BOX SCORE

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (12/19/10) – The Colgate men's hockey team tallied the first goal, but saw Robert Morris score three unanswered goals to send the Raiders home with a 3-1 loss on Sunday night at Clearview Arena.

Colgate (3-12-1) got its lone goal from senior captain Brian Day (Danvers, Mass.) with the assists going to junior Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) and senior Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.). Rookie Eric Mihalik (Avon Lake, Ohio) got his second-straight start and made 24 saves in the loss between the pipes.

Robert Morris (12-4-2) saw Adam Brace tally two points with a goal and an assist, while Chris Kushneriuk and Ron Cramer also added goals in the win. Denny Urban had a team-high two assists. Brooks Ostergard returned to the starting goalie position and came up with 40 saves to extend the team's win streak to six games.

Colgate got on the board first for the ninth time this season with a power play goal from Day. It came on Colgate's third man advantage of the first period and was at the 8:28 mark. Smith took a shot that was saved by Ostergard, but the puck came free to Day and he put it home to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Brisebois was also given an assist on the play for his fifth point in the last three games.

Robert Morris fired back with 2:35 left in the first to tie the game at 1-1. Colgate had just killed of a Colonial power play and Kushneriuk stayed with the rush into the offensive zone and jammed home a rebound on a shot from Denny Urban. Assists were given to Brace and Urban.

The Colonials took their first lead of the game with 2:16 left in the second frame. Cramer rushed up ice with Urban on a 2-on-1 after Colgate had a 3-on-2 advantage of its own. Urban put a shot on Mihalik that he saved, but couldn't cover the puck and Cramer hit the open net. Urban and Trevor Lewis were credited with assists on the play. Colgate had two grade-A chances towards the end of the period. The best came from sophomore Matt Firman (Fayetteville, N.Y.) had a great chance, but Ostergard saved his shot off the shoulder.

Brace scored again 2:25 into the third period to give Robert Morris its largest lead of the weekend with a 3-1 advantage, which they didn't give up. Brace and Nathan Longpre skated into Colgate's zone on a 2-on-1 and Brace netted his second of the night. Scott Kobialko was given an assist on the goal, along with Longpre.

Colgate had the advantage in shots with 41 on the night, while RMU had 27 on net. The Raiders scored their lone goal on the power play and finished with seven opportunities. Colgate kept the Colonials off the board on four chances with the extra man.

The Raiders will be off for the next 11 days and they are back in action on Dec. 30 at the Ledyard National Bank Classic at Dartmouth. Colgate takes on No. 5 Boston College at 4 p.m. from Thompson Arena.

NOTES: Colgate is now 3-6-0 when scoring first … Colgate is 3-4-0 against Atlantic Hockey this season with one more possible matchup with Mercyhurst at the Ledyard National Bank Classic at Dartmouth in two weeks … first time since the first road trip that the Raiders were swept in a road weekend … Smith passed assistant coach Brad Dexter on the Colgate all-time scoring list with his assist on Day's goal … Day has 52 career goals and is just two points away from 100 points in his career.