Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team got two goals apiece from senior Daniel O'Donoghue and junior Ryan Misiak and cruised to an 8-2 victory over visiting Air Force in front of nearly 1,200 fans at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday night. Mercyhurst, which opened conference play on Saturday, improved to 2-5-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. Meanwhile, Air Force, which was the only Atlantic Hockey team receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com poll, had its five-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 5-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the conference.

It was the most goals scored by a Laker team against the Falcons in the all-time series, which is now even at 11-11-3. Mercyhurst improved to 4-6-2 lifetime against Air Force at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

O'Donoghue and Misiak led the Laker offense with two goals apiece while juniors Matthew Zay and Tyler Shiplo had a goal and two assists each. Senior defenseman Nick Jones had three helpers on the night as Mercyhurst had points from 11 different players on Saturday.

Air Force silenced the Laker faithful just 1:17 into the contest after a great centering feed by Jason Fabian found the stick of Mitch Torrel parked in front of Mercyhurst goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant for his first career goal. Ryan Timar had the other assist.

But, the Lakers responded with three consecutive goals against Air Force goaltender Jason Torf to take a 3-1 advantage. Junior forward Zac Frischmon tied the game at 1-1 at the 5:40 mark of the opening period with his first goal of the season. Jones took the initial shot from the point that Torf turned aside, but Frischmon was there to flip a backhander over the Falcon netminder. Redshirt junior Kyle Just had the other helper.

Then, at the 8:22 mark, hard work in the offensive zone by Frischmon and freshman Stephen Hrehoriak paid off to give the Lakers a 2-1 advantage. The duo found Shiplo at the right point who then let go of a slapshot that beat Torf for the Lakers' first lead of the night. O'Donoghue followed at the 15:14 mark with a highlight reel redirection past Torf at the side of the goal. Freshman Kyle Dutra took a shot towards the goal that O'Donoghue was able to get his stick on, tucking it just under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season. Jones added his second assist of the period.

But, the Falcons would not go quietly, cutting the Laker lead to one just 12 seconds later. Fabian intercepted a clearing attempt in the neutral zone and then found Timar, who beat Sarjeant for his second goal of the season.

Mercyhurst outshot Air Force in the opening period by a 17-9 margin.

Zay recpatured a two-goal lead for the hosts at the 7:37 mark of the second period, getting the team's only power play goal of the night in five chances. Zay skated around a couple of defenders and snapped a shot from between the circles past Torf for a 4-2 lead. Shiplo and sophomore defenseman Anthony Mastrodicasa had the assists.

O'Donoghue was the beneficiary of a beautiful tic-tac-toe play inside of the Air Force zone to give the Lakers a 5-2 advantage at the 14:29 mark of the middle stanza. On a three-on-two break, Zay led the rush and then found Shiplo on the right wing. Shiplo made a great feed to O'Donoghue sprinting down the left wing, who then one-timed it past Torf, ending the Air Force goaltender's night. It was O'Donoghue's second goal of the game and fifth of the season.

Shots favored Air Force in the second period, 12-10.

Mercyhurst tacked on three more goals in the third period against a pair of Air Force netminders, Paul Moberg and Chris Truehl. Junior Nardo Nagtzaam made his return to the Mercyhurst Ice Center, playing in his first home game in nearly a year, beating Moberg for a 6-2 lead at the 2:36 mark. Nagtzaam received an outlet pass from freshman Jack Riley, split two defenders and slid a backhander through the five-hole of the Air Force netminder for his first goal since scoring against the Falcons last November 30. It was Riley's first collegiate point.

Misiak then scored the final two goals of the night, his first coming at the 3:35 mark of the third, ending the night for Moberg. Dutra and Zay had the assists. The junior from Shelby Township, Michigan then scored a shorthanded goal with just over seven seconds left in the game, beating Truehl for the final margin. Misiak took an initial shot that Truehl stopped, but the rebound came right back to the junior, who batted it out of mid-air and through the goaltender's legs. Jones earned his third assist of the night on the tally.

Sarjeant was brilliant after allowing a pair of first period goals. He finished the night by stopping 36-of-38 Air Force shots, including all 17 in the third period, to earn his second win of the season. Meanwhile, Torf, who blanked RIT the night before, allowed five goals on 26 shots to drop to 5-3-0 on the season. Moberg and Truehl combined to stop 9-of-12 to close out the game.

Not only did Mercyhurst net a shorthanded goal, but the Lakers also held Air Force to 0-for-7 on the power play. Mercyhurst was 1-for-5.

The Lakers will return home next Friday, November 8 for a conference game against longtime rival, RIT. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.