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NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Junior forward Giancarlo Iuorio found the back of the net twice and added an assist to propel the Niagara men’s hockey team (14-10-8; 13-6-6 AHA) to a sweep over the Canisius Golden Griffins (9-19-4; 9-13-3 AHA) after a 4-2 win at Dwyer Arena on Thursday night. 

After tonight's contest, Iuorio has racked up four goals, three assists and seven points in his last three games, helping push Niagara to a first place tie with the idle Air Force Falcons with 32 points.   

Freshman forward Isaac Kohls and junior forward Marc Zanette each added their own tallies while junior defender Dan Weiss and sophomore forward Patrick Divjak each contributed two helpers. 

"Giancarlo is a junior and an upperclassman and he's played like it," head coach David Burkholder said.  "That's why he's the captain.  Our goal tonight was to win the rebound game which we did 3-2 by popping in three rebound goals and Giancarlo had two of those.  Khols was going coast-to-coast and Divjak had one of his most efficient games that he's played at both ends of the rink." 

The Purple Eagles grabbed an early two-goal lead within five minutes of the puck drop.  Fifty-four seconds into the opening frame, Iuorio tallied his eighth goal of the season as he snuck the puck past Golden Griffins goalie Tony Capobianco off a rebound from a shot by Weiss. 

Iuorio then contributed on the next goal, dishing a feed to Kohls who one-timed it into the back of the net for his sixth tally this season.  The Purple Eagles outshot the Golden Griffins by a 16-1 margin heading into the second period. 

A goal scoring frenzy ensued in the opening minutes of the second frame, with three tallies in a span of 1:17.  On Canisius's third shot on goal for the game, freshman forward Tyler Wiseman put the Golden Griffins on the board a little over a minute into the period, picking up the rebound off a Logan Roe shot and slipping it past Niagara netminder Chris Noonan.

Zanette answered quickly, bringing it back to a two-goal game while on the powerplay.  He picked up his team-leading 11^th goal of the season off a splapshot from the faceoff circle assisted by sophomore Kevin Ryan.

Wiseman responded 39 seconds later, recording his second goal of the game with 17:25 on the clock.  Teammate Patrick Sullivan skated around the Niagara net, dishing a feed across the crease to Wiseman who tapped it in to make it 3-2. 

Iuorio solidified the 4-2 victory for the Purple Eagles less than three minutes into the final frame, grabbing his second of the game and ninth of the season.  Capobianco stopped the initial attempt by Weiss, but Iuorio was waiting on the doorstep to bring the play home.

"I thought we were a totally different team from start to finish," head coach David Burkholder said.  "I was very pleased.  I could sense it in practice yesterday.  I thought four games in seven nights would be a factor, but it wasn't.  There are guys who still have some left in the tank.  I am proud of them and their work ethic."

Noonan finished the game with 16 saves to improve his record to 11-5-4. 

With the victory, the Purple Eagles extend their lead in the Battle of the Bridge series this season, 14.5-6.5. Niagara needs just 2.5 points to clinch this year's Battle of the Bridge championship. 

The Purple Eagles conclude their regular season schedule with a home-and-home series against the RIT Tigers starting on Friday, Feb. 24 at Dwyer Arena and concluding the following day at Ritter Arena.  Both contests are set to begin at 7:05 p.m.

To reserve your seats for Friday’s game, contact the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX or by emailing Tickets@PurpleEagles.com.

Both Niagara's games against RIT will also be broadcast on Time Warner Cable Sports Net (Channel 13 Standard / Channel 713 HD).