NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Brent Vandenberg (Burlington, Ont.) notched his first collegiate multi-point game, as he helped the Niagara men's hockey team (1-8-2, 0-1-1 CHA) to a rousing 4-1 victory over the visiting RPI Engineers (7-5-1, 3-1-0 ECAC) at Dwyer Arena on Wednesday night.

Vandenberg now has a three-game point streak, accumulating five points in that span,  while teammates Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) currently have five-game point streaks of eight points and seven points, respectively.

"Tonight, I was in the right spot at the right time," Vandenberg said. "We have to play tough in front of the net, since all goals won't be pretty, but they will count just as much on the scoreboard."

Vandenberg gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the opening stanza, when Olidis fed the freshman a picture-perfect centering feed for the easy doorstep goal. Niagara led by the slimmest of margins after the opening 20 minutes, while deadlocked in shots with the Engineers at six.

RPI would tie the game approximately halfway through the second period, when Paul Kerins deflected a shot from the point past junior netminder Adam Avramenko (Strathmore, Alb.). Niagara would respond by scoring twice in a span of 1:23 to go up 3-1 heading into the dressing room. Niagara went ahead 2-1 after Vandenberg scored another tap-in goal, this time the centering feed coming from freshman Giancarlo Iuorio (Richmond Hill, Ont.). The Purps took a 3-1 when Iuorio capped off his first career multi-point game, by scoring his first-career goal, with assists from Vandenberg and freshman Tyler Matthews (Buffalo, N.Y.).

Senior Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) caught a deflected puck out of the air, put it down, skated into the slot and fired a wrister that beat Engineer netminder Allen York for a commanding 4-1 lead early in the third period.

"To come out and play a full 60 minute game against a good team feels great," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Our third period really put a big exclamation point on our effort. It truly was our best period of the game."

Vandenberg finished with two goals and an assist, while Iuorio finished with a goal and an assist. Moran and Matthews finished the game with two assists apiece. Moran's two assists now give him 80 on his career, putting him in fourth place on Niagara's all-time list, 15 behind leader Baret Ehgoetz.

The Purple Eagles are still undefeated on Wednesdays after the tilt against RPI, upping their record to 2-0, with the first Wednesday game played during Niagara's inaugural season, a 12-3 win over Hobart. Niagara now turns its attention to next Wednesday, when the Purple Eagles travel to Pittsburgh to take on CHA rival Robert Morris, the night before Thanksgiving.