Moon Township, Pa. –  Robert Morris University chipped away at the Niagara University lead but ultimately could not close the gap, falling to the Purple Eagles 13-7.

Niagara got off to a hot start, scoring 3 goals in the first 4:00 of the game. Jessica Karwacki responded with a pair of goals to make it a one-goal game, her third and fourth tallies of the season, both unassisted.

The Purple Eagles wouldn't let the Colonials come too close to their early lead, scoring four consecutive goals to extend their lead to 7-2, before Emily Jamison came back to pull RMU within four. Brittany Byerly dished the ball to Jamison who snapped home the goal as time expired in the first half.

But Niagara came out strong once again, scoring the first four goals of the second half, before Dana Davis notched her first goal of the season to make it an 11-4 game.

Freshman duo Kerri Sayrafe and Maggie Stella each notched their first career goals in the final six minutes of the game. Sayrafe's goal came from Davis who picked up her second point of the afternoon with the assist. Davis went on to score her second goal of the game with 1:43 remaining, unassisted. Stella's first career tally was on a free position shot with 42 seconds left in the game.

Niagara led the Colonials in shots on goal by a 16-12 margin and the Purple Eagles made five saves to RMU's three. Robert Morris committed one less turnover than NU but struggled to win draw controls (NU 13-7), ground balls (NU 13-8) and clears (NU 11-14, RMU 4-7). Jessica Karwacki won five of the Colonials seven successful draw controls to extend her NCAA-best career mark.

The Colonials (0-2) travel to face the University of Cincinnati on Sunday for a 1:00 pm matchup.

WATCH: Robert Morris at Cincinnati, Sunday, February 28 1:00pm
LIVE STATS: RMU vs. Cincinnati