"We are where we want to be in the league right now," said Niagara head coach Blaise MacDonald. "It's awfully nice for our team and our seniors to be able to go into our beautiful new locker room and see a standings board, and it's especially nice given the fact that we are on top of the standings board.

"That added, definitely, some emotion and energy that there was something at stake for tonight's game."

"We had a severe beating administered to us tonight," said Beaver head coach Bob Peters. "I felt we played extremely well the first 15 minutes, then a 10-minute funk in the last part of the first period and the second period, then in the third we just collapsed."

The game started fast paced, with both teams going back and forth for a good 15 minutes without a goal.

"We favor that all the time," said Eagle Mikko Sivonen. "We like to play fast-paced, up and down, and try to create a lot of opportunities from rushes and things like that."

Then, at the 15:46 mark, Niagara scored its first goal as Jay Kasperek charged down the ice with the puck and let it loose just before the crease.

Right before the end of the period Niagara scored again as Gardner fed the puck to Chris MacKenzie. He hit Martin, who was waiting in the near left circle to put the puck in.

Four minutes into the second period, Martin brought the puck around from behind the net and fed it to Peter DeSantis, who put in home right behind the goalie.

Right on its heels, Sivonen scored another goal in less than 12 seconds. Mike Isherwood gave the puck to Sivonen, who was waiting at the near right circle and rocketed it into the goal.

At this goal, the Beavers changed their goalie from Adam Pavlatos to Bob Tallarico. Tallarico kept the Eagles from scoring for the rest of the period, but was unable to hold them down as they came back onto the ice in the third to score six more goals.

In the first two minutes, a major penalty went against the Beavers. Behind the net, Beaver Travis Johnson threw Eagle John Heffernan into the boards, then to the ice. Johnson received a five-minute misconduct penalty, and a ten-minute game misconduct, and was thrown out of the game. Heffernan was able to get back up and kept on playing.

Sivonen started off the six-goal period with a power-play goal. Timo Makela passed the puck to MacKenzie, who fed it to a waiting Mikko near the right circle again for the goal.

Following in its wake was another power-play goal by Scott McDonald. Jon Marshal got the puck from Thomas Clayton, who then passed it to McDonald from behind the net. McDonald came around the net and hit it in.

Goal number seven was scored by Martin, after Sivonen fed the puck to a traveling Clayton. Clayton came around the net and saw Martin right in front of the goal, passed, and Martin slapped it in.

At this point, desperately down, the Beavers started to get more aggressive. Their attacks on the goal became more intensive, and at one point Gardner got very lucky on a save.

"The guy came in on a breakaway and he just lost it and I caught it with my knee," said Gardner. "I felt it sneaking through my legs and I just kicked it with my ankle, and for whatever reason I got lucky and it crossed just on the goal line. I was able to scoop it away and put it to the corner just in time."

Eagle goal number eight was scored by Rich DeCaprio after McDonald took a shot which was deflected in front of the net. DeCaprio skated up and knocked it in. Number nine came as Randy Harris and Chris Sebastian charged down the ice after getting a pass from Heffernan, passing back and forth, and then knocking it in from the near left circle by Harris.

Ironically, Sebastian, the Eagle who wears the number ten, scored the tenth goal, on another charge with Harris.

MacDonald was clearly proud of his team tonight, and of their effort, and hoped that they are sending a message about their program in their work.

"I would like to think that our team is continually trying to send a message every time we put on a uniform," he said, "because we are a relatively new program and we're still trying to get the respect we think we deserve, and/or have people say, 'Yes, they really are that good.' So just to kind of confirm the perception of our program."

As for now, Bemidji will continue traveling, now heading to a two-game series at Findlay on Nov. 22 and 23. Meanwhile, the Niagara Eagles will be hosting nationally-ranked Rensselaer on Nov. 23, then heading off to the Syracuse Invitational Tournament on Nov. 27 and 28.

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