NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Powered by a five-goal first period, including four on the power play, the Niagara men's hockey team (15-7-2, 12-5-0 AHA) finished its two-game sweep of the visiting Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-15-5, 3-9-5 AHA) on Saturday evening at Dwyer Arena. With the victory, the Purple Eagles are in second place, trailing RIT by four points with two games in hand.

"It's imperative that we play well at home," Niagara head men's hockey coach Dave Burkholder said. "We took care of business tonight. I was happy to see our power play snap out of their funk."

Senior Paul Zanette got Dwyer Arena rocking just 2:09 into the contest, when he tipped a Ryan Rashid point shot past Pioneer netminder Steven Legatto on the man-advantage. Just 1:41 later, sophomore Jason Beattie gave the Purps a 2-0 lead, before Sacred Heart would cut the lead in half at the 9:50 mark.

The final 10 minutes of the first period would see the Purple Eagles strike three more times on the power play, with Zanette notching his second of the night from the slot just 51 seconds after the Pioneers came within one. Senior Bryan Haczyk would extend his consecutive games point streak to an even 20 games when scoring a power-play goal at the 12:04 mark, becoming Niagara's record holder in that category in the process.

"It's an honor to have this record," Haczyk said. "It feels great, but I couldn't have done it without the help of my teammates. We are really clicking right now."

Freshman Ryan Murphy gave Niagara a 5-1 lead on the man advantage with 1:31 left in the first period, when he deflected a pass in the slot past newly inserted goalie Olivier St. Onge.

The Pioneers would score shorthanded to make it 5-2 late in the second period, but a booming slapshot from sophomore Marc Zanette beat St. Onge stick side just 1:12 later to reinstate the four-goal lead. Niagara would play Sacred Heart tough the rest of the way, only allowing one shot on goal in the third period.

Freshman Cody Campbell made 13 saves in his third career victory, his first in front of the home faithful. Senior Ryan Annesley tied career-highs in assists (3) and points (3) in a game with his effort against the Pioneers.

Niagara, a team that has won its last four games and is 5-1-0 in their last six games will finish their three-game homestand against former CHA rival Robert Morris on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7:05 p.m. The game against Robert Morris will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports. 

                                                                 Niagara - Sacred Heart Game Highlights