PITTSBURGH -- For two periods Friday night, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team looked as good as it has all season.

The Colonials shrugged off a pair of early Sacred Heart goals to tie the game, and came within inches of going ahead before the visitors pushed back at the end of 40 minutes. With a power play at the start of the third, RMU was in prime position to coordinate a thrilling victory on home ice.

But after Sacred Heart killed off the Colonials' advantage to start the final frame, the game irrevocably turned. RMU conceded three goals in the span of five minutes to allow the Pioneers to claim their first-ever win at the Island Sports Center, a 6-2 decision to start this two-game Atlantic Hockey set.

Junior Luke Lynch had a well-deserved two-point night and freshman Aidan Spellacy scored the tying goal midway through the second, but the Colonials (9-17-1, 8-12-1 AHA) were unable to follow up in dropping their fourth in a row.

"I thought for 40 minutes we were outstanding," head coach Derek Schooley said. "We played with pace. We played with energy. We played down in their end. ... We got impatient with the process. We got impatient with putting the puck in (their zone). We got impatient with doing things the way we had been doing it. Instead of sticking to what worked for us, we got outside of what we were doing,"



Schooley added that, by the Colonials' own stat-keeping methods, his team had a 15-7 advantage in scoring chances through two periods, despite trailing by one. Instead of being heartened by that, an inability to generate a third goal in the opening minutes of the third was the beginning of the end.

Sacred Heart's efficiency on the power play didn't help. Twice in a span of 2 1/2 minutes, the Pioneers (9-13-3, 8-9-2 AHA) converted man-up goals less than 20 seconds after RMU penalties began. Nick Boyagian's right-circle wrister restored SHU's two-goal edge at 7:05 of the third, followed by a big one-time blast from Austin McIlmurray at 9:16 that put the game on ice. The Colonials' own power play came up empty on five opportunities, ending a streak of four games with at least one PPG.

"The game got away from us in the third period," Schooley said. "They got a couple really quick (power-play) goals and it took a lot of wind out of our sails. ...  The wheels fell off the bus pretty quickly."

There was plenty of gas in the engine for the majority of the night, with RMU trying to stay ahead of Sacred Heart for seventh place in the super-tight AHA standings. The Pioneers had won three of five coming in, with 1-0-1 weekend against second-place Air Force still fresh in their memories. 

In other words, motivation was high for both sides, but particularly for a Colonials team trying to get over the hump at home. RMU had dropped three straight on Neville Island and hadn't strung collected more than two standings points in a home weekend series this season.

It seemed those trends would continue when Sacred Heart claimed a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into Friday's tilt, the third of the season between the two AHA foes. Pioneers junior Vito Bavaro netting both early tallies, burying the rebound of Boyagian's stuff attempt at 2:28, then snapping a wrister between Francis Marotte's legs to cap a partial breakaway at 5:35.

But Lynch showed some serious spark throughout the first, ripping off three shot attempts while the Colonials tried to jump start the comeback. Fittingly, it was Lynch who broke the ice, shoveling Alex Tonge's short net-mouth dish over Sacred Heart freshman goalie Josh Benson with 2:40 left before the first intermission. Lynch's seventh of the season was the result of good puck hunting after an initial rush by Tonge, as the goal was created after a scramble at the side of the net.

RMU kept the pedal down to start the second, successfully completing the two-goal rally when Spellacy redirected Alex Robert's pass from the corner high into the cage at 11:10. Lynch picked up the secondary assist, giving him a multi-point night for the seventh time this season and the second time in four games.

Shortly thereafter, Tonge had a pair of opportunities to put the Colonials on top for the first time, but two near misses kept the score at 2-2. That is, it was 2-2 until the Pioneers' Matt Tugnutt pounded in the rebound of a one-timer from Austin McIlmurray with five minutes left in the second.

Regardless, the Colonials were lively through the first two periods, looking every bit like a team capable of reversing recent fortunes. The attack was percolating and Sacred Heart had to fight for its chances against Marotte at the other end. 

A half an hour later, though, the Pioneers were throwing an impromptu party after breaking a 10-game losing streak on the Island. Sacred Heart had never won against RMU in any location coming into the season, but now it holds a 2-1 lead in the season series heading into Saturday's rematch at 4:05 p.m.

"We've got to be better," Schooley said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've won a lot of hockey games in this league for the past five years."

Saturday's game will be RMU's final home game for four weeks. The Colonials have next weekend off, followed by road series at Holy Cross and R.I.T. before closing the regular season with a home-and-home set against Mercyhurst.