Complete Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Mercyhurst men's hockey team fell to 0-4 to start the season, as they suffered a 6-2 setback at the hands of Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush, hosted by the University of Alaska.

With the loss, the Lakers remained winless in the state of Alaska, and are now 0-6 lifetime against both Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage.

The Seawolves jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period before the Lakers could dent the scoreboard. Quinn Sproule gave Alaska Anchorage a 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game, beating Mercyhurst starting goaltender Max Strang. The Seawolves' Daniel Naslund, who was named the game's most valuable player, scored a shorthanded marker at the midway mark of the first period, giving Alaska Anchorage a 2-0 advantage. Jade Portwood would tack on another goal for the Seawolves at the 16:04 mark of the first period to make it 3-0.

The Lakers would get their first goal of the game, and the first collegiate goal from freshman Daniel Bahntge at the 17:36 mark of the first period, cutting the Seawolves' lead to 3-1 after the opening twenty minutes. Junior Grant Blakey had the assist. Alaska Anchorage owned a 15-7 shot advantage in the first period.

The second period was evenly played, with the Seawolves' Sam Mellor scoring a power play goal at the 16:46 mark of the second period, for the only goal of the middle frame. The Lakers, however, outshot Alaska Anchorage 14-13 in the second period.

Mercyhurst would again cut into the Seawolves lead with a power play goal from senior Derek Elliott at the 3:07 mark of the third period. Sophomore defenseman Nick Jones had the lone assist on Elliott's second goal of the season. But, the Seawolves would not allow much after that, as the Lakers could muster just three shots on goal in the third period. Alaska Anchorage would tack on two more goals to close out the scoring, as Tyler Currier scored at the 11:18 mark, and then Portwood would add his second goal of the game 1:14 later to finish off the Lakers.

Naslund was named the game's most valuable player, scoring a goal and dishing out two assists, while Portwood scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner late in the first period. Mitch Bruijsten added two helpers for the Seawolves.

Strang stopped 38-of-44 Alaska Anchorage shots on goal to drop to 0-4 on the season. The Gilbertsville, Pa. native made 76 saves in the two games over the weekend, as he was peppered with 87 shots. The Lakers managed 24 shots on Alaska Anchorage starting netminder Chris Kamal, who turned aside 22 to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Each team was able to capitalize on the power play once. The Lakers went 1-for-3 with the man advantage while the Seawolves went 1-for-4.

The Lakers will have a week to recuperate from a lot of early season traveling, and will play their first regular season home game on Friday, October 28. The Lakers will jump into Atlantic Hockey Association action with a contest against longtime rival - Rochester Institute of Technology on the 28th. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.