PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Mercyhurst College men's hockey team extended its winning streak to four games by defeating 20th-ranked Robert Morris, 3-1, Friday evening in an Atlantic Hockey Association contest at the RMU Island Sports Center.
With the victory, the Lakers improve to 4-4-1 on the season and 4-2-0 in conference play, while the Colonials fall to 7-3-1 overall and 6-3-1 in league action. Additionally, Mercyhurst moves to 1-0-1 against ranked opponents this season and 2-0-1 against AHA teams recognized in the national polls over the past three seasons.
Freshmen
Taylor Holstrom and Kyle Just and senior
Jeff Terminesi all scored for the Lakers, while senior
Ryan Zapolski recorded a season-high 50 saves and moved his record to 4-1-0.
In a fast-paced, physical battle, both teams traded goals in the first period to take a 1-1 tie into the break. Mercyhurst fell behind early as Robert Morris' Brendan Jamison found the back of the net when his shot from the top of the right circle snuck in between Zapolski and near post at 5:52. The Lakers rallied back shortly after on the power play, as Holstrom deflected in classmate
Nick Jones' shot from the point at the 13:46 mark.
After the break, the Lakers broke the tie and took the lead for good when Terminesi deflected a shot from Just past Colonial goaltender Brooks Ostergard with 4:54 showing on the clock. Freshman
Daniel O'Donoghue set up Just on the play to earn the secondary assist and stretch his pointstreak to four games.
From that point, Mercyhurst relied heavily on Zapolski as the Colonials unleashed a flurry of shots, holding a 35-10 edge through the final two frames, before Just capped the game with an empty-net goal in the final seconds of the third period.
Robert Morris finished the game with a 51-23 advantage in shots and went 0-for-6 on the power play. Mercyhurst converted 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.
The Lakers continue conference play next weekend when American International visits the Mercyhurst Ice Center for a two-game series, beginning on Friday, Nov. 26 at 7:05 p.m.
