Niagara University, NY ? For the third consecutive game, the Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team matched up against a conference foe in hopes of gaining ground in CHA conference race. Although the Colonials were tied at two going into the third period, the Purple Eagles scored two late goals to propel Niagara to a 4-2 victory.
"We played hard and we bounced back from a rough weekend," said head coach Derek Schooley. "At the end of the day, they were more opportunistic around the net and Pagliaro was excellent. That was the difference"
Fifteen minutes into the first period, CHA scoring leader Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) gave the Colonials an early 1-0 lead with his 14th goal of the season. The assist went to Margott's line mate, sophomore Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) who notched his 20th assist with the helper.
Just one minute later, the Purple Eagles answered with Vince Rocco's seventh goal of the year scored on a power play at 16:07 of the first period. Chris Moran and Tyler Gotto picked up the assists on the goal.
With the score tied at one at the end of one, the Colonials found themselves behind 6-11 on shots. Freshman Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) made his second start of the season and recorded 10 saves in the first 20 minutes.
Seven minutes into the second period, Margott would strike again to put Robert Morris back up by one. The goal, scored at 7:53, was assisted by Longpre and senior defenseman, Jake Obermeyer (Chanhassen, Minn. / Tri-City Storm).
After pulling their goaltender for an extra attacker, the Purple Eagles once again deadlocked the contest with Bryan Haczyk's score. Scored at 15:59 in the second period, the assists were credited to Ted Cook and Dan Baco.
The Colonials and Purple Eagles continued to battle, but Niagara finally broke the tied score with Egor Mironov's ninth goal of the 2008-09 season. Baco and Moran both picked up their second assists of the night on the game winning goal at 8:27 of the third.
Niagara was able to seal the victory when Moran tallied his third point of the night as he put the Purple Eagles ahead, 4-2. Baco added an assist on the goal for his third helper of the contest. Travis Anderson was awarded a secondary assist.
Robert Morris outshot Niagara 39-20 in the final two periods of play and 45-31 overall. Ostergard picked up a total of 27 saves in only his eighth career appearance. The Colonials failed to continue their power play scoring streak as they went zero-for-five in power play opportunities.
The Colonials (5-16-4 ; 1-6-2 CHA) will face off against the Purple Eagles again tomorrow evening at Dwyer Arena. The contest is set for a 7:05 p.m. start.
