The Niagara-Wheatfield Falcons’ quest for a state championship on the ice came to an end Saturday night at the hands of Rochester’s McQuaid Knights.

N-W fell behind and couldn’t find the tying goal in the third period of a 3-2 loss in the Division I regionals at Rochester Institute of Technology.

“It was a good game. We out-chanced them, really,” said N-W coach Rick Wrazin. “We had a lot of loose pucks right in front of their crease that just didn’t go in.”

Section V-champion McQuaid opened the scoring five minutes into the first period on a wrister from Christian Leonardi, then added a second goal just over three minutes later when Josh Tortora’s point shot made its way through traffic, past N-W goalie Dominic Tallarico and into the back of the net.

The Falcons, Section VI champions for the fourth straight season, had chances to cut into the score on a power play halfway through the first but couldn’t convert.

Minutes later, Dakota Becker got N-W on the board, halving the score. Early in the second, Becker had a chance to tie the game on a breakaway but McQuaid goaltender Connor Raeman came up with the stop.

The Knights took a 3-1 lead in the second period off the stick of Max Paroda, who deposited his own rebound.

The Falcons were outshot 11-6 in the second, but strong penalty killing kept the game alive. N-W killed off a major penalty to stay alive.

“They outplayed us early, but as the game went on I thought we played better,” Wrazin said. “We didn’t play our game in terms of puck possession early on.”

Wheatfield came out firing in the third, outshooting the Knights 10-4. Raeman stood tall on a strong N-W powerplay, but the Falcons were able to bring the score within one again when James Stenzel drove a slap shot through Raeman and into the net.

The Falcons pulled Tallarico late but were unable to put away the tying goal.