March 11, 2006

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst Lakers broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period and went on from there to defeat Canisius 7-2 in front of over 1,200 fans Saturday night in an Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal game at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers (22-12-1) will travel to Worcester, Mass. next weekend for the Atlantic Hockey semifinals against Bentley while Canisius ended its season with a 10-23-2 mark. Mercyhurst won all five meetings with the Golden Griffins this season with the four regular season games having been decided by a combined five goals.

The teams traded first period power play tallies with junior defenseman Jamie Hunt putting the Lakers on top at 2:58 with his 11th of the year and Canisius freshman forward Tommy Flikeid knotting the contest with his 3rd of the year at 7:40. Mercyhurst outshot Canisius 9-8 in the opening twenty minutes.

The Lakers regained the advantage in the middle stanza when senior forward Dave Borrelli scored a power play goal of his own, his 27th marker of the season, at 9:57. But Flikeid quieted the crowd just 13 seconds later when he found a loose puck in the goal mouth to beat freshman Tyler Small. But that would be the last hurrah for the Golden Griffins.

Both teams failed on breakaways in the second as both Borrelli Canisius junior winger Michael Cohen were stopped. Freshman forward Chris Trafford put Mercyhurst ahead to stay with his 12th of the year at 15:56. Canisius senior defenseman Tim Songin nearly tied the game late in the period, but his blast from the right point hit the pipe to Small's right.

The floodgates opened early in the third when Mercyhurst sophomore forward Ryan Toomey scored a back-breaking, shorthanded goal less than a minute into the final stanza. Before the period ended, junior forward Kyle Gourgon scored at even strength at 2:42, Toomey scored his second of the game, a power play hit, at 11:48 and Borrelli finished Canisius and the scoring with a shorthanded empty-net lamplighter at 17:38. The Lakers outshot Canisius 45-31 in handing freshman netminder Dan Giffin (6-11-1) the loss. Small stopped 29 shots in improving his record to 14-5-1.

Mercyhurst finished with five special teams' goals: three power play (3-11) and two shorthanded. The Golden Griffins were 1 of 10 with the man advantage. Referee Brian Panek assessed 31 minor penalties in the contest, 16 to Canisius.