Complete Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's hockey team got two second period goals from two freshmen and hung on to defeat Bentley University 2-1 on Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. With the win, the Lakers improved to 6-5-1 overall, and, more importantly, took over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Hockey Association with a 5-1-1 conference record. Meanwhile, the Falcons dropped to 4-7-2 overall and 4-2-1 in the conference.

Freshmen Chris Bodo and Daniel Bahntge got the goals for Mercyhurst after the Falcons took a 1-0 lead at the 4:17 mark of the first period. Senior goaltender Max Strang would slam the door on Bentley the rest of the way, as Mercyhurst took three of a possible four points from the Falcons over the weekend.

The Falcons got their only goal of the night, and only goal of the weekend, as freshman defenseman Steve Weinstein snuck in the back door and ripped a snapshot past Strang, giving Bentley a 1-0 advantage. Brett Gensler and Brett Switzer had the assists. That was the only scoring of the period, as Bentley outshot Mercyhurst 13-10.

With Mercyhurst on a carry-over power play from the first period, Bodo tied the game at 1-1 just 23 seconds into the middle period, banging home a rebound past Bentley goaltender Branden Komm. Bahntge and senior Derek Elliott would pick up the assists on Bodo's fourth goal of the year.

Later in the second, again with Mercyhurst on a power play, Bahntge gave the Lakers a 2-1 advantage, snapping a quick shot over the shoulder of Komm at the 10:56 mark. Senior defenseman Kevin Noble took the initial shot from the point, and Bahntge was in the right place at the right time for his third goal of the year. Freshman Ryan Misiak had the other assist.

Mercyhurst outshot Bentley 13-10 in the middle twenty minutes.

The third period belonged to the goaltenders, as Strang and Komm would dual the rest of the way. Strang made a tremendous save with about four minutes left, coming out of nowhere with the blocker to make a save from point-blank range. The Falcons would pull Komm with 1:02 left, and had some chances in the closing seconds, but could not get the equalizer. Strang had to make a pad save right before the buzzer to close out the win.

Mercyhurst held a 12-10 shot advantage in the third period and outshot the Falcons 35-33 for the contest. Strang stopped 32-of-33 shots in the win to improve to 6-5-1 on the season and 5-1-1 in the conference. Komm was the hard luck loser, stopping 33-of-35 to drop to 4-5-2 on the year.

The senior from Gilbertsville, Pa. stopped 80-of-81 shots over the weekend, including a 48-save shutout in Friday night's scoreless tie. He has allowed just 11 goals in 278 shots in conference play (.960) and has a 1.55 goals against average in league play.

Mercyhurst will take to the road for the first time since October 29 (5-4 win at #19 Cornell) to take on perennial power Wisconsin in a pair of non-conference matchups. Faceoffs from Madison, Wisconsin are scheduled for 7:07 p.m. on Friday night and 8:07 p.m. on Saturday night.