NIAGARA UN., N.Y. – The men’s hockey team (18-11-4, 9-4-4 CHA) ended its recent slump in a big way, defeating a Robert Morris team (13-16-1, 9-8-0) that had its number earlier this season, 7-3, Friday at Dwyer Arena.

The win, coupled with Bemidji State’s loss at Wayne State, creates a two-way tie atop the College Hockey America standings between the Beavers and the Purple Eagles. Since Niagara owns the tie-breaker over BSU, the Purple Eagles can clinch their second-straight CHA regular-season title with a win in the series finale.

The Purple Eagles extended Niagara’s nation-high home unbeaten streak to 16 games (15-0-1), dating back to last season, in front of a Dwyer Arena crowd of 1,608, the second largest crowd of the season and fourth highest in the 11-year history of the program.

"Trying to play out of a funk, it really takes hard work," Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder said, "and we did that tonight. When you are moving your feet and throwing the puck on net, good things happen."

Freshman Chris Moran (Buffalo, N.Y.) broke out of his slump with two goals and a pair of assists. It was the first two-goal game of his career and second four-point performance of the season. The forward leads the CHA with 31 helpers.

Sophomore Ted Cook (Hogansburg, N.Y.) continued his power-play prowess, scoring his nation-leading 20th goal with a man advantage. His 30th tally of the season started the scoring barrage for the Purple Eagles.

Junior Matt Caruana (Orono, Ont.) quickly made it 2-0 when he corralled a bouncing puck and flung it toward the net, beating Colonial goalie Joe Tuset. The Colonials made a switch in net, and responded with a pair of goals to even the score at 2-2 before the first intermission. Moran picked up assists on both first period goals.

Niagara helped get itself back on track in the middle frame by scoring two goals in 50 seconds. Moran flipped the puck toward the net and got results as the puck trickled through new goalie Christian Boucher’s five-hole. Freshman Egor Mironov (Thornhill, Ont.) tossed the puck toward the net from behind the cage as classmate Nate Bostic (Holden, Mass.) deflected it in under a minute later. Mironov ricocheted one in off the post later in the period for a 5-2 lead.

After a RMU power-play goal in the third period by Sean Berkstresser, Moran added an empty-netter, making the score 6-3. Sophomore Armando Scarlato (Toronto, Ont.) fnetted his first goal of the season to finalize the scoring at 7-3. Freshman Ryan Olidis (Uxbridge, Ont.) picked up his first collegiate point with an assist.

Sophomore Juliano Pagliero (Dalroy, Alb.) got back to his solid net play, making 32 saves in his 14th win of the season.

The Purple Eagles drop the puck with Robert Morris, Saturday at 7 p.m., looking to extend the nation’s only home unbeaten streak in their final game of the season at Dwyer Arena.