Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A wild and crazy final three-and-a-half minutes of regulation resulted in a stunning 3-1 road victory for the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team over longtime rival Canisius College on Thursday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Mercyhurst extended its unbeaten streak to seven consecutive games and improved to 14-9-4 overall and 12-1-3 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings – four points ahead of idle Bentley. Canisius dropped to 8-13-2 overall and 7-7-2 in the conference.

After Canisius took a 1-0 lead with 3:23 left, Mercyhurst stormed back with three goals in a 2:33 span to shock the hosts and the home crowd on Thursday night.

The game was scoreless for the first 56:37 of the contest until Canisius broke through on the power play. With redshirt junior Kyle Just in the penalty box for checking from behind, Kyle Gibbons was left open in front of Mercyhurst goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant and snapped a one-timer from between the circles for the first goal of the night. Ralph Cuddemi and Cody Freeman had the assists.

But, the Lakers stormed back against Canisius and senior goaltender Tony Capobianco. Just 32 seconds later, junior Matthew Zay wristed what appeared to be a harmless shot from right inside the blue line that somehow snuck its way through and past Capobianco to knot the contest at 1-1. Junior Tyler Shiplo had the helper on Zay's 15th goal of the year.

The game seemed destined for overtime, but Mercyhurst had other ideas. The Lakers kept the pressure on and senior Daniel O'Donoghue collected a loose puck behind the Canisius net. O'Donoghue found junior Daniel Bahntge who, stationed in front, beat Capobianco for his 11th goal of the season with 57 seconds left in regulation. Zay had the other assist.

It proved to be Bahntge's second game-winning goal of the year and the fifth of his career.

Junior Ryan Misiak added an empty-netter with 18 seconds left for the final margin. Junior Chris Bodo picked up the assist.

Mercyhurst outshot Canisius 12-7 in the first period and had a number of quality scoring opportunities but could not solve Capobianco. After a sluggish first few minutes, the Lakers took control of the period, getting point-blank chances from sophomore Kyle Cook and juniors Bahntge and Zac Frischmon, but the score remained scoreless.

Cook ripped a one-timer from between the circles with less than six minutes remaining in the first that Capobianco slid over to make a glove save while Bahntge and Frischmon were later both turned aside on mini-breakaway chances within the final minute.

Also in that first period, Just was hauled down from behind on a breakaway opportunity by Canisius defenseman Logan Roe. A penalty was called but, much to the dismay of the Laker bench, Just was not awarded a penalty shot. Mercyhurst could not convert on the ensuing man advantage.

Mercyhurst dodged a bullet early in the second period after Canisius developed a 2-on-1 opportunity. A centering feed from Braeden Rigney to freshman Josh Kielich had Mercyhurst goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant well out of position. But, the backhander from Kielich went through the crease and wide of the goal, keeping the game scoreless.

The Lakers had a similar result on a power play just after the Griffs' Carl Larsson went to the box with 4:46 left in the frame. After the ensuing faceoff, Mercyhurst put together a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play that ended up on the stick of senior Daniel O'Donoghue. However, the Laker forward flipped the forehand wide of the net.

Shots favored Canisius in the scoreless second period by an 18-11 margin.

Mercyhurst outshot Canisius 17-5 in the third period and held a 40-30 advantage in the contest. Sarjeant remained unbeaten in conference play, improving to 12-0-3 against league opponents with a 29-save performance. He moved to 14-4-4 overall on the season. Capobianco was brilliant in defeat, stopping 37 shots in the loss. It was his first league loss since November 8.

Canisius finished the night 1-for-4 on the power play while Mercyhurst was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

The same two teams will bring the festivities to the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday night. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and it will be Canisius' only trip to Erie this season.