Jan. 12, 2008

Stats

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's hockey team won its fifth-straight Atlantic Hockey game by completing a weekend sweep of Army, 4-2, Saturday night at the Ice Center. The red-hot Lakers have won five out of their last seven games, with the only blemishes coming at the hands of nationally-ranked Michigan Tech last weekend in Erie. Mercyhurst is now 7-13-2 overall, 7-5-2 in AHA, while Army dropped to 6-11-3 and 6-6-2, respectively. With Mercyhurst's win coupled with Bentley's loss at Holy Cross, the Lakers are in fourth place by themselves.

Mercyhurst opened the scoring on a goal by sophomore blueliner Matt Fennell with under two minutes left in the opening period, assisted by junior Matt Pierce and senior Kerry Bowman. Army came right back in the second period when Zach McKelvie lit the lamp.

Half a minute later, freshman Steve Cameron seemed to come out of nowhere and beat Army goaltender Joe Spracklen on a semi-breakaway. The Lakers got some much-needed breathing early in the third period when the Lakers dumped the puck down the ice for a line change. Spracklen played the puck, but passed it to Laker Mike Gurtler inadvertantley and Gurtler made him pay, short-handed.

That goal would prove pivotal for Mercyhurst as Army cut the deficit to 3-2 when Luke Flicek scored the Black Knights' second power-play goal of the evening, this time on a five-on-three advantage.

Fennell scored his second goal of the contest on the power play at the 18-minute mark to complete the scoring.

Army outshot the Lakers 37-31, including a 17-9 advantage in the third period, but freshman Ryan Zapolski, making his first start since a 6-2 loss at defending national champions Michigan State on Nov. 10, stood strong in the crease, making 35 saves for his second win of the season. Spracklen stopped 27 shots in the losing effort.

In a penalty-riddled game in which Army was 2-for-12 on the power play while Mercyhurst was 1-for-4, the coaching staff praises the defensive unit for the Lakers this weekend, who not only killed off 17 of 19 Army power-play chances, but also cleared three of four two-man advantages over the weekend. The defensive unit included: freshman Jeff Terminesi, senior Jamie Coghlan, sophomore Cullen Eddy, junior Bobby Phillips, sophomore Matt Fennell, and junior Kirk Medernach.

Mercyhurst will now hit the road for six games, beginning with Connecticut on Jan. 18-19 at 7:05 p.m. The Lakers will return home to host the number one team in Atlantic Hockey, Air Force, on Feb. 8-9 at 7:05 p.m.