Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the opening period against the Falcons of Air Force on Friday night. Then disaster struck in the second period, as the Falcons scored three goals and then tacked on an empty net goal late in the third period to earn a 4-2 victory over the Lakers in game one of their weekend series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Mercyhurst had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped with the loss, as the Lakers dropped to 14-11-2 overall and 12-7-1 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. Air Force improved to 12-10-6 overall and 10-6-4 in conference play.

Despite the loss, the Lakers remained in second place in the conference standings with 25 points - still nine points behind Niagara, which lost to Canisius on Thursday night by a 2-0 final. However, the Falcons gained ground on the Lakers and narrowed the margin to just one point between the two teams.

Due to Winter Storm Nemo dumping huge amounts of snow along the eastern seaboard, only two of the five originally scheduled games were played on Friday night. In the other contest, Robert Morris blanked RIT 3-0 in suburban Pittsburgh, Pa.

Sophomore Daniel Bahntge gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead at the 7:00 mark of the opening period. Sophomore Matthew Zay picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and found sophomore Ryan Misiak up the left wing boards. Misiak and Bahntge went into the Air Force zone on a 2-on-1 break, and, after a perfect saucer pass from Misiak to Bahntge cutting down the slot, the sophomore from Westlake, Ohio one-timed the puck between the legs of Air Force netminder Jason Torf for the early advantage. It was Bahntge's 12th goal of the season and he has now scored a goal in three consecutive contests.

Then, with Mercyhurst on the power play, Zay buried his 11th goal of the season to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead at the 13:28 mark of the opening period. Zay sprinted into the Air Force zone and was forced wide by a Falcon defender. The Laker sophomore took a shot from a bad angle that got between the shoulder of Torf and the crossbar and into the back of the net. Junior Daniel O'Donoghue and sophomore Tyler Shiplo had the assists.

Despite leading 2-0, Mercyhurst was outshot in the opening twenty minutes by a 12-10 margin.

Then, disaster struck.

Air Force came out flying in the second period and finally solved senior goaltender Max Strang at the 2:43 mark of the middle stanza. Max Hartner scored his first collegiate goal for the Falcons, getting a wrap-around attempt to flip over the shoulder of Strang, cutting the Mercyhurst lead to 2-1. Jason Fabian and Dan Weissenhofer had the assists on the goal.

Hartner would tie the game at 2-2 exactly ten minutes later - at the 12:43 mark. The Falcon forward snapped a rising shot from the left wing corner that tipped off the glove of Strang and started trickling behind the Laker netminder. As Strang was trying to corral the puck before it crossed the goal line, it was inadvertently shoved across for the tying goal. Eric Artman and Mike Walsh had the assists.

The Falcons were not finished. Exactly two minutes later, with senior Grant Blakey in the Mercyhurst penalty box, Air Force took its first lead of the night at the 14:43 mark on a goal by Scott Holm. Cole Gunner took a shot towards the Laker goal from the left wing circle that Holm got a stick on and redirected the puck through the legs of Strang for his fifth goal of the season. Trevor Waldach had the other assist.

Air Force dominated the period on the scoreboard and in the shots on goal department, 17-4.

Mercyhurst had a couple of good looks in the third period, but could not cash in the tying goal. The Lakers also received a power play with 8:19 left in regulation, but could muster just one shot on goal during the two-minute stretch. Then, with Strang pulled for an extra attacker in the waning moments, Jason Fabian buried a shot into the empty net, at the 19:39 mark, for the final margin. Ryan Timar and Tony Thomas picked up the assists.

Mercyhurst outshot Air Force 7-5 in the third period, cutting the final margin to 34-21 in favor of the visitors. Strang stopped 30 shots in suffering his sixth loss of the season. He fell to 11-6-1 overall. Torf, meanwhile, was barely tested after the opening period and managed 19 saves in the victory. He improved to 12-10-6 on the season.

Both teams capitalized on one power play out of five opportunities.

The teams will play the rubber match on Saturday night, which could have huge tiebreaker implications in determining postseason seeding. Each team has won one game in the regular season series, with game three of the series scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.