Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. - Freshman Mike Benedict gave the Niagara men's hockey team (1-3-2) its first win of the season with just over a minute left in the third period, beating No. 16 Colgate (4-2-1), 2-1 Saturday evening at Starr Rink.  

Benedict netted his first of the season, picking up the puck at the blue line from Ryan Murphy and skated in on a 2-on-1 before roofing one past the shoulder of Colgate goaltender, Alex Evin to give Niagara the victory.  Dan Weiss had a secondary assist on the play.  

Freshman netminder Colby Drost was solid between the pipes in his first start as a Purple Eagle, pushing aside 35 shots.  He also earned his first career point with an assist on Marc Zanette's game tying goal.  

“This is one of the most courageous wins we’ve had as a program in a long time,” said head coach David Burkholder.  “Coming into Colgate’s rink after a tough outcome last night, just the character and pride we played with says a lot about the guys in the room.  From Colby on out had a lot of guys who played their hearts out and that’s what it’s going to take to have success at this level.” 

The teams exchanged opportunities and powerful body checks in the first 40 minutes of play.  Despite the end-to-end action, the game remained scoreless.  Both goaltenders were peppered with shots with Colgate outshooting Niagara, 30-28 after two.  

Junior forward Thomas Larkin was able to break through the superb play of Drost 8:05 into the final period with a powerplay goal after sophomore Scott Arnold was called for holding of the stick.  A top-shelf laser from the top of the right circle put the Raiders up 1-0.  

Zanette found the back of the net just two minutes later to tie the game at one a piece.  The junior tossed the puck at Colgate goaltender, Alex Evin, and continued to whack at the loose puck through the bodies piling up in front of the crease until it finally snuck behind the goal line with 6:04 left in the game.  

This was Niagara's first win over a ranked team since the end of 2009-10 season when the Purple Eagles defeated Bemidji State in the semifinals of the 2010 College Hockey America Tournament.  Niagara is 1-1-1 in its last three games; all against nationally-ranked foes from the ECAC.

The Purple Eagles faceoff in a weekend series against conference contenders Holy Cross on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5 at Dwyer Arena.  The puck will drop both games at 7:05 p.m.  Tickets are still available for next week's games, by contacting the Niagara Ticket Office at 716-286-8499 or at tickets@purpleeagles.com.