BOX SCORE

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst College men's hockey team rallied from two goals down to tie Atlantic Hockey Association leader RIT 3-3 on Saturday evening at Ritter Arena.

Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Mercyhurst scored twice in the final nine minutes to overcome the deficit and snap a four-game losing skid to the Tigers, who remain in first place in the conference standings with 29 points.

Redshirt sophomore Phil Ginand pulled the Lakers within a goal when he found the back of the net off a pass from senior linemate Ryan Raven on the power play at 11:55. Sophomore Paul Chiasson then cleared the slate with senior Ryan Zapolski pulled in favor of an extra attacker at the 19:00 mark.

Both teams went scoreless through the overtime session, with RIT holding an 8-2 advantage in shots.

Mercyhurst (11-12-3, 9-9-1 AHA) outshot RIT 47-33 for the game but was held scoreless until midway through second period. After the Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Chris Saracino at the 12:07 mark, Chiasson made it a 1-1 game when senior Steven Cameron took a pass from freshman Taylor Holstrom and found him for his 13th of the season at 12:49.

RIT regained the lead shortly after with the first of two goals that bridged the second and third periods. Adam Hartley made it a 2-1 advantage at 14:41 of the second, while Tyler Brenner pushed the score to 3-1 in favor of the Tigers 4:19 into the third.

Zapolski recorded the decision in goal for Mercyhurst, stopping 30 shots and allowing one power-play goal on six RIT chances. Shane Madolora, meanwhile, made 44 stops and helped hold the Lakers to a 1-for-8 clip with the man-advantage.

Mercyhurst returns to action next weekend with a home-and-home series against AHA foe Niagara, beginning on Friday, Feb. 4 at Dwyer Arena. Both teams will then close out the series on Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.