under five minutes left to go in the opening 20 minutes, Niagara struck twice in a 35 second span, with Egor Mironov scoring his first tally since taking on Colgate on Jan. 3 and sophomore blueliner Rob Martini scoring his first career-goal on a rebound.

"I do anything to help the team win," Martini said. "It was very nice to see that it went in, but we have to keep looking forward and play hard."

Moving forward is exactly what the Purple Eagles did in the second period, when they took a 3-1 lead on the man-advantage. From the slot, freshman defenseman Tyler Matthews fired a crisp, seeing-eye pass right to the stick of fellow rookie Marc Zanette for his sixth goal of the season. The Chargers would respond however, tying the game on goals by Tom Train and Andrew Coburn.

Just 1:10 after Alabama-Huntsville tied the game, the Purple Eagles scored what would be the eventual game-winning goal, when junior Bryan Haczyk scored on a solid second effort from in front of Talbot, his third game-clinching goal of the season.

"When Alabama-Huntsville scored, we answered," Burkholder said. "I was very proud of my team for the way they responded tonight."

Senior Chris Moran tallied two more assists, giving him 98 career helpers and his ninth multi-point game of the season. Marc Zanette recorded his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist.

The Purple Eagles are back in action on Saturday against the Chargers once again, with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. on Go Green Night at Dwyer Arena.