ERIE, Pa. - It looked as if senior Matthew Zay's 100th career point was going to lead to some come-from-behind heroics on Friday night after his goal at the 19:28 mark of the third period sent the game to overtime. However, Merrimack's Marc Biega had other ideas, beating senior goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant at the 2:19 mark of the overtime period to give the Warriors a 5-4 victory over the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. With the loss, the Lakers fell to 1-2-0 on the young season while Merrimack improved to 4-0-0.

With Sarjeant pulled for an extra attacker, Merrimack's Jared Kolquist was whistled for his third minor penalty of the contest to give the Lakers a 6-4 advantage. After junior Anthony Mastrodicasa and redshirt senior Kyle Just passed the puck around just inside the blue line, Just found Zay at the top of the left wing circle. Zay snapped a shot that beat Warrior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen, through a screen, over the glove hand to send the game to overtime. With the marker, his first of the season, Zay became the 17th member of the 100-point club during the Division I era at Mercyhurst.



But, in overtime, junior Alec Shields was whistled for a minor penalty after a minor scrum ensued in front of the Mercyhurst goal. The Warriors, who hadn't scored a power play goal in three prior attempts on Friday, got the game-winner from Biega with the man advantage after his shot beat Sarjeant just inside the near post. Hampus Gustafsson and Dan Kolomatis had the assists on Biega's second goal of the night.

In a game that had four ties and no lead larger than one goal, Mercyhurst got on the scoreboard first when Mastrodicasa drilled a shot from the left point that beat Tirronen for his first goal of the season at the 8:27 mark of the opening period. Senior Tyler Shiplo and freshman Jonathan Charbonneau had the helpers. The visitors answered at the 14:11 mark of the opening twenty minutes when Justin Mansfield beat Sarjeant, after a Laker giveaway inside the defensive zone, for his second tally of the season. Brett Seney, who intercepted a clearing attempt, picked up the assist.

Merrimack outshot Mercyhurst 11-7 in the opening stanza.

Mansfield gave the Warriors their first lead of the night with the only goal of the second period coming at the 13:44 mark. His shot from the left point, that somehow got past Sarjeant, was his second goal of the night and third of the season. John Gustafsson and Vinny Scotti had the assists.

Shots were dead even at a dozen apiece in the second period.

Back and forth went the teams in the third period, beginning with senior Chris Bodo picking up his second tally of the season at the 5:21 mark. Sophomore Philippe Drouin and senior Zac Frischmon picked up the helpers on Bodo's 36th career goal. Merrimack answered on a nifty move by Biega, who deked Sarjeant for his first collegiate goal at the 7:32 mark.

Then, with the Lakers on the power play, senior Ryan Misiak notched his first goal of the season, just 56 seconds later, after a great centering feed from senior Nardo Nagtzaam found the Laker forward cutting down the slot. Misiak slid a backhander through the legs of Tirronen for his 96th career point, as he looks to become the 18th member of the 100-point club. Mastrodicasa had the other assist.

Brian Christie gave the Warriors a 4-3 lead at the 10:46 after he got behind the Laker defense and beat Sarjeant through the five-hole. Ben Bahe had the lone assist.

Shots were even in the third at 11 apiece before the Warriors outshot the Lakers 4-2 in the abbreviated overtime session.

Sarjeant turned aside 32 shots in dropping to 1-2-0 on the season. Tirronen improved to 4-0-0 with a 28-save performance. All told, Merrimack outshot Mercyhurst 38-32 in an evenly-matched contest. The Lakers went 2-for-7 on the power play while the Warriors made their only power play in four tries prove to be the dagger.

Mastrodicasa led the Laker offense with a goal and two assists in the loss on Friday. He was the only Laker to record more than one point during the contest.

The same two teams will conclude the weekend series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday night, October 25. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.