Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team opened the 2013-14 regular season with a 6-0 setback against the fifth-ranked Golden Gophers of Minnesota on Friday night in the opening round of the Ice Breaker Tournament. An announced attendance of 9,196 took in the game from the Mariucci Arena.

The Lakers will take on the Golden Knights of Clarkson University in the consolation game of the Ice Breaker Tournament on Saturday. Clarkson lost the opener of the tournament on Friday by a 4-1 final against #13 New Hampshire, despite outshooting the Wildcats 34-33. Faceoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET.

Mercyhurst dropped to 0-2 lifetime against the Golden Gophers, having been outscored in the two meetings by a 15-2 count. The Lakers lost to Minnesota in the NCAA West Regional back on March 28, 2003.

A dominating second period by the hosts proved too much for Mercyhurst after the Lakers went toe-to-toe with the Golden Gophers in the opening stanza. Mercyhurst trailed 1-0 after the opening twenty minutes before Minnesota exploded for three goals in the second to blow the game open. The second period also saw the Gophers outshoot the Lakers 19-5.

Minnesota tacked on two more in the third period for the final margin of victory.

With senior Randy Cure in the penalty box for tripping, the Gophers scored 22 seconds into their power play opportunity to take a 1-0 lead at the 6:25 mark of the opening frame. Kyle Rau notched the goal, banging home a rebound off an initial shot from Ben Marshall past junior goaltender Jordan Tibbett for the only goal of the first.

The Gophers outshot the Lakers 14-8 in the opening period.

Minnesota would extend the lead to 2-0 at the 3:37 mark of the second period when Seth Ambroz tallied an unassisted goal, banking a shot from behind the net off of a Mercyhurst defenseman and past Tibbett.

It was still only a 2-0 contest past the midway mark of the second period, but Mercyhurst, who was trying to weather the storm in the middle frame, gave up two more goals to close out the period. Sam Warning made it 3-0 on a goal at the 11:52 mark, making a move around Tibbett and getting a shot to just get across the goal line before a Mercyhurst defender could sweep it away. Justin Kloos added a goal at the 15:20 mark to finish the second period.

Mike Reilly and Michael Brodzinski added goals for the Gophers in the third period.

Minnesota outshot Mercyhurst 48-25 for the contest, but just 29-20 in the first and third periods combined. Tibbett stopped 42 shots to suffer his first loss of the season. Meanwhile, Minnesota netminder Adam Wilcox earned the shutout, turning aside all 24 Laker shots on goal.

The Gophers converted 2-of-6 power play opportunities on the night, while the Lakers went 0-for-5.

This marks the 15th season of Division I hockey for the men's program at Mercyhurst and the Lakers are still looking for a regular-season opening victory. With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 0-14-1 in regular season openers since making the move to Division I back in 1999. Mercyhurst's only non-loss was a 4-4 overtime tie at Michigan in 2009. The Lakers would win the game in a shootout, but it officially goes down as a tie in the record books.

Mercyhurst is 1-5 lifetime against Saturday's opposition - the Golden Knights of Clarkson. The Lakers' only victory against Clarkson came last December, when Mercyhurst earned a 3-1 victory in Potsdam, New York. In that game, Kyle Cook scored a pair of goals while Tibbett turned aside 42 shots.

Saturday's consolation faceoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET from the Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.