Nov. 16, 2007

Stats

Rochester, NY - Junior goaltender Matt Lundin celebrated his return to the lineup with 39 saves, freshman forward Brandon Coccimiglio recorded his first career hat trick, and Mercyhurst used four third period goals to defeat Rochester Institute of Technology 6-3 Friday night in an Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) contest at the Frank Ritter Arena. The Lakers moved to 2-8-1 overall and, more importantly, improved their conference mark to 2-2-1. The Tigers, the 2006-07 regular season conference champions, dropped to 3-5-0 and 2-3-0 respectively.

Despite being outshot 16-7, Mercyhurst led 2-1 after a period. Lakers' senior forward Ben Cottreau began a string of four successive power play goals in the game when he beat RIT netminder Louis Menard (3-4-0) with his 5th of the season at 5:05. Junior Brett Robinson and freshman Scott Pitt assisted. Tigers' senior winger Simon Lambert countered with his third of the year at 8:38 before Coccimiglio notched his second goal of the year at 14:47 with help from Cottreau and Pitt.

The Tigers regrouped in the middle period to take a 3-2 lead after forty minutes. Lambert cashed his second goal of the game at 4:22 of the second and senior Ricky Walton picked up a Mercyhurst turnover deep in the Lakers' end and beat Lundin with the first of five straight even strength markers at 16:56. RIT outdistanced the Lakers 11-7 in second period shots.

The third period was all Mercyhurst. Coccimiglio scored his second of the game at 2:23 to get the Lakers even at 3-3. The contest then remained deadlocked until less than six minutes remained when sophomore winger Neil Graham scored what proved to be the game-winner at 14:15. Graham was assisted by sophomore linemates Nick Vandenbeld and Chris Risi. Junior defenseman Bobby Philips followed suit with his first of the year 25-seconds later and the Lakers' had the game's first two-goal advantage. Cottreau and Bowman picked up assists. Coccimiglio concluded the scoring with his third of the game, into an empty net, at 18:54. Sophomore defenseman Matt Fennell helped.

RIT outshot Mercyhurst 15-8 in the final period and 42-22 over 60 minutes. Lundin made 39 saves in his first action since an opening-game 2-1 loss to Ohio State in Dayton. The win was his first in a Mercyhurst uniform. He had eight while playing two years for Maine.

Although the Lakers trail the all-time series 19-12-3, they have won the last two meetings (both in Rochester) and are 3-3 against the Tigers since RIT moved to Division I two years ago.

The line of Cottreau, Coccimiglio, and Bowman produced four goals and three assists. Meanwhile, Phillips registered his second career goal, Graham collected his second career game-winner, and Pitt recorded his third 2-point game in his last five.

Mercyhurst's six goals represented a season high and the two power play goals marked the seventh straight game the team has produced at least one. The four third-period goals represented a one-period best this season and the most since October 21, 2006, when the Lakers rallied with four in the final period for a 7-5 win at Holy Cross.

The two teams will conclude the weekend series Saturday night at 7:05.