(Canton, N.Y.)- No. 2 SUNY Canton held off No. 3 Niagara University 2-1 Saturday night to advance to the championship game of the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League Tournament for the second straight year.

The Roos (28-2-3) will look to repeat as champions after beating the Purple Eagles for the third time this season. SUNY Canton faces top-seeded Mercyhurst University Sunday at 1:30 in the title game. The Lakers routed No. 5 Canisius College 7-1 in the earlier semifinal game on Saturday.

Freshman goalie Morgan Barr (Almonte, Ontario) turned aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced and made several terrific saves through traffic and down the stretch to improve to 14-1-2. SUNY Canton outshot Niagara 38-30 and killed off all four of the Purple Eagles power play opportunities.

The game-winning goal came off the stick of senior Dan Cibelli (Liverpool, N.Y.) with 8:01 left in the third period. Junior Chris Giczewski (Fountain Valley, Calif.) took the initial shot from the left circle that was deflected right to Cibelli who was camped off the right post. The forward one-timed the puck into the open net for his team-leading sixth game-winning goal this season. Freshman Jake Rakitis (Long Beach, Calif.) also assisted on Cibelli’s goal.

With under three minutes left the Purple Eagles looked they had tied the game but a wraparound goal was waved off by the officials because the Roos net had become dislodged. That was the second Niagara goal that was waved off in the game due to a net that had come off it’s moorings.

Niagara pulled goalie Dane Wakefield with 1:10 left in regulation for an extra skater trying to send the game into overtime for the second time in the last three meetings between the two teams, but the Roos held strong defensively and earned the hard fought win and a berth in the final game on Sunday.

Junior John Payne (Port Moody, B.C.) had put the home team ahead 1-0 scoring a goal early in the first period. Senior Rob Liggio (Canton, N.Y.) made a strong rush down the left wing and slid a nice pass to Payne who tapped it past Wakefield for a the first score of the night.

Niagara came back and knotted the game at one goal apiece when Joe Baldinelli scored just 36 seconds into the second period.

Wakefield finished with 36 saves for Niagara.

Earlier in the day the all-ECHL awards were announced and Liggio and freshman defenseman J.R. Lafferty (Williamstown, N.J.) were named First Team All Stars, senior forward Darren Camp (Canton, N.Y.) made the Second Team and Lafferty and freshman Thomas Freeman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) were named to the all-Rookie Team.

Payne and Giczewski along with sophomores Michael Pittman (Amarillo, Texas) and Terry Bradford (Londonderry, N.H.), and freshmen Chris Ypsilantis (Budd Lake, N.J.), Isaiah Patterson (Potsdam, N.Y.), and Freeman were named ECHL Academic All-Stars