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NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's hockey team (12-10-7; 11-6-5 AHA) was shutout 2-0 by the Air Force Falcons (15-7-6; 13-4-5 AHA) on Friday evening at Dwyer Arena.

After an even matched opening frame, the Falcons stormed back in the second period outshooting the Purple Eagles 17-6.  The current AHA first place holders jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 48.1 seconds left in the second frame.  On their fourth powerplay of the contest, senior captain Scott Mathis slid a crisp pass to teammate Tim Kirby who ripped a high rising shot past Niagara netminder Chris Noonan for the eventual game winning goal.

"I thought we won our fair share of shifts in the first period, but we didn't get anything out of it," head coach David Burkholder said.  "From then on it was the Air Force show.  We just didn't execute.  They [Air Force] played their game.  They are a fast, puck possession team."

Adam McKenzie added an empty netter with two seconds left on the clock to secure the victory. 

Noonan pushed aside 25 Falcon shots, while Colonials' goalie Jason Torf made 17 stops. 

Niagara and Air Force meet tomorrow for game two of the weekend series at Dwyer Arena.  The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. 

Seats are still available for Saturday's contest. Contact the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX or by emailing Tickets@PurpleEagles.com.