Moon Township, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team fell to Niagara, 6-3, Friday night. With the loss the Colonials fell to 14-13-3 overall and to 9-6-2 in College Hockey America action, while the Purple Eagles move two points ahead of the Colonials with an 18-9-4 overall record and a 10-5-2 CHA mark.

After a scoreless first period, RMU jumped to a two goal lead 5:40 into the second session. Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) got RMU on the board first with a power-play marker just 1:01 into the period. Jason Towsley (La Salle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) and Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) recorded assists on the play. Urban gave RMU the, 2-0, lead just 4:39 later with Jake Sparks (Evergreen, Colo. / Central Texas Blackhawks) and Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) tallying assists on the play. Niagara went on to score the next five straight goals including four in the second period, giving them a, 4-2, edge at intermission.

Trailing, 5-2, with less than eight minutes remaining in the third period Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) tallied his 20th goal of the season off a Margott pass pulling the Colonials to within two goals of the Purple Eagles. Vince Rocco scored an empty net goal with just 1:27 left in the final session icing the game for Niagara giving them a, 6-3, victory over the Colonials.

RMU outshot Niagara, 37-31, but converted on only 1-of-5 power-play chances while Niagara scored three times on the power-play.

Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads) stopped 25-of-31 shots, while Juliano Pagliero and Chris Moran combined for 34 saves on 37 Colonial shots.

The two teams face-off for the final time in the regular-season tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer Arena.