Box Score

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Sophomore defenseman Tyler Shiplo scored his second goal of the season with 10:45 left in the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie, and helped to propel the Mercyhurst men's hockey team to a 5-3 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology in front of a sellout crowd at the Ritter Arena on Friday night. The victory moved the Lakers above the .500 mark for the first time this season as they now sit at 3-2-1 overall and 3-1-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. Meanwhile, the Tigers dropped to 2-5-1 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play.

With a delayed penalty coming against the Tigers, Shiplo and the Lakers capitalized with the extra skater on the ice. Senior forward Grant Blakey took the initial shot that carromed off a Tiger defender and never got through. But, sophomore Nardo Nagtzaam picked up the rebound, circled behind the net, and found Shiplo at the left point. The sophomore fired a shot through traffic and past Tiger goaltender Jordan Ruby to put Mercyhurst ahead for good.

Junior Daniel O'Donoghue sealed the Laker win, tacking on an empty-net goal with one second left in regulation.

The victory extends the Mercyhurst unbeaten streak to four consecutive games, including three victories in a row. More importantly, all three victories have come against conference opponents. The Lakers have not lost since suffering a 7-3 setback at the hands of last year's national runner-ups, Ferris State, on October 19. Mercyhurst, which has struggled in the all-time series with its longtime rivals from RIT, improved to 15-28-6 lifetime against the Tigers.

Sophomore Daniel Bahntge got the Lakers on the board at the 6:39 mark of the opening period with his first of two goals on the night. Bahntge has now scored at least one goal in three straight games and leads the team with four tallies this season. Senior Paul Chiasson and sophomore Ryan Misiak had the assists.

Misiak continued his torrid streak with the assist on Bahntge's first period goal. The sophomore, who added another assist later in the contest, now has scored at least one point in all six games this season and has an eight-game point-scoring streak dating back to last season. He leads the team with three goals and six assists for nine points this season.

The Lakers would extend their lead to 2-0 when junior defenseman Nick Jones buried his second goal of the season at the 12:26 mark of the opening period. Jones found himself open in the slot after a Tiger turnover and junior Trent Frey sent him a perfect pass for the score. Sophomore Chris Bodo had the other assist on the goal. It was Bodo's first point of the season after finishing tied for third on the team with 25 points as a freshman last year.

RIT would come right back, just 47 seconds later, on a goal by Adam Hartley. Hartley deflected Alexander Kuqali's initial shot past senior goaltender Max Strang to get the Tigers on the board. Greg Noyes added the other assist.

RIT outshot Mercyhurst 15-12 in the opening twenty minutes.

The Lakers would recapture the two-goal lead just 13 seconds into the second period. Bahntge and Misiak went into the RIT zone on a 2-on-1 just moments after the opening faceoff. Bahntge found the back of the net after a brilliant feed by Misiak, giving the Lakers a 3-1 advantage.

But, the Tigers would not go away quietly. The hosts would use the power play to their advantage, scoring a pair of goals to close the second period.

Noyes cut the Laker lead to 3-2 at the 7:03 mark on assists from Adam Mitchell and Matt Garbowsky. Then, with the Lakers shorthanded again, Mike Colavecchia beat Strang to tie the game at 3-3 with 4:30 left in the second period. Garbowsky and Chris Saracino had the assists.

In the closing seconds of the period, Noyes was whistled for a five-minute major for checking from behind and a subsequent game misconduct. Part of the RIT major penalty was offset by a minor infraction against Mercyhurst early in the third. But, nevertheless, the Lakers could not capitalize.

Shiplo's game-winne came a little less than five minutes after Noyes' major expired, and sent a hush over the sellout crowd at the Ritter Arena. O'Donoghue put the icing on the cake with the empty-netter - his first goal of the season.

Strang was peppered with 42 shots on goal by the Tigers, including 27 over the course of the final two periods. But, the senior netminder turned aside 39 of them to earn his second victory of the season. Strang improved to 2-2-0 on the year. Meanwhile, Ruby stopped 26 Mercyhurst shots and saw his record fall to 0-3-1.

RIT outshot the Lakers 42-31 for the contest. The Tigers also capitalized on 2-of-3 power play opportunities. Mercyhurst was held in check with the man advantage going scoreless in four tries.

Mercyhurst, which only has the one game this weekend, will go back on the road next Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17 for a pair of non-conference games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Lakers are 1-4-0 lifetime against the Engineers. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights from Troy, New York.