Moon Township, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team, lead by three power-play goals, defeated the 19th ranked Niagara Purple Eagles, 4-2, Saturday night at the RMU Island Sports Center. With the victory, the Colonials improve to 5-3-0 overall and to 3-1-0 in College Hockey America action, while the Purple Eagles drop to 6-3-0 overall and to 2-2-0 in CHA play.
The Colonials outshot the Purple Eagles, 11-6, in the first period but neither team could get on the board going a combined 0-for-5 on the power-play. The Colonials attempted zero shots on their two power-play chances, while Niagara totaled three shots.
The second period featured three goals, two of which coming from the Colonials. Robert Morris got on the board first with a Sean Berkstresser (Apollo, Pa. / Pittsburgh Forge) power-play goal. Berkstresser banged his own rebound home beating Niagara goalie Juliano Pagliero 43 seconds into the second period. Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) and Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) picked up the assists on the play. Senior goalie Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads) kept Niagara off the board at the 7:50 mark of the second period by stopping a 2-on-1 chance after a Vince Rocco shot. Cruthers beat Pagliero on a breakaway just over nine minutes after the game first goal, shorthanded to give RMU a, 2-0, lead.
Ted Cook cashed in with a power-play goal, after Denny Urban took a five-minute checking from behind penalty, at the 16:42 mark, Egor Mironov and Les Reaney picked up assists on the play.
Robert Morris put two more goals on the board in period number three. David Boguslawski (Cottage Grove, Minn. / Tri-City Storm) made the score 9:34 into the period on the power-play, with Jake Sparks (Evergreen, Colo. / C. Texas Blackhawks) and Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) picked up the assists on the play. Les Reaney got Niagara to within one goal at the 14:42 mark, making the score 3-2, but Cruthers scored his fourth goal of the season on an empty net, giving RMU a 4-2 victory.
Boucher stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced, while Pagliero made 37 saves on 41 shots for Niagara.
Robert Morris went 3-for-8 on the power-play, while Niagara went 1-for-11. The Colonials also outshot the Purple Eagles 41-23.
The Colonials return to action on Friday, November 16 as they host Ohio State at the Mellon Arena as the final game of the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.
Notes: Over the last four games, two games against Wayne State and Niagara each, the Colonials have only allowed 2 power-play goals against in 23 chances, while they have converted on 7-of-21 of their power-play chances for a 33.3% conversion rate.
