Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - Junior goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant, fresh off his first-ever Atlantic Hockey Association weekly honor, turned aside a career-high 37 shots and freshman Kyle Dutra scored his first collegiate goal, which proved to be the game-winner, as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team edged the Tigers of RIT by a 3-2 final in front of just over 1,100 fans at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers, unbeaten in their last three, improved to 3-5-1 overall and 2-0-0 in conference play. The Tigers dropped to 0-5-2 and 0-2-0.



Mercyhurst, which had lost 9-of-11 meetings against the Tigers at the Mercyhurst Ice Center since RIT joined the Atlantic Hockey Association, scored a pair of goals in a 1:14 span in the second period, erasing a 2-1 deficit. Sarjeant took over from there, turning aside 24 shots over the final two periods to improve to 3-2-1 on the season.

Dutra, who entered the contest on a three-game scoring streak, tallied his first collegiate goal at the 11:16 mark of the second period when he redirected a shot from the point from senior defenseman Nick Jones and past RIT netminder Jordan Ruby. Dutra, who won the AHA Rookie of the Week honors two weeks ago, leads all Laker freshmen in scoring with one goal and four assists in nine games this season.

The visitors came out flying in the opening period and took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room after the first twenty minutes. Matt Garbowsky got the Tigers on the board at the 6:21 mark of the opening period with his second goal of the season. Sarjeant made an initial save on the RIT forward but the puck came loose at the side of the goal and Garbowsky shoved home the rebound for a 1-0 lead. Dan Schuler had the lone assist.

Junior Chris Bodo tied the game at 1-1 at the 8:42 mark of the first period with his first goal of the season and the 30th goal of his career. Junior Daniel Bahntge sent Bodo up the left wing with an outlet pass and the St. Thomas, Ontario native snapped a shot just under the crossbar and past Ruby to knot up the score.

But, the Tigers responded on Mike Colavecchia's fifth goal of the season, with one second left on a 5-on-3 power play, to regain the one-goal lead for the visitors. Greg Noyes found Colavecchia wide open in between the circles and the RIT forward sniped a shot past Sarjeant that got a piece of the crossbar but ended up in the back of the net. Schuler picked up his second assist of the night with the secondary helper.

RIT outshot Mercyhurst in the opening period 15-8.

The second period belonged to Mercyhurst, thanks to goals by junior Zac Frischmon and Dutra. The Lakers peppered Ruby with 18 shots in the middle stanza, but could not tie the game until Frischmon jammed home a rebound at the 10:02 mark of the second on a delayed penalty. Junior Nardo Nagtzaam led the rush and drew a hooking penalty as he tried to get a shot off towards the goal. The whistle did not sound and Frischmon was there to put home the loose puck for his second goal of the season. Sophomore Anthony Mastrodicasa had the other assist.

On the play, RIT's Danny Smith was sent to the penalty box followed by a penalty to Noyes just over a minute later. A dozen seconds into the 5-on-3 power play, Jones received a pass from Nagtzaam at the left point, and then let go of a slapshot that was redirected by Dutra past the RIT netminder. The goal proved to be the game-winner as Sarjeant and the Lakers held the Tigers off the scoreboard the rest of the night.

Sarjeant, like his victory over Air Force, allowed two first period goals, but did not allow another the rest of the night. On Friday, he had to make some huge saves down the stretch as RIT threw everything at him in the third period. He improved to 3-2-1 overall and has stopped 73-of-77 shots in his two conference victories over Air Force and RIT. Ruby took the loss, stopping 30 Mercyhurst shots to drop to 0-5-2 on the season.

Mercyhurst was 1-for-6 on the power play while RIT capitalized on 1-of-5 opportunities.

The Lakers return to action on Saturday night when they will look to avenge last season's AHA Championship game loss to Canisius. Faceoff from the Buffalo State Sports Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.