NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - In a game full of wild momentum swings, the Niagara men's hockey team (15-8-2, 12-6-0 AHA) dropped its first contest in five outings, dropping a 6-5 nailbiter to the visiting Robert Morris Colonials (15-8-3, 10-6-3 AHA) in overtime.

With Niagara down 5-3 early in the third period, the Purps had to respond. Halfway through the final stanza rookie Ryan Rashid ripped in a point shot from sophomore blueliner Dan Weiss to come within one. With 90 seconds left in regulation, senior Paul Zanette tied the game on the man-advantage, tapping home a rebound from a Rashid point shot that hit the post.

Niagara's fifth overtime contest of the 2010-11 season wasn't kind to the Purple Eagles, as the first shot of the extra session ended the game, a slapshot from Brandon Blandina that beat freshman netminder Cody Campbell through his legs.

"The momentum swings were wild tonight," Niagara Head Coach Dave Burkholder said. "Their goalie made one more save than us tonight. This is a tough pill to swallow."

After a scoreless first period, the two teams combined for six goals in the second period, five of which were scored during the opening 10 minutes of the middle stanza. Sophomore Giancarlo Iuorio put home his own rebound to put Niagara up 1-0, a lead short-lived as the game would be tied jut 1:42 later. The Colonials would take a 2-1 lead off the stick of Cody Crichton, but that lead would also be short-lived, as freshman Patrick Divjak would tie the game just 19 seconds later.

Less than a minute later, senior Bryan Haczyk would extend his consecutive games point streak to 21, after putting Niagara ahead by a 3-2 count, a lead which would be negated by Nathan Longpre in the waning minutes of the second period.

Tom Brooks struck twice for the Colonials in a span of 1:04 early in the second period to give Robert Morris the two goal cushion. Senior Paul Zanette ended the game with three points (1-2-3), while Haczyk had a goal and an assist.

Niagara will take its one-point lead on Robert Morris to Pittsburgh, Pa. for the final regular-season meeting between these two teams, on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.