PITTSBURGH – The Mercyhurst College men's hockey team defeated Robert Morris, 5-1, in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Association Postseason Tournament Saturday evening at the RMU Island Sports Center. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 15-16-4 overall and advance to play Connecticut in a best-of-three series next weekend in Storrs, Conn.

Senior captain Scott Pitt scored two goals and dished out one assist, while seniors Jesse Echternach and Mike Gurtler and freshman Taylor Holstrom each added one score apiece. Senior Ryan Zapolski earned the win in goal with 30 saves and one goal allowed.  

In a one-game playoff to determine who would play the Huskies next weekend, the Lakers turned it up a notch and dispatched of one of the league's newest teams with three straight goals over a span of nearly 26 minutes that bridged the first and second periods.

Pitt accounted for the first two goals, finding the back of the net at 7:02 of the first an 8:36 of the second, before Echternach made it a three goal lead off of a pass from junior Derek Elliott at the 12:43 mark.

RMU cut into the lead to start the third, as Trevor Lewis took a pass from Denny Urban and beat Zapolski shorthanded at 1:59.

Mercyhurst came back in the end and turned aside the Colonials with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart. Holstrom scored on a five-on-five opportunity thanks to some help from sophomore Paul Chiasson and Pitt at 17:35, while Gurtler put the finishing touches on the game with an empty-net score at 17:59.

For the game, Mercyhurst outshot Robert Morris 34-31, including 6-5 in the first period. Both teams went scoreless on four power-play chances.

Two RMU netminders played the game, with Brooks Ostergard suffering the loss with 24 saves and four goals allowed through 47:27.  Eric Levine finished the game with five stops.