Pittsburgh, Pa. - In front of one of the largest crowds of the year, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team ended the home portion of its 2009-10 home slate in Clearview Arena.  Despite holding a one goal lead for nearly the entire contest, the Purple Eagles rallied with three scores late in the third to stun the Colonials, 3-1 on Senior Night.

After honoring the four seniors of the Class of 2010, RMU jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Ron Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa. / Indiana Ice) netted his eighth of the season off assists from Brock Meadows (White Rock, B.C. / Wayne State) and J.C. Velasquez (Clarkson, Mich. / Green Bay Gamblers) at the 15:09 of the opening period.

At the end of the first session, Robert Morris held a 14-8 advantage on shots.

In the second, the Colonials enjoyed three power play opportunities but came up empty handed on all of them as the second period ended with RMU still leading, 1-0.  Both the Colonials and Purple Eagles tacked on 11 shots in the middle frame.

Midway through the third period, RMU's narrow margin proved to not be enough as Tyler Gotto knotted the game at one-all with 11 minutes remaining the the contest.

Deadlocked with just two minutes to go, the Purple Eagles managed to come up with the game winner when Egor Mironov put Niagara on top, 2-1, for the Purps first lead of the night.

Trying desperately to tie the game and force the contest into overtime, the Colonials pulled goalie, Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers), with one minute to go.

Even with the extra attacker, Robert Morris could not find a much-needed second tally.  With 15 seconds left, the Purple Eagles hit the back of the empty net to close out their, 3-1, come from behind win.

Ostergard made 25 saves while the Colonials edged Niagara on shots, 34-28.

Robert Morris (10-17-5 ; 6-8-3 CHA) will bring the regular season to a close tomorrow evening when the team completes the second half of the home-and-home series with Niagara. The puck is set to drop at 7:05 p.m. in Dwyer Arena