WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College men's ice hockey team dropped a tightly contest 3-2 Atlantic Hockey contest to 17th-ranked Niagara University Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center.

The Yellow Jackets (4-11-3, 1-8-3 AHA) staked themselves to a 1-0 lead just 3:11 into the game when senior Richard Leitner (Los Alamito, Calif.) tipped home junior Blake Peake's (Lethbridge, Alb.) shot from the near boards at the bottom of the left faceoff circle past junior Carsen Chubak (Prince Albert, Sask.) for his sixth goal of the season.

Junior Kevin Ryan (Eden, N.Y.) answered for Niagara (12-3-4, 11-0-1 AHA) at the 12:30 mark of the first when he sent a wrist shot from the blue line off a faceoff win by senior Jeff Hannan (Venelia, Pa.) that found its way past senior Ben Meisner (Halifax, N.S.) to tie the game at 1-all.

The Purple Eagles took their first lead of the game when sophomore Chris Lochner's (Alpharetta, Ga,) shot from a tough angle ended up beating Meisner 1:56 into the second period and senior Adam Pleskach (Beausejour, Man.) beat Chubak on a similar shot just 44 seconds late to knot the score at 2-2. Neither team gave the other much room to work with until midway through the third period when freshman Hugo Turcotte (Laval, Que.) carried the puck up the ice and ripped a shot past the glove of Meisner at 11:14 of the frame.

AIC had plenty of chances to tie the game late, including a 1:04 two-man advantage with 2:37 to go in the game, but were unable to solve Chubak for the equalizer as Niagara escaped with the win.

Pleskach's goal with his fifth of the season, and the 49th of his Yellow Jacket career. He is now just two points away from becoming the second AIC player to total 100 points since the program elevated to Division I

Chubak recorded 24 saves as he improved his record to 12-2-4 for the season, while Meisner fell to 3—3 after stopping 35 shots on goal.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night, January 12, at 7:05 p.m. at the Olympia Ice Center.