Box Score

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team came from behind in the dying seconds of the contest, to come out with a 2-2 draw against CCHA foe Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday afternoon at Dwyer Arena.  

With 50 seconds remaining in the contest and the Purple Eagles (0-0-1) trailing by a goal, sophomore Kevin Albers picked up the puck at the top of the blue line and slid a pass to sophomore Chris Lochner who was waiting in front of Falcon goaltender Andrew Hammond.  His low shot, glove side tied the game at two and sent the contest into extra time.  

Despite both teams having a man-advantage opportunity in overtime, neither could hit the back of the net for the game-winning tally.  Bowling Green held a slight advantage in overall shots, 36-30, including five looks on net in extra time.  

"I liked our team five-on-five all night," head coach David Burkholder said.  "We just ran into some penalty trouble in the second period. While playing five-on-five though, I believe we won a lot of the shifts.  I think we did a lot of positives in our home opener against a CCHA team that has a lot of history behind them, I just wasn't happy with the timing of some of our penalties."   

The Falcons and Purple Eagles started off the NCAA 2012-13 collegiate hockey season with end-to-end action and physical play.  Both squads totaled 10 shots each, but neither could light the lamp.  Bowling Green (0-0-1) could not get past the stellar play of Niagara goaltender Carsen Chubak and the NU defense during a 5-on-3 opportunity late in the first period that carried over into the second.  

"Our penalty kill was great," added Burkholder.  "Marc Zanette did a great job on the kill.  We were fronting guys and blocking shots.  Our defense buckled down when they had to.  Carsen Chubak was the story of the game tonight.  He hasn't played since opening night, and he came back tonight and played a solid game for us."  

It was the Purple Eagles who took the first lead of the game when freshman Rocky Gruttadauria picked up his first collegiate goal with 4:53 left on the clock in the second stanza.  Rookie Matt Chartrain slid the puck cross ice to defenseman Kevin Ryan who took a one-timer towards Hammond.  Hammond made the initial stop, but Gruttadauria put away the loose puck to make it 1-0.  Chartrain also earned his first collegiate point with the helper.  

Bowling Green responded with a powerplay tally 17 seconds later off the stick of junior Camden Wojtala.  Defenseman Connor Kucera set up the equalizer with a shot from the top of the left circle that was pushed aside by Chuback, but Wojtala jumped on the rebound for his first of the season.

The Falcons pulled ahead for the first time in the third period with 16:19 on the clock, off a shot by rookie Ben Murphy off assists from Dan DeSalvo and Ryan Carptenter.  

"Our fourth line with Matt, Rocky and Mike [Benedict] was our energy line tonight," Burkholder said.  "Every time they were on the ice they produced opportunities and Rocky was rewarded with his strong play in the crease."     

Chuback finished the game with 34 saves, five short of his career-high, for his first start since last October against Michigan in the 2011-12 season opener.   

The Purple Eagles travel to Hamilton, N.Y. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 to battle the Colgate Raiders at Starr Rink.