Right from the start, the Chargers held a physical edge over the Eagles which would last through the game, bringing the Chargers a total of eight penalties but only one goal.

Said Eagles coach Blaise MacDonald, "It is my opinion that we are a well-conditioned team physically and mentally, and that we knew it was going to be a tough series, a tough game."

"We want to be as aggressive as we can at the right times, and we got some guys that were really up for the game," said Chargers head coach Doug Ross. "They were a little disappointed and I think we took penalties that we shouldn't have taken. They got a little frustrated. We have to cut down on our penalties if we're going to play in the game."

On the ice, the Eagles at first seemed to shy away from those confrontations, until the final minute of the first period, when Mike Isherwood put Niagara up 1-0 and the first of many battles broke out on the ice.

As the second period started, the Chargers got their first and only goal of the game. Senior Shane Stewart got the puck, with assistance from Darren Curry and Tom Williams, at the blue line on the Eagles' side, and drove it in before goalie Greg Gardner could see it coming.

That was the only shot Gardner let past him as he put aside 29 of 30 shots on goal on the game.

In the same period, senior Kasperek got what would be the game-winning goal. With assists from Nate Handrahan and Martin, Kasperek took the puck in front of the Charger defense and knocked it into the net.

Senior Mikko Sivonen finished up the period by sending home a picture-perfect goal with the help of Isherwood and Thomas Clayton. Clayton got the puck to Isherwood behind the goal, and Isherwood hit Sivonen out front, who put it away with no problems.

In the third period, both teams became increasingly physical, and Charger goalie Steve Briers was unable to hold off the Eagle rush as four more goals would get past him before the end of the game.

The first was by Kasperek again, with assists from Martin and freshman Mike Bozoian. The second was during a power play in which Martin and three other Eagles pulled off a four-on-one. Chris MacKenzie and Peter DeSantis aided Martin in that goal.

Senior Jon Marshall scored the sixth Niagara goal of the game, less than thirty seconds after Martin's, but Martin went him one better with his second marker for a 7-1 final.

With his assist on Martin's first goal, senior Peter DeSantis became a member of Niagara's Century Club, claiming his 100th career point as a member of the Purple Eagles.

"Well, obviously it's a great individual accomplishment," said a modest DeSantis, "but I'm more concerned with the W we got today and the two points in the CHA."

Saturday night, the Eagles and Chargers will go at it again at the Dwyer Ice Arena for the back end of their two-game series.

"We work on our conditioning a lot, so I imagine we'll be ready to play and we're just going to come out and do a lot of the same things we did tonight," said DeSantis.

Added Kasperek, "We have to work a lot harder than we did tonight. They're not going to want to go home with two losses on a long road trip."

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