Feb. 5, 2006

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst scored the first four goals of the game, then had to hang on to defeat Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Ice Center. The Lakers improved to 16-10-0 while the Tigers, 3-2 losers at Bowling Green Saturday night, dropped to 6-19-2.

Senior forward Dave Borrelli and freshman forward Chris Trafford scored late in the first period to give Mercyhurst a 2-0 lead. Borrelli cashed his team-leading 18th at 16:45 and Trafford beat RIT sophomore goalie Jocelyn Guimond (5-18-2) on a power play at 19:05 for his 10th of the year. The Lakers outshot the Tigers 13-6 in the opening twenty minutes.

The lead ballooned to 4-0 when senior forward Mike Pochatek notched his third on a rebound at 6:24 of the second and junior winger Scott Champagne followed suit with his 13th of the year at 7:41. The Tigers took their timeout at that point and things slowly began to change.

Before the middle period ended, the Tigers got on the board when junior forward Tristan Fairbarn cashed the first of three RIT power play goals. Senior forward Steve Farrer made it 4-2 at 2:05 of the third and senior defenseman Marc Hyman cut the lead to 4-3 with another extra-man marker at 10:24. But Mercyhurst freshman goalie Tyler Small (8-3-0) and his defense allowed no further damage. RIT pulled its goalie in the last minute of play but could not get the equalizer.

Mercyhurst hurt itself with eleven minor penalties, including six straight infractions from early in the second period through early in the third. The Tigers rallied from a 13-6 shot deficit in the first to outshoot the Lakers 33-25. RIT converted 3 of 9 power plays while Mercyhurst finished 1 of 5.

Champagne's goal and assist give him 99 points for his career, tied with senior captain Scott Reynolds. Both will look for the elusive 100th point next week.

The meeting was the first between the teams since the 1998-99 season when both were members of the ECAC West. Thie Tigers had been unbeaten in the last nine meetings (7-0-2) until Sunday's setback. RIT still enjoys a 16-10-3 lead in the all-time series. Both RIT and Air Force are set to join Atlantic Hockey in the 2006-07 season.

Sunday's game was the final non-conference match of the season for the Lakers. Mercyhurst, now third in Atlantic Hockey behind second-place Sacred Heart and first-place Holy Cross, will travel to Bentley for a pair of games next weekend before returning to the Ice Center for a two-game showdown with the Crusaders on February 18 and 19.