ERIE, Pa. – Senior Nick Vandenbeld scored three goals, including the game-winner, to lead the Mercyhurst College men's hockey team to a 6-3 victory over Bentley Saturday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers, who snap a three-game losing streak, improve to 12-14-2 on the season and 12-8-2 in Atlantic Hockey play. Bentley, on the other hand, falls to 10-11-3 overall and 8-8-2 in the conference.

Vandenbeld marked his first-career hat trick and joined junior Brandon Coccimiglio as the only Lakers to score a natural hat trick this season by scoring three times in a row in the second period.

With the Lakers holding a 2-1 lead, Vandenbeld tormented the Falcons by scoring all three goals within a six minute and 33 second span. His first made it a 3-1 game when he took a long pass from sophomore Kevin Noble and beat goaltender Kyle Rank with a sniper shot from the left circle at 11:50. Less than four minutes later, he connected off a cross-crease feed from senior Neil Graham to make it a three-goal advantage at the 15:22 mark. Vandenbeld then completed his hat trick by knocking in a loose puck in front of the net with 1:43 remaining in the frame.

Mercyhurst outshot Bentley 15-13 in the period, with Vandenbeld registering four of the attempts.

Outside of the middle stanza, each team had a period where they outscored the other 2-1.

Mercyhurst jumped on the Falcons in the first period as senior Chris Risi and junior Mike Gurtler both found the back of the net. Risi notched his third of the season on a centering pass from sophomore Patrick Goebel at the 5:13 mark. Following a Falcon score at 5:58, Gurtler connected on a similar play set up by sophomore Derek Elliott at 18:23.

Elliott later added his second goal of the series and seventh of the season sandwiched around two Bentley scores in the third.

Overall, Mercyhurst held a 31-26 advantage in shots and converted 1-for-2 on the power play. Bentley finished the game 1-for-4 with the extra man. Junior Ryan Zapolski earned the win with 23 saves and moved his record to 12-12-2 on the season. Rank, meanwhile, registered 25 saves.

Mercyhurst returns to action in two weeks with games at No. 1 Denver on Friday, Feb. 5 at 7:37 p.m. and another at No. 8 Colorado College on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:07 p.m.