NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – The Union College men's hockey team earned a 4-2 non-conference win over Niagara University on Friday night at Dwyer Arena.

Four different skaters scored a goal and seven players found the scoresheet in the win. Junior Nick Young led the way with two points (1-1-2) for his second career multi-point game. Senior Caden Villegas and sophomore Jacob Jeannette both scored their second goals of the season while junior Carter Korpi netted his sixth goal of the year.

Union was out-shot 33-29 marking the first time since a 3-2 win over #13 Cornell on March 1, 2024 that the Garnet Chargers were out-shot and won.

Niagara did not commit a penalty in the contest. The last time an opposing team did not commit a penalty against Union was over 20 years ago, a 3-2 loss to UMass Lowell on November 1, 2002.

An early penalty on Young gave Niagara the first power-play opportunity of the game. The Purple Eagles only needed 56 seconds to capitalize on the player advantage with a goal from Jay Ahearn. Young tied the game up with his first goal of the season at 5:57 of the first period. First-year Riley Brueck won a battle in the corner and chipped the puck out to Young at the blue line. The defender fired a shot from the point that went off the right post and in. Union made it a 2-1 game in the final minutes of the opening frame. Young forced a turnover at the blueline and senior Josh Nixon picked up the loose puck. Nixon skated into the slot and sent a pass behind his back to Villegas who went backdoor to give Union their first lead of the game.

Union took a two-goal lead at 5:05 of the second period. Junior John Prokop fired a shot on goal from the right circle that went off of Rolovs' pads. Korpi collected the loose puck and took a shot from the paint that rebounded off of Rolovs before the junior backhanded his own rebound in for the score. Niagara cut the lead to one goal off of an odd-man rush at 16:20. A fake drew junior Kyle Chauvette out of position and the shot by Ahearn went into the open net.

The Purple Eagles put 10 shots on goal in the third period, but Chauvette turned aside every one. The Garnet Chargers took four shots on net and had three blocked shots in a span of pressure in first half of the third stanza. Niagara looked to gain some momentum with a power-play chance beginning at 7:22, but Union's penalty kill unit kept the Purple Eagles off the board. Union put the game on ice with an empty net goal by Jeannette with 12 seconds to go.

Chauvette made double-digit stops in each period for a total of 31 save in the win. Rolovs stopped 25 shots in the loss.

Union looks to sweep the weekend tomorrow in the series finale. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at Dwyer Arena.