AMHERST - After suffering an injury in the first game of the season, University of Massachusetts hockey forward Michael Lecomte was itching to get back on the ice as his teammates jumped out to a 4-1 start.

The junior was a big reason why the Minutemen improved to 5-1 Friday night as he scored twice in his first game back. UMass beat Niagara 4-1 before 4,025 fans at the Mullins Center.

"It was really hard," Lecomte said. "I had a really good summer and I came in with a lot of enthusiasm. I was unlucky and got the injury. It was hard for me to come into the rink knowing I wasn't playing.

"To get two goals was really nice. I wasn't expecting that."

The teams will meet again at 2 p.m. Sunday at Dwyer Rink in Niagara, N.Y. Both teams loaded buses after the game. The Minutemen were set to stay in Utica, N.Y., Friday night before finishing the trip Saturday morning.

After a first period that featured plenty of chances and no goals, the Purple Eagles (0-6-1) connected right away in the second when Ryan Olidis banged home a rebound in front of the net to put Niagara up 1-0 just 22 seconds into the frame.

The Eagles might have doubled their advantage if not for UMass goaltender Paul Dainton (31 saves) who robbed Dan Baco as he was crashing through the slot on a 2-on-1.

Lecomte got on the board late in the second. Standing in front of the net, he took a centering pass from Will Ortiz and tapped it by Andrew Hare (29 saves) to tie the game at 1-1 with 7:33 left in the second period.

"It was a great centering pass from Willy behind the cage," UMass coach Don "Toot" Cahoon said. "Michael was very, very poised. Once he collected it, he found the soft spot and shot it by the goalie."

The UMass power play, which was No. 1 in Hockey East (30.6 percent) entering the game, put the Minutemen ahead late in the second when Danny Hobbs redirected a chest-high slap shot by Martin Nolet past Hare to make the score 2-1 with 13 seconds left in the frame.

Neither team had many scoring chances throughout much of the third period as the Minutemen clung to their lead. Niagara called time-out with 1:37 left and a faceoff set to Paul Dainton's left.

The Eagles pulled Hare, but after Niagara won the draw, Lecomte stole a pass near the point and broke through center ice. He flipped it into the open net to make the score 3-1.

Niagara pulled Hare again and David Boehm took advantage with another empty-net goal. The redshirt freshman eluded a defenseman and got his first collegiate goal to close out the scoring.

Cahoon juggled his lines during the game and it paid off. After a disjointed start, the Minutemen played better after the move. Marc Concannon started the game on the first line in place of the injured T.J. Syner, but struggled to get in sync with Casey Wellman and James Marcou.

Hobbs, who was on the second line, moved up and thrived. Shawn Saunders moved into Hobbs' spot alongside Lecomte and Ortiz and added an assist on Lecomte's goal.

NOTES: Freshman Rocco Carzo and sophomore Syner both missed the game with injures.

Sophomore defenseman Matt Irwin's eight-game point streak was snapped.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.