Box Score

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team fell behind 4-0 midway through the second period and could not rebound, suffering a 4-2 decision to the 16th-ranked Purple Eagles of Niagara University on Friday night at the Dwyer Arena in Niagara Falls. The loss extended Mercyhurst's winless streak to five games (0-4-1) and moved the Lakers back to the .500 mark at 14-14-3 overall. The squad is now 12-10-2 in the bunched up Atlantic Hockey standings with three games remaining in the regular season. The Purple Eagles picked up their 20th win of the season, improving to 20-6-5 overall and 19-3-2 in the conference.

Niagara has already clinched the Atlantic Hockey Association's regular season title while Mercyhurst is in a fight to the finish to try to hang on to its slim hold on a first round bye in the conference tournament. However, with the Lakers on a five-game winless skid, Air Force has already caught and passed the Lakers, and, coupled with a victory by Connecticut on Friday, the Huskies have now caught Mercyhurst in the standings.

Mercyhurst is currently tied for third with Connecticut, but just one point ahead of a two-way tie for fifth between Holy Cross and Robert Morris, two points ahead of seventh-place RIT, three points ahead of eighth-place Bentley, and four points clear of ninth-place Canisius. With only three games left in the regular season, the Lakers can finish anywhere from second to ninth in the regular season.

Niagara scored two goals in each of the first two periods, chasing senior goaltender Max Strang from the contest. Strang only saw 16 shots in his 32:46 of action, but allowed four goals as the Purple Eagles held a four-goal advantage just past the midway point of the middle period.

The hosts wasted very little time jumping on Strang and the Lakers as Hugo Turcotte gave Niagara a 1-0 lead just 1:45 into the contest. Jason Beattie took a shot from the point that was redirected by Turcotte past Strang for his fourth goal of the season. Patrick Divjak had the other helper on the goal.

Giancarlo Iuorio made it 2-0 in favor of the Purple Eagles at the 17:02 mark of the opening frame when he chased down a defensive zone clear, beating Laker defenders to the puck, and rifled a shot past the Laker netminder. Marc Zanette and Kevin Ryan had the assists. It was Iuorio's 17th goal of the season in just 21 games.

Shots favored Niagara in the opening twenty minutes, 9-7.

Dan Weiss would give the home team a 3-0 advantage at the 9:36 mark of the second period with his third goal of the season, also proving to be the game-winning goal. Sam Alfieri and Matt Chartrain had the assists. Strang's night would come to an end after Beattie gave Niagara a 4-0 lead at the 12:46 mark. Beattie picked up a loose puck in the Laker zone, pinched in from the point, and buried a slapshot into the back of the net for the four-goal cushion. The unassisted goal was Beattie's first goal of the season.

Junior goaltender Jordan Tibbett was summoned from the Mercyhurst bench, keeping Niagara at bay the rest of the night, and allowing the Lakers to get back into the contest. The junior from Indianapolis, Indiana, appearing in his first game January 18, made five stops to close out the second period.

In the third, the Lakers broke through against Niagara netminder Carson Chubak. Just 38 seconds into the final stanza, Chubak made a brilliant save on senior Paul Chiasson, but the rebound squirted free, and junior Daniel O'Donoghue was there to slide the puck home for his tenth goal of the season. Chiasson and fellow senior Grant Blakey had the assists.

O'Donoghue became the sixth different Laker to record double-digit goals this season while Chiasson picked up his 106th career point, tying him with Scott Reynolds (02-06) for 11th place on the school's Division I scoring list.

Then, at the 8:55 mark, sophomore Ryan Misiak gave Niagara something to think about, when he buried a rebound for his 14th goal of the season, cutting the Purple Eagle lead to 4-2. Sophomore Matthew Zay took the initial shot that was stopped by Chubak, but Misiak jammed at it a couple of times and finally got it to get across the goal line. Freshman Anthony Mastrodicasa had the other assist.

Misiak is now tied for the team lead with sophomore Chris Bodo for the goal scoring lead with 14.

Mercyhurst maintained pressure on Chubak and the Purple Eagles the remainder of the third period, with the Lakers nearly cutting the lead to one with roughly four minutes left. But, the Niagara netminder robbed Chiasson with a sprawling pad save, keeping the Niagara lead at two goals.

The Lakers would pull Tibbett, and, coupled with a Niagara penalty with 1:08 left, had a 6-on-4 advantage. However, Mercyhurst could get no closer.

Mercyhurst outshot Niagara 33-28 for the game, including a 14-7 margin in the third period. But, Chubak was the difference. The netminder, who is sixth in the country in goals against average (1.77) and fourth in the country in save percentage (.942), stopped 31-of-33 Mercyhurst shots to improve to 20-4-5 on the season. Strang suffered the loss with just 12 saves on 16 shots. He dropped to 11-9-2 on the year. Tibbett was perfect, stopping 12-of-12 Niagara shots in 26:06 of relief.

Both teams were 0-for-4 on the power play in the contest.

The two teams will convence at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday night. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.