Schenectady

Union College senior captain Mike Vecchione says he has scored four goals in a game before, but it is safe to say the stakes were higher Saturday when the center pulled off the feat in leading the Dutchmen to their second straight win.

Vecchione also added an assist to go with his plus-5 rating for the game as Union took control early against Niagara University and posted a 5-2 nonleague win over the Purple Eagles at Messa Rink.

"Not since men's league in the summer," Vecchione said when asked if he'd ever scored four goals in a game. "It was fun. The puck always seems to be on my stick and the guys are finding me and I'm just trying to bury as many chances as I got. I missed on a couple, but the guys on the bench are always positive and telling me to keep my head up."

Vecchione got Union (4-1-1) going in the first period when he outskated Purple Eagles defenseman Larry Smith to a loose puck in the Niagara zone and zipped around Smith before deking goaltender Guillaume Theiren and moving the puck to his forehand for a goal into the wide-open net.

Following the ensuing faceoff, Vecchione struck again when he knocked home a rebound following J.C. Brassard's shot after picking himself up off the ice and scoring from the slot.

"After you score a goal, you want to get right back into the O-zone and get back in on the goalie," Vecchione said. "I thought we did a great job of that. J.C. got a great shot through the middle of the ice and I got a tip on it. It definitely got the boys going."

Sophomore goaltender Jake Kupsky made the biggest of his 23 saves late in the first period when he denied Sean King during a two-on-one rush for Niagara (0-3-2).

"As the puck came out of the zone, there was a bounce of the puck and it sent them two-on-one," Kupsky said. "My job is to come out there and make the save if he shoots it, come out and shut down the angle."

Following Kupsky's save, Union took the puck back up the ice and made it 3-0 at the 18:19 mark of the period when Sebastian Vidmar took a pass from Vecchione and beat Therien for his third goal of the season.

In a game that bogged down at times due to eight penalties being called on each team, Union coach Rick Bennett liked what he saw from his top line of Vecchione, Vidmar and Spencer Foo.

"I don't know how much flow there was to it due to penalties, just a lot of stop and start," Bennett said. "That was our best line tonight. I wouldn't say all lines were going tonight. We had one line going and they played well."

Leading 3-1 in the third, Vecchione completed the hat trick just 10 seconds after he left the penalty box when he picked up a loose puck at center ice and drove the net, beating Therien with another forehand shot, prompting Union fans to cover the ice with their hats in tribute to Vecchione's effort.

Vecchione, who won 20 of 29 faceoffs, became the first Union player since Kelly Zajac on Oct. 9, 2010 to score four goals in a game with an empty-netter on his 11th shot on goal with 8.9 seconds to play.

Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union