Pittsburgh, Pa. ? Nov. 15, 2008 ? The Robert Morris University Colonials, under the direction of third-year head coach Nate Handrahan dropped their first conference contest, 3-2, to the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday evening at the RMU Island Sports Center. Freshman Brianna Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / NCCP Raiders) netted her sixth goal of the season and senior Jenny Monteleone (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Flames) tallied her first career goal.

Robert Morris put the first score on the board at 8:10 in the first period during a power-play opportunity. Niagara tried its best to keep the puck on the Colonial side of the ice during Robert Morris' extra-man advantage, but Robert Morris was able to push the puck down the ice and immediately went on the attack. Delaney found a pass from sophomore Whitney Pappas (Evergreen, Co. / Belle Tire) and senior Kristen Miles (London, Ontario / London Devilettes) to record the first goal of the game.

Senior netminder Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, Ohio / Ohio Flames) finished the first period with five saves, while Niagara goalie Jenni Bauer ended the period with eight. Both squads were even with three power-play advantages apiece.

It didn't take long for the Colonials to fire things up in the second period. At 6:51 in the second period Monteleone fired the biscuit from inside the blue line and found an opening passed Bauer for her first career goal to boost the Colonials score to 2-0. Seniors Kathryn Traynor (Toronto, Ontario / Toronto Jr. Aeros) and Ali Proodian (Canton, Mich. / Honeybaked U-19) dished out the helper.

The Niagara Purple Eagles answered back a little over three minutes later when junior Mary McKinnon took a pass from senior Ashley Riggs and freshman Leah Whittaker to net her fourth goal of the season.

Three minutes later, Niagara evened the score up with a short-handed goal. Sophomore Autumn Stuntz intercepted the puck from the Colonials and took off on a breakaway to face McLaughlin one-on-one and was able to slip the puck in at 13:33. Kara Edwards assisted on the play.

Within the first three minutes of the third period, Niagara edged past the Colonials when Riggs tallied her seventh goal of the season and put the Purple Eagles up 3-2. Despite a solid effort by the Colonials, they were never able to connect with the net to tie things up in the third giving Niagara their first conference win.

Bauer ended the night with 36 saves, while McLaughlin added 25. Both teams connected on one power-play opportunity, with Niagara going 1-7 and Robert Morris going 1-9.

The Robert Morris Colonials are now 5-7-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the CHA. The Purple Eagles improve their record to 2-9-1 overall and 1-1-0 in league competition. The Colonials return to the RMU Island Sports Center next Friday to take on RPI at 7:35 p.m.

--sidga@rmu.edu--