Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst College men's hockey team saw a late lead vanish as Atlantic Hockey Association foe Air Force scored three goals in the final minutes to defeat the Lakers, 5-3, on Friday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Shortly after taking the lead on sophomore Paul Chiasson's 15th goal of the season with 5:33 left to play, Air Force stunned the Lakers by scoring three times over a one-minute and 43-second span. Back-to-back goals courtesy of Jason Fabian and John Kruse at 2:06 and 1:17 turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 advantage, while an empty-net score by Scott Kozlak with 23 seconds remaining sealed the decision.

The Lakers, who fall to 13-14-4 overall and 11-11-2 in AHA play, now sit four points behind the Falcons, who occupy the fifth-spot in the conference standings with 28 points.

Mercyhurst opened the scoring in the first period and led 1-0 for nearly 21 minutes of the game on freshman Nate Jensen's first collegiate goal. Jensen took a pass from classmate Taylor Holstrom and sailed a shot from the blueline through traffic to convert the Lakers' first power-play opportunity at the 8:38 mark.

Air Force would even the slate and take a brief 2-1 lead in the second on goals by Casey Kleisinger and Tony Thomas exactly 70 seconds apart before freshman Nick Jones tied the game at two. In the midst of a scrum in front of the net, Chiasson kicked the puck out to Jones in the slot for a quick one-timer with 5:14 to play.

The score would remain the same until Chiasson put the Lakers back in front late in the third on a breakaway after an Air Force turnover in the neutral zone.

Both teams entertained the crowd by combining for 87 shots in the game, including 37 in the second period alone. Air Force finished with a 44-43 advantage and got 40 saves from rookie netminder Jason Torf. Senior Ryan Zapolski suffered the loss with 39 stops and four goals allowed. One of those goals came on the power play as the Falcons converted 1-for-3. The Lakers, on the other hand, finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

Mercyhurst and Air Force close out the two-game series on Saturday, Feb. 19 with another 7:05 p.m. contest at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.