MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Niagara men’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Robert Morris Colonials on a windy Friday afternoon.

“At the moment we seem to be taking one step forward and two steps back,” head coach Dermot McGrane said. “We got a couple of guys back healthy last week, and then lost five more in the last three days. It’s hard to find consistency when the lineup is constantly changing.”

Niagara (1-4-1) lost the contest three minutes into the first overtime period. With Robert Morris (3-4-0) on the attack in NU’s penalty box, Niagara was ruled to have handled the ball in the box, resulting to a penalty kick for the Colonials. RMU’s Neil Shaffer scored his second goal of the game when he shot it to the opposite corner where Michael Moran was diving to.

The Purple Eagles jumped on the board first in the eighth minute on a route one attack. Moran launched his goal kick 70 yards up the field and Liam Gilbert flicked a header over the RMU defense. Carl Haworth collected the ball and chipped it over RMU goalkeeper Toba Bolaji, who was charging out of his net, for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.

The Colonials, however, answered immediately. In the 12th minute, Shaffer netted his first goal of the game with a near post finish on a solo effort. In the 29th minute, Michael Malone nearly put NU back in front, but his shot coming on an end of a corner kick was hit directly to the keeper. One minute later, the Purple Eagles put the ball in the back of the net, but was called for offsides.

Niagara is back home for its next game on Wednesday, Sept. 29 against Binghamton at 7 p.m.