BUFFALO, N.Y. - A solid 60-minute effort from the Niagara men's hockey team (17-11-3, 14-9-1 AHA) resulted in a 3-0 shutout of the host Canisius Golden Griffins (9-16-6, 8-11-5 AHA) at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Thursday evening.

Junior Chris Noonan made 28 saves, en route to earning his first career shutout victory, placing Niagara in a tie for second place with Robert Morris.

"Noonan played well tonight and kept us in the game," Niagara Head Coach Dave Burkholder said. "Noonan made several key saves. It's not how many saves you make, but it's when you make them and Noonan made the big saves when we needed him."

Noonan has not allowed a goal in the last 85:55 of gameplay, after entering last Saturday's 5-4 overtime victory against Air Force.

"I saw the puck well tonight," Noonan said. "The defense played well in front of me and did their job, making my task that much easier."

After a scoreless first period, Niagara would take a 1-0 lead nearly halfway through the middle stanza. Junior Sam Goodwin skated into the zone along the far boards and let go of a slapshot that beat Canisius netminder Dan Morrison. Niagara would make it a 2-0 lead on the man-advantage at the 15:42 mark of the second period, when a point shot from freshman Ryan Rashid was tipped in front of the net by senior Paul Zanette over the shoulder of Morrison for his 25th tally of the seaon. 

Senior Bryan Haczyk netted his nation's leading 27th goal on a tap-in with 4:01 left in the third period to ice the game.

With a goal and an assist for two points, Zanette now has 98 career points, two points shy of becoming the newest player inducted into Niagara's 100-Point Club.

Niagara finishes it's season-series against Canisius on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 7:05 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear white, as Niagara will look to "white-out" Canisius. Tickets for Saturday's game and all remaining home games can be purchased onlie via Ticketmaster.com or by calling the Niagara Box Office at (716) 286-TIXX (8499).