The gritty centerman nearly tallied a first period hat trick as the Mocs remained undefeated with a 7-3 win over the Tupelo T-Rex in the Snake Pit.

Dougan did earn his hat trick in the third period.

" We definitely clicked as a line," Dougan said. "We got a couple of practices and games under our belts and I felt real comfortable out there as a whole team."

Dougan was the beneficiary of some brilliant passing in the first period as he recorded two of the Mocs' three first period goals.

Dorian Anneck sent a crisp pass to Kelvin Solari, who fed a perfect pass to Dougan in front of the net for a shot past T-Rex goalie Sonny Mignacca to again put the Mocs in front in the first period of a game.

Monroe, which beat Tupelo 6-2 last Friday, has never trailed this season in its three games.

" A lot of players played great games," Mocs coach Brian Curran said. "But we were up 7-0 and they got one goal and we relaxed."

Anneck again had a hand in giving the Mocs a 2-0 lead. He collected a loose puck at center ice and advanced into Tupelo's zone. He then rifled a pass in front of the net that Dougan put in for a goal.

Matt Cressman made the Mocs advantage 3-0 with a goal just 41 seconds later. He took a feed in front of the net on two more crisp passes from Lukas Smital and Bill McKay and knocked it past Mignacca for the goal.

His goal gave the Mocs three goals on just seven shots at the time.

While the offense was doing its part, the Mocs penalty-killing units had plenty of ice time. Combined with the solid netminding of Clint Owen, who got his second start of the season against Tupelo. the Mocs got another strong effort in goal.

The team had a great effort," Owen said. "We knew they were hunting for their first win and we don't want to give up a loss in our home.

"We just have to work on the mental lapses. I had a mental lapse, and it was my fault. We were up 7-0 and missed a couple of lapses. I have to maintain my focus for the entire 60 minutes."

Matt Cressman added the Mocs on a power play, late in the second period. Cressman took a pass from Anneck, who recorded his third assist with the goal. Dougan also got credit for an assist on Cressman's goal, giving him three points as well.

Cressman added another power play goal less than a minute into the third period, giving the Mocs a 5-0 lead. Less than two minutes later Sean Freeman took a pass from Lucas Miller on a 2-on-1 chance and went topshelf for 6-0 lead.

Dougan then gave Monroe a 7-0 lead on his third goal, again assisted by Anneck and Russ Parent. Dougan stole the puck in front of the net and slipped it past Mignacca, who was then pulled for Henrik Smangs.

"Dorian has good hands," Dougan said of the right winger who tallied four points. "When he has the puck you try and get open and he'll usually hit you."

Three late goals by Casey Hungle and Todd Norman prevented back-to-back shutouts by the Mocs.

"I don't want to downplay the way we played, but they have to understand we have to realize it's a 60-minute game," Curran said.