Box Score

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - For the second time in program history, the Niagara men's hockey team (0-1-1, 0-0-1 AHA) played to a scoreless tie, coming against the RIT Tigers (0-0-1, 0-0-1 AHA) in a soldout Ritter Arena on Saturday night.

Niagara last played to a scoreless tie on Feb. 28, 2009, playing Robert Morris on the road. Sophomore goalie Cody Campbell made 30 saves in his first start of the season, en route to his first career shutout. Niagara has now played to a tie in its last two meetings against the Tigers.

"It's a huge road point coming in a hostile environment," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "I thought we played the perfect road game. We had a ton of great chances and just couldn't convert. Overall it was a fantastic effort, especially on the road."

After taking the game's first penalty, Niagara nearly made it 1-0 shorthanded, when freshman Isaac Kohls one-timed a shot destined for the back of the net, but Tiger netminder Shane Madolora made the save. Niagara nearly took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, when freshman Doug Clifford pounced on a turnover in the slot and fired a wrist shot that clanked off the post and out. 

Both teams would trade rushes to no avail in the second period, as the game would remain scoreless after 40 minutes. Sophomore Ryan Rashid nearly opened scoring in the waning seconds of the second period when he intercepted an errant pass deep in the RIT zone, but his backhand shot was snared by Madolora.

Campbell was huge down the stretch for the Purps, making several key saves. The Colorado Springs, Colo. native was a huge reason why the Purps stopped all eight Tiger power play chances during the game. Campbell is now 1-0-1 in his career at Ritter Arena.

Niagara is now 8-0-4 against RIT since Jan. 16, 1997 and are now 6-0-3 against RIT with Burkholder behind the bench for the Purple Eagles.

The Purple Eagles continue its season-opening, three-game roadtrip on Friday, Oct. 14, when Niagara heads to Colorado to take on Air Force.