The Mocs came out with abandon and took it to the visiting Alexandria Warthogs in a 5-1 win as Dorian Anneck recorded a hat trick and Sean Freeman chipped in two goals.

"That's my job," Anneck said. "What I do best is produce points and goals. That's my strong point offensively. It's just one of those things that I have to my advantage."

Monroe showed speed and toughness as the Mocs outshot Alexandria 29-19 in the game, both of which Curran, who made a successful debut as Mocs coach, wanted to see.

"I saw some good things and it was a good performance," Curran said. "The guys played hard, even though we've only been on the ice for four days. They played defense really well, but we've still got a lot to work on."

The Mocs controlled the first period, outshooting Alexandria 12-5, and the score reflected the play. Monroe took a 2-0 lead behind goals less than three minutes apart midway through the period with a Freeman one timer and Anneck's first goal.

The 2-0 lead stood at the end of the period, but fellow first-year coach Mike Zruna charged his troops up, and the Warthogs came out with more of a punch in the second period.

After a hooking penalty on Kelvin Solari just 1:29 into the period, Alexandria was on its second power play of the night. Centerman Bill Weir stole a pass and buried it top shelf, past goalie Rob Murdoch, who had taken over at the beginning of the second period.

Following the Warthogs' score, Monroe seemed a bit shell shocked, but Murdoch got the team's bearings back with a spectacular save. He faced a 2-on-1 situation and was nearly faked out by Todd Chinnick, but sprawled out to make the save and prevent the tying goal.

The Mocs then regained their two-goal lead at the 15:53 mark of the second period as Anneck again found the back of the net. This time on a Mocs power play, as he captured a rebound from a Jason Smith blast and bounced it off the Alexandria goaltender for a 3-1 lead.

The lead stood until well into the third period when Freeman tallied his second goal of the evening. He shot between the legs of the Alexandria goalie to give Monroe a 4-1 lead.

"He got his nose in there and paid the price," Anneck said. "He did what it took and collectedthe fruits for his labor."

Anneck then iced the game with an unassisted goal at the 15:49 mark of the third period.

"It's real easy to do my job, because I have a great group of guys around me," Freeman said. "That makes me want to go out and work hard for them."