Rochester, N.Y—The Niagara hockey team saw their season come to an end on Saturday as they fell in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals to No. 19 RIT, 5-2.

First Period

RIT opened the scoring just 1:18 into the game to take a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers added two more goals in the opening period to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Shots were 12-11 RIT after the opening 20 minutes while faceoffs were tied at 12.

Second Period

The second period didn't see a goal until the 18:57 mark as the Tigers took a 4-0 lead.

The Purple Eagles held the Tigers to just one shot on their lone power play in the period.

Shots were 25-18 after 40 minutes of play.

Third Period

Niagara got on the board at the 7:25 mark of the third period as Shane Ott got his fifth goal of the season. Jack Richard forced a turnover in the RIT zone and fed the puck to Ott below the goal line. Ott fired the puck to the front of the net, the puck deflected off a couple RIT players found the back of th net. Richard picked up his 11^th assist of the season.

Just over a minute later the Purple Eagles were on the power play. Jay Ahearn and Carter Randklev played catch with the puck at the point, Randklev took a shot from the point. The shot was stopped but Tyler Wallace was parked at the top of the blue paint and batted home the rebound for his 13^th goal of the season. Randklev picked up his 20^th assist of the season while Ahearn notched his 16^th of the season.

Despite the two quick goals the Tigers scored an empty netter with 3:16 left in regulation to close out the game.

Niagara Notes

·       It is the seventh time in program history that Niagara has advanced to the AHA semifinals. Niagara has made the semifinals in three of the last four seasons.

·       Ahearn extended his point streak to four games; over that span he had three goals and four assists.

·       Richard ends his freshman season with a five-game point streak and 13 points over his last 11 games.

·       Wallace also ends his freshman season with a five game point streak that saw him tally seven points over the five games.

·       The Purple Eagles finish the season with an 18-18-3 record and a .513 winning percentage. Niagara has now had a winning percentage over .500 in consecutive years. It is the first time since the 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 seasons that Niagara has had a winning percentage over .500 in three consecutive seasons.

·       Randklev finishes the season as the point leader for Niagara as he set new season highs in assists (20) and points (31).

·       Wallace is the first Purple Eagle freshman to have 30 or more points in a season since Ludwig Stenlund had 42 points in 2018-19.

·       Seven players finished the season with 20 or more points, it is now back-to-back seasons that Niagara has had seven Purple Eagles finish with 20 or more points.

·       Niagara's freshman class combined for 129 games played, 26 goals, and 60 total points.