Pittsburgh, Pa. - For the third consecutive game, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team saved its best for late.

After trailing league-rival Niagara 2-1 early in the second period, RMU controlled play the rest of the way to earn a 5-2 victory Friday night at 84 Lumber Arena in their Atlantic Hockey Association opener.

Brandon Denham, Cody Wydo and Greg Gibson had two points each for the Colonials, who outshot the Purple Eagles 47-23 for the game and 35-10 over the final two periods. This home-and-home series concludes Saturday night in western New York.

In addition to markers from Denham, Wydo and Scott Jacklin, freshman forward Brady Ferguson and sophomore defenseman John Rey scored their first RMU goals as the Colonials improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2010 and just the second time in program history. 

"I'm really pleased with how we finished the game," said head coach Derek Schooley. "I was proud of our effort. I don't think our work ethic was any different than it's been. We had a lot of confidence in the situation we were presented with and we have a lot of guys who have been there and know what to do." 

Junior goalie Terry Shafer stopped 21 Niagara shots to earn his second victory of the season, highlighted by a denial of Albin Karlsson's shorthanded breakaway that would've tied the score midway through the third. Shafer had to be sharp throughout to outdo his counterpart Adrian Ignagni, as the game featured several golden scoring opportunities for both sides.

"We had some chances but their goalie kept them in the game for a long time," Schooley said. "But I thought Shafer was really strong again. He was outstanding despite facing only 23 shots."

The two league rivals met for the first time since March 21, when RMU earned an overtime triumph in the AHA semifinals on its way to the program's first conference championship. Friday's game was tied 2-2 entering the third period, with the Colonials on a five-minute power play after Niagara captain Matt Dineen was penalized for contact to the head against RMU's Daniel Leavens.

RMU couldn't convert on the advantage, but senior center Jacklin buried a slick cross-rink pass from Jeff Jones for the go-ahead score at 7:07. Jacklin has three goals in three games and 37 in his Colonials career, moving him past last year's captain Colin South for sixth on the program's all-time leaderboard.

"We had a great next shift after (the power play) with the David Rigatti line," Schooley said. "That us a little momentum and we had to take it from there. We did a great job taking over the game even though we didn't convert on the power play."

The RMU power play earned redemption with 7:19 left. After misfiring on their first four opportunities, the Colonials connected when Rey's drive from the left point sailed through Denham's screen and into the net.

"We got into our style of game," Denham said. "We got more physical with (Niagar) and that helped us get pucks to the net."

Six minutes after Rey broke through, Wydo saucered his second goal of the season into an empty net. With that clinching score, the senior sniper tied Denny Urban for the third-most points in Colonials history (112).

Just like they did last weekend while sweeping Lake Superior State, the Colonials gradually found their game as the evening moved along. RMU has outscored its opponents 6-0 in the third period this year; the margin is 8-1 after the first frame.

"We weren't quite ready for the pace of the game in the first period, but we tightened up some things," Schooley said. "You saw the results in the second and third periods. Only giving up 10 shots over the last two periods is pretty impressive defensively."

The score was 1-1 after an end-to-end first period that could've yielded a few more goals. Shafer and Ignagni traded big stops, with the former flashing out his leg pads and the latter denying Wydo with a lunging glove save from close range. 

Niagara grabbed the lead about eight minutes in on Derian Plouffe's redirection of Isaac Kohls' right-circle shot, but Denham answered four minutes later by tipping Evan Moore's low blast under Ignagni. Late in the period, the Purple Eagles thought they took the lead during an extended two-man advantage, when a shot rattled off the post and out. A video review confirmed the call on the ice: no goal, and a reprieve for the Colonials.

"We just figured out that we need to commit to our systems and start playing our game," Denham said. "We didn't focus early on and turned over too many pucks. That made it an up-and-down game at first."

RMU surrendered its first shorthanded tally of the season at 5:06 of the second period when Hugo Turcotte sneaked behind the defense, but from then on the Colonials owned the puck. They also got some help to draw even, as Ignagni turned the puck over behind his cage, allowing Rigatti to take it and center for Ferguson to push into the vacated net.

The Colonials go for a fourth consecutive win to start the season at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Lewiston, N.Y.