Pittsburgh, Pa. – Robert Morris University men's hockey suffered its first loss since a December 17th overtime defeat to Mercyhurst, at the hands of the Air Force Falcons, 6-2.
 
Daniel Leavens and Luke Lynch scored the Colonials goals, extending Leavens point streak to six games and marking back-to-back games with a goal for Lynch.

Air Force put the puck past Francis Marotte early in the game, one of two goals in the first period. The Falcons top line connected for the goal by A.J. Reid, making it 1-0 Air Force, 1:39 into the game. With just under five minutes to go in the first, Jordan Himley scored off the rush on an end to end play as he came out of the penalty box and drove in for the goal.

Down 2-0, the Colonials owned the ice in the second period. Leavens cut the Falcons lead in half just 49 seconds into the the frame, cleaning up the puck in front of the net. Eric Israel's shot was redirected off Alex Tonge and Leavens cashed in for his ninth goal of the year, his eighth point in the last six games. Leavens has 31 points on the season, second most in Atlantic Hockey.

Air Force quickly responded, less than three minutes later. A faceoff win came directly to Dylan Abood, who blasted the puck through traffic and into the net to push the Falcons lead back to two. The Colonials made a change at goaltender, bringing Dalton Izyk in for his first game action since an injury in the first period of the November 5th game against Ohio State. Marotte finished the game with 12 saves on 15 shots.

Robert Morris went to work on the power play, firing four shots on their lone opportunity in the period, with one landing in the back of the net. Rob Mann launched a shot from the blue line that hit Lynch's stick as he was attempting to get out of the way of the puck, and landed in the Air Force net, making it a 3-2 game. Brady Ferguson earned an assist on the play, increasing his points total to 36 on the season.

Trailing 3-2 going into the third, Robert Morris mustered just seven shots in the final period, after controlling the second period with a 15-7 shots advantage. Evan Feno scored a power play goal and Brady Tomlak added one at even strength before Pierce Pluemer chipped in an empty-net goal. Izyk made 14 saves on 16 shots in his return to the ice.

Robert Morris outshot Air Force 35-33 and the Falcons held the advantage in faceoffs 31-29. RMU and Air Force were both 1-for-3 on the power play.

The Colonials (13-7-3, 9-6-2 AHC) and Air Force (14-7-4, 11-4-2 AHC) face off against Saturday night at 7:05pm at 84 Lumber Arena at the RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. The first 800 fans will receive an RMU Rally Towel, presented by Jailhouse Saloon. 

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