LEWISTON, N.Y. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey team finished out the regular season with a 5-2 loss Saturday evening to the Niagara Purple Eagles at Dwyer Arena.
The Colonials finish the season 11-18-5 (11-12-5-1 AHA) and will host a first-round matchup in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament against Holy Cross next weekend beginning on Friday, March 6 at The Island.
Nick Prkusic scored both goals on the evening for Robert Morris, his team-leading 10th and 11th of the season.
It took RMU all of six minutes Saturday night to do what they tried but failed to do Friday in Lewiston: figure out a way to solve Niagara goalkeeper Chad Veltri.
After a few big saves early on had it looking like a repeat of Friday night from Veltri, the junior Prkusic quickly put an end to his shutout streak of nearly 70 minutes, picking up a pass as the trailer in the slot before ripping a hard wrist shot that beat the freshman keeper clean glove side for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Daniel Mantenuto had Veltri beat again just two minutes later, but his point-blank effort from the top of the crease somehow sailed over the net and out of harm's way.
They nearly pushed it to 2-0 after getting an early power-play opportunity for a Niagara too many men on the ice call, however a loose-puck scramble in front of the net somehow stayed out despite both Prkusic and Mantenuto poking away at an outstretched Veltri.
A superb kill of a Justin Addamo trip rounded out what was a very solid opening period for RMU as they entered the locker rooms with a 1-0 lead.
The Purple Eagles come out flying to start the second, putting together a number of good shifts in the offensive zone that kept the Colonials hemmed inside their own blue line.
Despite the lack of possession, solid d-zone structure on the part oof RMU kept Niagara largely to the perimeter and out of the high-danger scoring areas.
Despite the solid defensive work, another penalty put RMU back on the PK near the halfway point of the second frame. A huge block by Coleman in the slot on a point-blank chance initially kept Niagara from converting, but Jared Brandt eventually evened things up, blasting a one-timer from the top of the right circle low blocker side past Kapelmaster.
They would take the lead less than 20 seconds later after Ben Sokay collected a loose puck in the slot and roofed a quick shot under the bar to make it 2-1.
The tough breaks continued to fall for RMU as a sense of deja-vu set in at Dwyer Arena. Two power-play goals in the span of five minutes broke the game open and gave Niagara a commanding 4-1 lead, the second straight night Niagara managed four goals in the second period.
The third opened with one last, perfect opportunity for RMU to get back in the game. After a Niagara roughing minor put RMU up a man to start the third, a five-minute major on Brandon Stanley for boarding Mantenuto gave the Colonials five minutes on the man advantage, including 50 seconds of a five-on-three.
Prkusic buried his second of the game on the two-man advantage, slipping one past Veltri's toe on a wraparound chance, however RMU could not muster anything else on the major penalty.
Despite playing nearly the entire third in the Niagara end, some desperate defending and a few huge saves from Veltri helped the Purple Eagles hold on long enough to bury the empty-netter and lock up a 5-2 win.
