NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Behind five special-team goals, including two apiece from David Ross (Bowmanville, Ont.) and Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) paced the Purple Eagles (3-5-1; 0-0-0 CHA) to a 6-2 victory over the RIT Tigers (3-5-1; 2-1-1 Atlantic Hockey) in front of 1,405 at Dwyer Arena on Friday night.

Head coach Dave Burkholder was happy with how his team performed under pressure against the Tigers.

"We got a couple goals early," Burkholder said. "The right guys got it going for us tonight."

Niagara's penchant for scoring early goals came through just seven minutes into the first period, as Moran and Ross came in on RIT netminder Louis Menard on the two-on-one, with the Buffalo native sending a seeing-eye pass over to Ross for the power-play tap-in. After the Tigers would tie it at one late in the period, Moran would add his second point of the night, putting the Purps up 2-1 on the power-play with one second left in the first period.

The Purple Eagles had all the momentum going their way, scoring three goals in the first six minutes of the second period to go up 5-1. Ross would add his second on the night with the man advantage after a Tyler Gotto (Calgary, Alb.) shot was knocked down and senior captain Vince Rocco (Woodbridge, Ont.) faked a shot, before getting it over to Ross. Just a minute later, Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) would score on another two-on-one, receiving a pass from Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) and roofing a slap shot over the glove side of Menard for the 4-1 lead. Moran would add his second tally of the night to go up by four, again on the man advantage. RIT would notch just one goal in the second period, as Niagara led 5-2 through two periods of play.

Sophomore Paul Zanette (Nobleton, Ont.) would add Niagara's first short-handed goal of the season, as on a breakway with under four minutes remaining in the game, Zanette took a backhand shot, which beat Tigers netminder Menard five-hole.

Senior Juliano Pagliero (Dalroy, Alb.) made 24 saves in the victory, including several highlight reel saves.

"Pagliero played strong tonight, he played like a senior," coach Burkholder said.

Moran and Ross finished the night with two goals and an assist, while Rocco notched three assists. The senior captain needs just four points to become the 11th Purple Eagle to enter the 100-point club.  

The Purple Eagles are back in action against cross-town rival Canisius in a Battle of the Bridge match-up, to take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Dwyer Arena. Fans in attendance will receive white shirts to wear, as Niagara will whiteout Canisius.