MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Niagara Purple Eagles took the No. 20 Robert Morris Colonials to the wire and got another stellar effort from Jackson Teichroeb, but lost a tight regular season finale 2-1 on Saturday night at 84 Lumber Arena.
 
Phil Nasca got the Purple Eagles (5-29-4; 5-19-4 AHA) on the board in the second period to tie the game at 1-1. Brock Edwards took a pass from Lawrence Smith and fired a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle. Nasca was camped in front and tipped the shot inside the far post for his third goal of the season.
 
Robert Morris (22-7-5; 19-5-4 AHA) added its power-play goal eight minutes into the third period to take a 2-1 lead. They were able to hold on through the final 90 seconds when the Purple Eagles had pulled Teichroeb for the extra attacker and were buzzing in the offensive zone.
 
"Everything was there as far as a play-off atmosphere goes and we got what we're looking for out of our team; we battled to the bitter end," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Unfortunately on the power-play we hit a crossbar and a post in the third period  and their power-play was opportunistic. The season is over and we're pretty excited that we're playing our best hockey of the year."
 
Teichroeb made 36 saves on the night after posting 35 on Friday. The penalty kill unit went 4-for-5 while the power-play was held to 0-for-7.
 
It was the Colonials that struck first eight minutes into the game. The Purple Eagles had to kill off back-to-back penalties to Stanislav Dzakhov early in the game, but were able to find momentum as the frame went on and narrowed the shots on goal battle to within 13-11 by the end of the first.
 
With Saturday's loss and a win by Holy Cross, the Purple Eagles will head on the road for the opening round of the AHA playoffs for a best of three series against the sixth-seed Holy Cross Crusaders.