Jan. 20, 2007

Stats

Erie, Pa. - Junior forward Ben Cottreau scored twice but freshman forward Nick Vandenbeld's second period shorthanded goal proved decisive as Mercyhurst put back-to-back wins together for the first time since late October in turning back Bentley 5-2 Saturday to sweep the weekend series. The Lakers improved to 6-16-5 overall and to 6-12-3 in Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons fell to 9-13-1 and 8-10-0 respectively.

Bentley was assessed a minor penalty in the game's first minute and junior Ryan Toomey gave the Lakers the early lead with his eighth goal of the season at 49 seconds. Cottreau scored his first goal nearly 15 minutes later to give Mercyhurst a 2-0 margin after a period. The Lakers owned a 10-6 shot advantage in the first twenty minutes.

Bentley cashed the fifth of five straight power play chances and cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second when Jeff Gumaer collected his 15th goal of the season. But Vandenbeld answered with his fifth of the season, his first career shorthanded marker and first career game-winner, at 10:19. The Falcons had 13 of the 19 second period shots on goal.

The Lakers, who've had periodic final period troubles this season, put the game out of reach when Cottreau (pp) and freshman forward Cody Collins scored a pair of goals in the first 65 seconds of the third. The Falcons scored a late power play goal, courtesy of Marc Zwicky, at 17:37 to produce the final score. The Falcons outshot Mercyhurst 13-6 in the third and 32-22 for the sixty minutes.

Mercyhurst senior goalie Jordan Wakefield, the game's second star, turned aside 30 Bentley scoring attempts in picking up his third win of the season (3-8-2) and tenth of his career (10-16-2). Sophomore counterpart Nick Moise saw his season record fall to 1-1-0.

Mercyhurst, which tallied six power play goals in the two-game sweep, finished the night 2 for 5. The Falcons were 2 of 10.

Cottreau, the game's first star, celebrated his return to the lineup this weekend with six points in the sweep and extended his scoring streak to five games. Cottreau had missed seven successive games before the Bentley series. Tommey, who also assisted on a goal, had his first multiple point game since an 8-3 win at AIC December 2 and picked up the game's third star award. Senior Scott Champagne, who had missed five straight games before Friday, had a combined four assists in the back-to-back wins.

Mercyhurst is idle next weekend. The Lakers will return to action February 2 and 3 when they make their first-ever trip to Air Force for a pair of Atlantic Hockey games. The Falcons won two earlier meetings in Erie by scores of 5-3 and 3-1. Mercyhurst will return to the Ice Center February 9 and 10 to host Sacred Heart.