Complete Box Score
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - It was nearly a must-win situation for the Mercyhurst men's hockey team if it wanted a first-round bye in the opening round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. Senior goaltender
Max Strang, who has been solid between the pipes all season long, picked a critical night to single-handedly steal a win for the Lakers.
Mercyhurst was outshot 51-19 for the game, but the senior from Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania stopped a career-high 50 shots, receiving just enough offense to lead the Mercyhurst men's hockey team to a 2-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 2,900 fans at the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs. The Lakers improved to 17-13-4 overall and 14-7-4 in conference play, while the Falcons dropped to 16-8-7 and 14-5-6 in the standings.
One night after suffering its worst loss since October 16, 2004 (an 8-0 setback to Wisconsin), Mercyhurst responded with a come-from-behind victory over the Falcons. Air Force could muster just a first period goal against Strang, while the Lakers scored a single tally in each of the second and third periods.
With the win, the Lakers jumped back into a three-way tie for third place in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings, setting up a wild last weekend of the regular season next Friday and Saturday. The Lakers currently have 32 points, along with Bentley and Niagara. Air Force continues to lead the conference with 34 points, one point ahead of RIT, and two points ahead of Mercyhurst and company. Holy Cross sits in sixth place with 31 points, while Robert Morris is seventh with 29. Those seven teams are vying for the top four spots in the conference and a chance for a bye in the first round of the postseason tournament.
As previously mentioned, the Falcons dented the scoreboard first on the fifth goal of the season from freshman Cole Gunner ath the 9:22 mark of the opening period. Tim Kirby and Dan Weissenhofer had the assists. Despite trailing 1-0 after the opening twenty minutes, Strang was brilliant in the first period as Mercyhurst was outshot 18-8, including a 13-1 advantage to start the contest.
The Lakers would tie the game at 1-1 at the 11:11 mark of the second period with their first goal of the weekend. Sophomore defenseman
Nick Jones scored a power play goal, his ninth tally of the year, getting Mercyhurst on the board. The dynamic freshmen duo of
Daniel Bahntge and
Nardo Nagtzaam had the assists. Jones, with nine goals this season, has the most goals by a Laker defenseman since Jamie Hunt scored 12 during the 2005-06 season. Hunt went on to become the first Laker to play in the National Hockey League, skating for the Washington Capitals. In fact, Jones' nine goals is the fourth most by a Mercyhurst defenseman since the 1999-2000 season. T.J. Kemp scored 11 in 2002-03 and then scored 10 during the 2004-05 season.
Air Force held a 14-4 shot advantage in the second period.
In the third period, junior
Paul Chiasson picked up a bouncing puck through the neutral zone. He skated in uncontested and let go of a wrist shot that ended up over the shoulder of Air Force goaltender Jason Torf for the tally at the 6:25 mark. It was Chiasson's team-leading 13th goal of the season with freshmen
Tyler Shiplo and
Ryan Misiak earning the assists. The rest of the night belonged to Strang, as he ended up stopping 19 more shots in the third period, not allowing the Falcons to crack the scoreboard again, and helping Mercyhurst secure a huge two points in the standings.
Strang's 50 saves is a new career-high for the senior, who saw his record improve to 13-11-3 on the season. He stopped 49-of-50 in a 2-1 win over RIT at the Mercyhurst Ice Center back on October 28. Meanwhile, Torf stopped 17-of-19 Mercyhurst shots in the loss. He dropped to 5-3-2 on the year.
Special teams also played a large role in the outcome. Mercyhurst had just one power play opportunity in the game and was able to convert on the goal by Jones. Meanwhile, the Falcons went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
It all comes down to next weekend to determine the Lakers' fate in the standings and where they will be seeded in the Atlantic Hockey standings. The regular season for Mercyhurst will conclude with a home-and-home series with the Golden Griffins of Canisius College. The teams will square off in Buffalo, New York on Friday night, February 24 for a 7:05 p.m. start and then will meet up again on Saturday night, February 25, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center for Senior Night. Faceoff in Erie is also scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Lakers defeated Canisius in their only meeting of the season on December 9 by a 6-4 final in Buffalo.
