Box Score        February Premium Club Menu
 
NIAGARA UNIV. N.Y. – The Niagara men’s hockey team (12-10-8; 11-6-6 AHA) battled the Air Force Falcons (15-7-7; 13-4-6 AHA) to a 3-3 tie on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena. 
 
Air Force junior Stephen Carew evened the game at three apiece 7:01 into the final frame with a high-rising wrister that beat Niagara netminder Chris Noonan over the shoulder, erasing Niagara's two-goal lead held late in the second period.  The teams fought into extra time, but neither could tally the game-winning goal. 

Both teams relied heavily on its special teams, Niagara scoring two on the power play and adding another short-handed goal while Air Force tallied a power play goal. 

"Being up 3-1 and having those power play opportunities I think one more would have put them away, but we couldn't get it," head coach David Burkholder said.  "It was a crazy game in regards to flow, we took some penalties and they took some penalties.  There wasn't a lot of five-on-five play until about midway through the second."

In an opening period that saw little five-on-five action, Niagara came out with a 2-1 lead.  The Falcons struck first, taking advantage of an early Purple Eagle penalty, grabbing a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the first period.  Junior forward Stephen Carew wristed one over the shoulder of Noonan off assists from captain Paul Weisgarber and freshman Scott Holm.
 
Niagara answered less than five minutes later on a short-handed tally.  Junior Marc Zanette skated in towards net before dishing a perfect feed to teammate Giancarlo Iuorio who one timed it past the outstretched Falcons’ goalie, Jason Torf for his sixth goal of the year. 
 
Sophomore forward Patrick Divjak gave Niagara their first lead of the game on a 5-on-3 with 7:19 left in the period.  Divjak received a pass at the top of the faceoff circle from Iuorio before sneaking one between the legs of Torf off a low shot for his fifth goal of the season. 

Zanette and Iuorio teamed up again for the Purple Eagles’ third goal of the game at the 11:45 mark of the second frame while on the man-advantage.  Iuorio found Zanette at the top of the slot who roofed one top shelf for his 10th goal of the year. 

The Falcons brought the contest back within one with 1:01 remaining in the stanza as Holm tallied his second goal of the year, assisted by sophomores George Michalke III and Ryan Timar.   

"We needed to do better than one point, especially at home," added Burkholder.  "With a 3-1 one lead you hope you can protect that, but both games were hard fought between two even teams.  It was as physical a series as we've had.  One shot would have one it for us, but we couldn't get it."  

Noonan pushed aside 19 shots.  Iuorio finished the game with a goal and two assists, while Zanette added a goal and a helper.  Ryan Rashid also contributed two assists. 

The Purple Eagles travel to the Buffalo State Sports Arena on Valentine’s Day to take on cross-town rival Canisius in a Battle of the Bridge contest.  Niagara returns to Dwyer in the second game of the home-and-home series on Thursday, Feb. 16.  Action begins at 7:05 p.m. for both contests. 
 
Tickets are still available for Thursday’s game so contact the Niagara Ticket Office at 716-286-TIXX or by emailing Tickets@PurpleEagles.com.
 
Fans in the Buffalo area wishing to catch Thursday’s action can also watch live courtesy of Time Warner Cable Sports Net via channel 13 (Standard Definition) or channel 713 (HD).