Dec. 2, 2005

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst spotted Bentley a 2-0 first-period lead before roaring from behind to defeat the Falcons 7-4 Friday night before a boisterous crowd of nearly 1300 fans at the Ice Center. The Lakers, who snapped a three-game losing streak all against non-conference foes, improved to 8-6-0 overall and to 7-2-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association. The Falcons, who hadn't played since November 19, dropped to 5-6-2 and 3-2-2 respectively.

Bentley showed no signs of rust in scoring on two of its nine first-period shots against Mercyhurst junior goaltender Mike Ella. After Falcons' starting goaltender Ray Jean made some early sparkling saves, the Falcons got a goal from freshman forward Paul Scalici at 6:09 and a second marker from freshman forward Anthony Canzoneri at 19:36 to take a 2-0 lead at intermission.

The wide open second period featured four power play goals, three by Mercyhurst, and a shorthanded lamplighter by Bentley, who took a 4-3 lead to the dressing room. Mercyhurst senior captain Scott Reynolds got the Lakers on the board with his sixth of the season at 3:03. Senior assistant captain Dave Borrelli got into the act with his first of two and fifth of the season at 5:35 to tie the game. Sophomore forward Ben Cottreau followed four minutes later with his sixth of the year to give the Lakers their first lead at 3-2. But the Falcons silenced the crowd with an equalizing power play goal by senior Ryan Lessnau at 11:33 and a go-ahead shorthanded strike by senior Paul Markarian at 16:46. Mercyhurst outshot Bentley 13-12 in the middle period. Junior forward Scott Champagne registered his 14th helper of the season during the period to extend his own program-record scoring streak to 33 games. He added a second assist later in the game.

The third period was all Mercyhurst. The Lakers got a pair of power play goals, one from sophomore forward Ryan Toomey, his fifth of the year that tied the game at 8:08, and the eventual game-winner from junior Kyle Gourgon, his sixth of the season, at 17:23. The Falcons pulled Jean twice for extra attackers down the stretch, but Mercyhurst sealed the victory with empty net scores from Borrelli and junior defenseman Denis Kirstein at 18:43 and 19:49 respectively. Kirstein's marker was his first of the campaign.

Mercyhurst tallied five times in ten tries on the power play, just two short of the program's one-game record of seven set nine years ago against Villanova. Bentley finished one of six with the man advantage. The Lakers used a 19-6 shot advantage in the third to outshoot the Falcons 43-27 overall.

With the win, Mercyhurst improved to 17-4-2 lifetime against Bentley with round two of four meetings this season scheduled for Saturday night at 7:00pm.