MOON TOWNSHIP, PA. - Junior netminder Adam Avramenko (Strathmore, Alb.) made 38 saves to earn his second career shutout, with the Niagara men's hockey team (2-8-2, 1-1-1 CHA) defeating CHA rival Robert Morris (3-9-1, 1-3-1 CHA) 5-0 at Clearview Arena on Wednesday night. Niagara is now unbeaten in its last three games.

Avramenko turned away everything the Colonials could mount on Wednesday night, earning a shutout in the same place where he picked up his first-career whitewash, on Feb. 28, 2009.

"It feels real good to get the shutout, but I really have to give credit to my defensemen," Avramenko said. "The defense cleared out the bad bounces and allowed me to see the puck well."

For the second consecutive game, Niagara dented the scoreboard first. Halfway through the opening 20 minutes, senior Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) extended his point-streak to six games, when he skated from the near boards to the left of Colonials netminder Brooks Ostergard and fired it over his left shoulder, which was hugging the post for the 1-0 lead. Fellow senior Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) upped his point-streak to six games as well on the Moran goal, providing an assist on the play.

Niagara scored two beautiful goals in the middle stanza, extending its second period scoring streak to all 12 games this season. With the Purps shorthanded, the puck was dumped around their endboards and into the neutral zone,  where Olidis scooped it up and scored on a slapshot from the left faceoff circle to go up 2-0.

Moran would help give the Purple Eagles a 3-0 lead when his cross-ice pass banked off the offensive boards, with freshman Brent Vandenberg (Burlington, Ont.) going around his check, getting to the puck and beating Ostergard on the backhand for his fifth goal of the season.

Niagara would up its lead to 4-0 in the third period, when junior Bryan Haczyk (Nutley, N.J.) ripped a shot that hit the crossbar, but fellow junior David Ross (Bowmanville, Ont.) was on the doorstep to slam home  the rebound for his first goal of the season, beating new Colonial netminder, Eric Levine. The Purple Eagles rounded out scoring late in the third period, when a seemingly innocent wrist shot from sophomore Sam Goodwin (St. Louis, Mo.) went off of the glove of Levine and in the net.

"From start to finish, we rolled four lines and really got after it on the forecheck," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "We spent a lot of time at the top of their crease and guys got rewarded because of it. Avy [Avramenko] was solid as well, allowing us to get our legs under us and get rolling."

With the victory, Niagara is now 10-3-1 all-time in its last game before the Thanksgiving holiday, while the Purps also have extended its unbeaten streak at Clearview Arena to six games, going 2-0-4 at the home of the Colonials since Nov. 10, 2007. The Purps are back in action when they take the first of two trips to Minnesota, to take on CHA rival Bemidji State on Dec. 4 and 5.