PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Despite two goals from senior Mike Gurtler, the Mercyhurst College men's hockey team saw its two-game winning streak come to an end with a 3-2 setback to Robert Morris on Friday evening in an Atlantic Hockey Association matchup at the RMU Island Sports Center.

The Lakers, who fall to 13-13-3 on the season and 11-10-1 in AHA action, saw Gurtler even the slate twice before RMU's Chris Kushneriak scored the eventual game-winner with 8:21 to go in the second period.

Robert Morris built a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Trevor Lewis and Adam Brace sandwiched around a score from Gurtler. Lewis broke the ice when he took a cross-crease feed from Chris Crichton and tapped it in on the doorstep with 1:04 elapsed. Gurtler made it a 1-1 game just over 15 minutes later, knocking home sophomore Grant Blakey's rebound on the rush at 16:37.

Brace restored the lead with 58 seconds to play, deflecting in a shot from Meadows in front of the goal.

After the break, both teams closed out the scoring by exchanging goals in the second.

Gurtler knotted the game at two on a play that started with freshman Nate Jensen deep in Laker territory. Jensen took the puck away from a Colonial forward while on the penalty kill and fed it to Blakey, who took it down ice before firing a shot at goaltender Brooks Ostergard. The Colonial netminder made the save but saw the rebound go right to Gurtler, who buried it from the left circle at 1:33.

Kushneriuk, however, broke the deadlock when he found the back of the net on a fastbreak at 11:39.

Robert Morris and Mercyhurst played fairly even, with the Colonials holding a slim 30-29 edge in shots. Senior Ryan Zapolski turned aside 27 of those attempts, including one on a penalty shot. Ostergard, meanwhile, also made 27 stops and helped hold the Lakers scoreless on one man-advantage opportunity. RMU finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play.

Both teams close out the two-game series on Saturday, Feb. 12 with a 7:05 p.m. contest at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.