Box Score

WALTHAM, Mass. - Four unanswered goals from the Niagara men's hockey team (4-5-4, 3-2-3 AHA) in the final period capped off a 6-4 come from behind victory over the Bentley Falcons (4-8-2, 4-3-1 AHA) Friday evening at John Ryan Skating Arena.

With just over five minutes left to play in the final period and tied at four apiece, sophomore forward Scott Arnold notched his second goal of the game to give the Purple Eagles their first lead of the game.  Dan Baco would find Arnold off a backhand feed and the sophomore would ram it home for the game winning tally.  Junior Marc Zanette would add an empty netter with 17 seconds left for the 6-4 victory. 

With 13 minutes to play in the third, the Purple Eagles tied the game at four on their third goal with the man-advantage.  Sophomore Robert Martini notched his second goal of the season after sliding a backhand underneath goalie Kyle Rank off a feed from sophomore Matt Williams. 

"It's probably our most thorough, complete 60 minutes of the year," said head coach David Burkholder.  "We have to look at our leadership from Robert Martini and Jeff Hannan and a couple of the upper classman that took this team on their backs and scored some big goals for us." 

Falcons tallied the first goal of the game off the stick of forward Ryan Kayfes.  About midway through the first period Justin Breton found the stick of Kayfes who let one rip from the slot to beat Niagara netminder Cody Campbell.   

The best scoring chance for Niagara came with less than two minutes in the period as goalie Kyle Rank robbed Zanette of the game tying goal.  A rebound slid straight to a wide open Zanette who took a slapshot on an open net, but Rank made a sliding save from right to left. 

The second period saw both teams netting two goals, but the Falcons would keep the one-goal lead at 3-2.  Bentley capitalized on the man-advantage 2:13 into the second stanza.  The Switzer brothers combined to make it a two-goal game after Brett Switzer made a pass to Mike Switzer who knocked it past Campbell.   

Niagara would cut the lead in half 9:22 into the period as Arnold ripped a rising shot past Rank on a 2-on-1.  The goal, assisted by Baco, was his fifth of the year.  Bentley would again make it a two-goal game on a shorthanded tally by senior Aaron Stonacek with 1:30 left in the stanza, but Niagara would respond 10 seconds later when junior forward Jeff Hannan cashed in for his second goal of the season. 

The Niagara comeback began in the final period, but not before the Falcons took their third two-goal advantage of the game on their second short-handed goal.  This time is was Ben Nudy who blasted a shot through Campbell from the left faceoff circle at the 16:43 mark.  The Purple Eagles replied with one of their own on the man-advantage just 32 seconds later off a shot from sophomore Ryan Murphy. 

"There's not too many times in hockey where you can overcome two short-handed goals in the same game and we did," added Burkholder.  "This was a different Niagara hockey team tonight.  We had passion and spirit and energy from start to finish.  I thought they got what they deserved which was a great two points on the road." 

Campbell pushed aside 22 Falcon shots, while Noonan earned the win after being inserted in the game in the third period, making three saves. 

Arnold would end the game with two goals.  Zanette and Martini would tally a goal and an assist while Baco would add two helpers. 

The Purple Eagles are now 3-0-0 against the Falcons, outscoring their opponent by a 15-8 margin. 

Niagara wraps up its weekend series against the Falcons tomorrow evening at 7:05 p.m.