Complete Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - Freshman Daniel Bahntge scored both Mercyhurst goals and senior Max Strang made them stand up with a 29-save performance, as the Mercyhurst men's hockey team defeated Holy Cross 2-1 to take game one of the best-of-three Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Mercyhurst improved to 19-14-4 overall on the season, while the Crusaders dropped to an identical 19-14-4 overall mark.

Bahntge provided the offense and Strang did the rest by stopping 29-of-30 shots for his 15th victory of the season. His biggest save of the night came midway through the second period when he robbed the reigning National Player of the Month, freshman Adam Schmidt, on a breakaway. Schmidt tried to go top shelf with the forehand, but Strang reached up with the glove hand to make the save which, at the time, kept the Lakers in front 2-1.

Over his last five appearances dating back to a relief stint against Robert Morris on February 11, Strang has stopped 140-of-144 shots for a .973 save percentage.

After having last weekend off, Mercyhurst came out of the gates a bit rusty in the first period. The Crusaders put on the pressure early and got their only goal of the night following a penalty in the game's first minute to the Lakers' Grant Gettinger. Some brilliant passing inside the Mercyhurst zone resulted in Erik Vos tipping one past Strang for a 1-0 lead just 2:25 into the contest. Shayne Stockton and Jay Silvia had the assists.

Mercyhurst would only muster two shots on goal during the first period, but one of those shots resulted in a highlight-reel goal from Bahntge at the 4:59 mark. The freshmen, along with his linemates, freshman Nardo Nagtzaam and junior Grant Blakey, provided some hard work deep inside the Holy Cross end. The puck squirted free in the left wing corner,. Bahntge retrieved it, and deked his way through traffic to the front of the Crusader goal. As he was falling to the ice, Bahntge snapped a wrist shot over the shoulder of Holy Cross goaltender Matt Ginn for the tying goal, giving life to a Laker team that had gotten off to a shaky start. Nagtzaam and Blakey had the assists on the goal.

Blakey returned to the Mercyhurst lineup after a groin injury kept him out of action since January 28 against RIT - a span of eight games.

Holy Cross outshot Mercyhurst 12-2 in the opening period.

Bahntge would pick up his second of the night and 10th goal of the season just 1:27 into the second period. Defensemen Kevin Noble and Tyler Shiplo played catch just inside the Holy Cross blue line, resulting in a designed dump-in off  the end boards by Shiplo. The carom off the wall ended up right on the stick of Bahntge who was all alone in front of Ginn. Similar to his first goal, the freshman roofed a shot over Ginn's shoulder for a 2-1 lead.

It was Bahntge's second multi-goal game of the season and his second game-winning goal of the year. His other multi-goal effort was a hat trick against Sacred Heart on January 6.

Strang did the rest, stopping nine shots in each of the second and third periods and upped his record to 15-12-3 on the year. It also marked the 15th time this season that he has allowed two goals or fewer in a start.

The Lakers were outshot 30-17 for the game, with Ginn stopping 15 Mercyhurst shots in defeat. His record fell to 16-7-2 on the season. Holy Cross was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Mercyhurst was 0-for-4.

Game two of the series will take place on Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.