NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (18-12-4, 15-10-2) used a three-goal second period to tie the RIT Tigers (16-10-8, 15-5-7 AHA) by a 3-3 count on Senior Night at Dwyer Arena. Niagara is now 8-0-3 against RIT since Jan. 16, 1997.

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead within the first 11 minutes of the game, starting with Sean Murphy beating Niagara netminder Chris Noonan high, just 59 seconds into the game. Ben Lynch would give RIT a 2-0 lead at the 10:52 mark of the opening stanza, when he snuck a shot between the left shoulder of Noonan and the post.

"Even though we were down 2-0, I thought it was an evenly played first period," Niagara Head Coach Dave Burkholder said, after extending his unbeaten streak against his alma mater to 6-0-2. "We stuck with our gameplan and played physical. We got pucks on net when we needed to."

Just like last night's game, the Purps would respond, with senior Paul Zanette scoring his nation-leading 28th goal of the season 3:18 into the middle stanza. Zanette would add his second goal of the night 2:40 later, tying the game at two. The furious second period comeback was capped when a point shot by Kevin Ryan was tipped by rookie Scott Arnold into the net with 38 seconds left in the middle period giving Niagara a 3-2 lead.

The Tigers would tie the game early in the third period, when Tyler Brenner would beat Noonan. Noonan would be strong the rest of the way, stopping 26 shots on the night.

Zanette finished the weekend with four goals, while finishing the three-game series against RIT during the regular-season with seven goals. Now with 29 goals on the season, Zanette is just three goals behind Ted Cook for most goals in a single season by a Purple Eagle.

Niagara is now 5-0-2 in its last seven Senior Night games.

"I'm proud of our seniors," Burkholder said. "This senior class knows what it truly means to be a Purple Eagle hockey player, on and off the ice. They are good people and we will miss them."

Niagara is now in fourth place in the AHA standings, while third in the Western Pod. Niagara will host an AHA First Round Tournament game at Dwyer Arena on Saturday, March 5 at 7:05 p.m against Canisius.