NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles men's hockey team controlled a large portion of Friday's game against the Cornell Big Red, but Cornell was the first to strike in a deciding overtime period. Cornell's Christian Hilbrich found space on the back door and buried the game-winner 1:46 into overtime, as Niagara dropped the first game of the home-and-home series 3-2 at Dwyer Arena.
 
Luke Edwards and Dan Kolenda picked up the goals for Niagara, while Ryan Kuhn and Vinny Muto each earned assists. Guillaume Therien rebounded from last week's loss to Robert Morris with a tremendous performance in net, making 32 saves, but it was not enough as the Purple Eagles came up just short.
 
"I thought it was an unbelievable college hockey game from start to finish," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "I'm really proud of our effort, everyone in white. I thought five-on-five it was a toss-up and it came down to that [in overtime].
 
"I think the team is growing game by game to have more confidence in Guillaume. It's unfortunate we didn't win the game, but he gave us a chance, that's for sure."
 
Making his first appearance since the season opener Oct. 9 at St. Lawrence, Edwards made his presence known. Just 22 seconds into the game, Edwards intercepted a clearing attempt from a Cornell defender, and his floating shot found the back of the twine to put Niagara on top early.
 
Cornell tied the game early in the second period on a goal from Eric Freschi, and the two teams traded tallies before the middle stanza was over. Kolenda fed the puck to Muto at the point before crashing the net, and Kuhn and Kolenda both deflected the puck to beat the reach of Cornell netminder Mitch Gillam.
 
Anthony Angello erased Niagara's lead just 1:14 after Kolenda's goal, which set the stage for a gritty, scoreless third period. Cornell outshot Niagara 4-3 in the final 20 minutes of regulation, while the Purple Eagles blocked seven shots to the Big Red's four.
 
It took less than two minutes into overtime for the Big Red to end the game. Jake Weidner scooped the puck down low along the boards and found Hilbrich alone on the far side of the net, and Therien could not stretch his blocker fast enough to turn away the shot.
 
Niagara falls to 0-4-1 with the loss, but the team has another shot against Cornell Saturday night. The Purple Eagles and Big Red will face off once again tomorrow night, as Cornell plays their home opener at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y. Opening faceoff on Saturday night is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
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