WORCESTER, Mass. – The men’s hockey team has a blueprint to defeating Holy Cross. Fall behind early, and come storming back.

It worked last season in a 5-4 overtime thriller, and it worked Saturday night as the Purple Eagles bested the Crusaders 6-2 to earn their first victory of the season. Niagara fell behind 2-0 in the first period and scored six unanswered goals in the victory.

"In the first period, I felt that we played very well five-on-five, but we spent 13 minutes on the penalty kill," Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder said. "We felt that once we got one, we would be alright. Then they came one shift after another."

Sophomore Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) had his second three-point game of his career with a pair of goals and an assist. The forward’s first goal, the game winner 2:16 into the final frame, came off a deflection in front of the net. Mironov led an odd-man rush, but his initial shot was denied by freshman netminder Adam Roy. The Holy Cross defense tried to clear the puck, but freshman defeseman Derek Foam (Mississagua, Ont.) held it in and fired a shot on net. Mironov was camped in front and tipped the shot over the goalie’s right shoulder.

Mironov added an insurance goal three minutes later on the Purple Eagle power play, and the goal-scoring barrage was on. Junior co-captain Vince Rocco (Woodbridge, Ont.) added two third period tallies to help freshman goaltender Adam Avramenko (Strathmore, Alb.) earn his first career victory. Avramenko weathered the early Niagara penalty trouble, making 26 saves in the win.

Junior Ted Cook (Hogansburg, N.Y.) and sophomore Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) brought Niagara back in the second period. Cook’s goal, a power-play tally, was very similar to what the CHA Preseason Player of the year did 21 times a year ago. No. 25 camped out to the goalie’s right and received the puck off two quick passes from Mironov and classmate Les Reaney (Ceylon, Sask.). Cook popped the puck over Roy’s shoulder to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Reaney ended the contest with three assists.

Moran’s goal was a measure of hard work. The sophomore and his linemates, Cook and senior co-captain Matt Caruana (Orono, Ont.) led an odd-man rush toward the Crusader goalie. Roy stopped the first three efforts, but Moran got a stick on the puck to knot the score at 2-2.

The Purple Eagles gave up two first period power-play goals to Holy Cross after receiving six penalties in the opening stanza. The first came four minutes in on a five-on-three opportunity, and the second came off a screen on the man advantage.

Niagara returns home for its home opener, Thursday, Oct. 18, against Bowling Green. The pre-game festivities begin outside Dwyer Arena at 5:30 p.m., and the puck drops at 7:05 p.m.