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NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The No. 13 Niagara home team will take part in a two-game league series with Air Force to conclude regular season play.  The action will take place from Friday-Saturday, March 1-2 at 9:05 p.m. eastern at the Cadet Ice Arena each night.

Tune In
The pair of games vs. Air Force will be broadcasted live on WJJL 1440 AM and PurpleEagles.com, with Jeremy White on the call for both contests. 

Live stats can be accessed by clicking the appropriate link at the Official Website of Purple Eagle Athletics, www.PurpleEagles.com.
   
Raise The Banner
Niagara clinched its first AHA regular season title despite the 6-5 OT loss at RMU (Feb. 16). Holy Cross, the only team that could’ve mathematically caught the Purps, lost to Connecticut, 4-1, giving Niagara the title.  

This is the team’s first AHA regular-season title since the program entered into the conference in 2010-11, and its first conference crown since the 2006-07 season when NU earned the former College Hockey America regular-season title.  
 
599 Games
Niagara has played 599 games as a hockey program entering weekend play.  NU’s 600th game will be on March 1 at the Cadet Ice Arena.
 
Atlantic Hockey Records
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Purps have a chance to tie the Atlantic Hockey record for most wins in a single season and break the record for points in a single season. The 2009-10 RIT squad holds the AHA record with 22 wins and 45 points.  Niagara currently has 20 victories and 42 points.  

Scouting The Falcons
Air Force (15-11-7; 13-7-5 AHA) is in second place in the AHA with 31 points. The team clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs after their weekend split with RIT.

Kyle DeLaurell leads the Falcons with 16 goals and 30 points, adding 14 assists.  Tony Thomas and Cole Gunner are tied for second with 25 points each, while Stephen Carew has added 10 goals on the season.

Goaltender duties have been held by Jason Torf.  In 33 games he holds a 2.30 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
 
Last Meeting On The Ice
The then-No. 18 Purple Eagles rallied from behind twice to drop Air Force, 4-3, on Jan. 5.  The game-winning goal came off the stick of Matt Williams as the teams were deadlocked at three with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the contest. 

Rookie Hugo Turcotte contributed a goal and an assist in the win, while Kevin Ryan pocketed a pair of assists.  NU also got scores from Ryan Rashid and Chris Lochner.

Carsen Chubak made 31 saves in net in the win.

Close to 100
Giancarlo Iuorio earned his 97th career point as a Purple Eagle with his assist during the 4-2 victory over Mercyhurst on Feb. 23.
Only 13 Purps have joined the 100-point club, with Paul Zanette (‘11) being the last member to join the illustrious group in 2011.

Purps In The Polls
A weekend sweep over Mercyhurst was enough to bump NU to the No. 13 position in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national poll released Monday. 

The Purple Eagles received 107 votes to earn the No. 13 ranking for the first time since the 1999-00 season.  The Purps have been on the top-15 poll for four consecutive weeks now, the longest the team has been ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine in program history.   

Niagara received 335 points in the USCHO.com Poll jumping up two spots from last week to No. 14, while holding the eighth position in the PairWise rankings which helps determine the NCAA field of 16. 
 
Get Your Tickets for Postseason Action!
Tickets for all three games of the quarterfinal round of the AHA Playoffs (March 15-17) are on sale so contact the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or emailing Ticket@PurpleEagles.com to reserve your seats today!