Pittsburgh, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's hockey team returned to Clearview Arena on Friday night for its third CHA match up of the 2008-09 season. Although the Colonials carried 2-1 lead into the final twenty minutes, turnovers and penalty minutes proved to be costly for Robert Morris. Sloppy play allowed the Purple Eagles to pick up three goals in the third period on their way to a 4-2 defeat of RMU.
The Eagles lit the lamp for the first time of the night at the 11:29 mark of the first period. After a RMU turnover at center ice, the puck was picked up by Armando Scarlato and carried into the zone. Although Scarlato's shot attempt was saved, Ryan Olidis was able to sneak the deflection past Colonial goalie, Wes Russell (Springfield, Ill. /Quinnipiac) to net his third goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, the Colonials would deadlock the game at 18:29 in the first. Sophomore forwards Scott Kobialko (Spruce Grove, Alberta / Camrose Kodiaks) and Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms), deep in Purple Eagle territory, connected with senior Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers). Towsley then blasted a shot past Niagara's Juliano Pagliero on the glove side. The game tying goal was his fourth the season and third in just two games.
Strong goaltending from both teams continued to dominate play into the early portion second period. However, the Colonials capitalized on their second power play of the night to take a 2-1 lead over the Purple Eagles. Freshman James Lyle (Nepean, Ontario / Smiths Falls Bears) took a hard shot into a Purple Eagle causing the puck to bounce onto the stick of senior Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Ca. / Bay State Breakers). Margott then found Longpre next to the net where he was able to sneak past Pagliero for the score at 7:56.
Russell tallied nine saves in the second while Paliergo picked up seven. The Purple Eagles continued to outshoot the Colonials holding a 22-17 edge on shots.
Just under two minutes into the third period, the Purple Eagles would tie the game at two all with Wes Consorti's second goal of the season off ticktacktoe passing from freshman Brian Dowd and sophomore Paul Zanette.
Two minutes later while playing shorthanded, Niagara's Ted Cook put the Purple Eagles up by one while tallying his second of the year as he put a one timer through Russell's five hole. Assists on the third goal were awarded to juniors Chris Moran and Tyler Gotto.
After the goal, Russell was replaced by freshman Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) due to an equipment malfunction.
The Niagara momentum kept rolling when Gotto picked up his first goal of the season and second point of the night to extend the Purple Eagle lead to 4-2. The Colonials turned over the puck at center ice, allowing Niagara to put on the pressure in RMU's zone. Gotto, from high on the left side, fired the puck past Ostergard for the goal. Helpers on the goal went to Dowd and senior Vince Rocco.
At 8:23 in the third, Russell resumed his position between the pipes.
The Colonials piled up eight penalties for 24 penalty minutes in the third making a comeback effort a difficult feat.
Overall, Russell accumulated 26 saves during his 52 minutes of play. Niagara outshot Robert Morris 32-20 and 10-3 down the stretch in the third.
The Colonials (3-8-2 ; 1-1-1 CHA) will travel to Cleveland, Ohio tomorrow for their second match up of the season against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Quicken Loans Arena. The game is set for a 4:05 p.m. tilt before the Lake Erie Monsters take on the Iowa Chops in the double header feature.
