COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. – The Mercyhurst College men's hockey team ended the first half of the season on a high note Saturday evening, defeating Atlantic Hockey foe Air Force, 3-1, in front of another packed house of over 2,000 at Cadet Arena. With the victory the Lakers move to 9-9-2 on the season and, more importantly, tie the Falcons for first place in league play with a 9-5-2 record.

Three different players found the back of the net as the Lakers hit the .500 mark for the first time this season. Juniors Brandon Coccimiglio and Steve Cameron scored their 10th and ninth goals of the season, respectively, while senior assistant captain Neil Graham added his third of the year late in the third period.

Junior Ryan Zapolski kept the Falcons at bay with 36 saves - 21 of which came in the third period. He improves to 9-8-2 on the season and 6-0-1 in his last seven starts.

After getting outshot, 52-29, in Friday's game, the Lakers turned the tables on the Falcons by holding a 29-15 edge through the first two periods of play and taking a 1-0 lead on Coccimiglio's goal at the 2:19 mark of the second.

Air Force started to let the puck fly in the third, outshooting the Lakers 22-6, but two more Laker goals and Zapolski's solid play turned aside any comeback. Cameron doubled the lead to 2-0 with just 54 seconds elapsed, while Graham made it a 3-0 game at 15:23. Falcon forward Jacques Lamoureux broke up the shutout with his 11th of the season at 16:16.

Air Force finished the game with a 37-35 advantage in shots and went 0-for-4 on the power play. Mercyhurst was also shutout with the extra skater, going 0-for-7.

Mercyhurst will have the next three weeks off before returning to ice against 12th ranked Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Jan. 2 in the first game of the 2010 Catamount Cup Tournament, hosted by the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt.