Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - Junior forward Chris Bodo recorded his first collegiate hat trick and junior netminder Jimmy Sarjeant turned aside 36 shots as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team won its fourth consecutive game on Saturday night with a 4-2 victory over Holy Cross at the Hart Center. The Lakers improved to 13-9-2 overall and 11-1-1 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. The Crusaders dropped to 4-15-2 overall and 3-9-2 in conference play.

Bodo scored two goals in the first period and then added a goal in the third period to secure his first career hat trick. The St. Thomas, Ontario native had scored two goals in a game on four different occasions, most recently on February 23, 2013 in a 4-2 loss against Niagara, prior to his outburst on Saturday.

Despite scoring three of the team's four goals, Bodo did not score the Lakers' third goal of the game. That score went to junior Matthew Zay, who recorded his second game-winning goal of the season at the 16:04 mark of the second period. It was Zay's seventh career game-winning tally.

After standing on his head on Friday night with a career-high 51 saves in his first collegiate shutout, Sarjeant gave up a goal on Holy Cross' first shot of the night just 35 seconds into the contest on Saturday. Mike Barrett buried his fifth goal of the season, quickly eliminating any thoughts of back-to-back shutouts by Sarjeant. Brett McKinnon and Matt Vidal had the assists on the goal.

It was Holy Cross' first goal against Mercyhurst since Joe McNamara scored at the 9:08 mark of the third period in game two of the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals last March - a span of 131:27 scoreless minutes against the Lakers.

Bodo responded with his first goal of the night, and seventh of the season, at the 4:27 mark of the opening period. Sophomore defenseman Anthony Mastrodicasa and junior forward Zac Frischmon had the assists. It was Mastrodicasa's first action after missing the previous three games due to an injury.

The junior struck again to close out the first period, beating Holy Cross goaltender Matt Ginn for his second of the night and eighth of the year at the 17:55 mark. With the Lakers on the power play, Bodo, working up front with Frischmon and junior Ryan Misiak, connected on Mercyhurst's 20th power play tally of the season. His linemates earned the assist on the goal - his second power play tally of the season.

Bodo had 14 power play goals in his first two seasons.

The Crusaders' Tommy Dwyer knotted the game at 2-2 with his first goal of the season nearly three minutes into the middle stanza. Sean Gustin had the assist. It remained tied until Zay buried his team-leading 13th goal of the season at 16:04, giving Mercyhurst its one-goal lead back - a lead it would never relinquish. Seniors Daniel O'Donoghue and Randy Cure had the assists on the goal.

O'Donoghue's assist gave him 106 career points with the Lakers, moving him into a tie for 12th place on the school's all-time Division I scoring list with Scott Reynolds, who had 39 goals and 67 assists from 2002 to 2006.

Sarjeant did his best work in the third period, keeping the lead intact for the Lakers. He stopped all 15 shots he faced in the final twenty minutes as Mercyhurst was outshot 15-6. Bodo gave Sarjeant some breathing room with his third goal of the game, and ninth of the season, at the 4:35 mark. Misiak earned his second helper of the night with the lone assist.

Sarjeant stopped 36-of-38 Holy Cross shots to improve to 13-4-2 overall and 11-0-1 in conference play. For the weekend, the Aurora, Ontario native stopped 87-of-89 Crusader shots on goal. Ginn dropped to 4-15-2 overall with a 23-save performance.

Mercyhurst was outshot 38-27 for the game.

Each team had three power play opportunities with the Lakers scoring the only man-advantage goal of the night.

The Lakers return to the Mercyhurst Ice Center for the first home games since the calendar changed to 2014 next Friday and Saturday, January 17 and 18. Mercyhurst will get a stiff test as they host the Huskies of Connecticut in a weekend series. Connecticut is currently in a tie for third place in the AHA standings with 17 points - six behind the first-place Lakers. Faceoffs both nights are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.