ERIE, Pa. – 17th-ranked Robert Morris University scored three times in the game's first seven minutes and went on from there to defeat the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team, 7-4, on Saturday night in the opener of a two-game series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Colonials improved to 11-1-3 overall and to 9-1-3 in the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA), as they strengthened their hold on first place. The Lakers dropped to 7-5-2 and 5-3-2 respectively.

RMU wasted little time in getting to Lakers' senior netminder Jimmy Sarjeant.

Zac Lynch scored his sixth of the season at 1:28, Matt Cope followed suit with his fourth at 4:18, and Evan Moore caused an early exit for Sarjeant when he lit the lamp for the first time this season at 7:00. All told, the Colonials scored three times on their first eight shots.

Freshman Brandon Wildung relieved Sarjeant and stopped the bleeding until touched by a late power play goal from Daniel Leavens, his fourth lamplighter of the year, at 19:50.

Robert Morris outshot Mercyhurst 14-7 in the first.

Senior Daniel Bahntge got the Lakers on the board with a power play goal, his fifth goal of the year, at 8:53 of the second. Junior defenseman Anthony Mastrodicasa and Wildung assisted. It was Bahntge's 100th career point in a Laker uniform, becoming the third player this season, and the 19th player overall, to reach the milestone in the Division I era.

But the Colonials restored the four-goal lead 61 seconds later when Brandon Denham bested Wildung which caused Sarjeant's return. It was Denham's fifth of the year.

The Lakers closed to within three at 16:40 when redshirt freshman Jack Riley collected his third goal in the last two games and fourth of the season. Riley's power play goal was helped by seniors Tyler Shiplo and Ryan Misiak.

Leavens began the scoring in the third when he collected his second of the game and fifth of the season at 2:22. Just 14 seconds later, Mastrodicasa retaliated with his third goal of the year to cut the RMU lead to 6-3. He was helped by senior forwards Matthew Zay and Kyle Just. Mastrodicasa struck again at the halfway point of the period - the Lakers' third power play goal of the contest - and, suddenly, the RMU lead was down to 6-4. Zay and Bahntge assisted.

Mercyhurst kept peppering RMU goaltender Dalton Izyk and hit two posts in the third period - one by Misiak and the other by junior Kyle Cook. However, the two-goal differential was as close at the Lakers would get as Scott Jacklin scored his seventh of the year into an empty net with just over a minute left to secure the win.

Robert Morris has now won four straight and is unbeaten (4-0-2) away from home. The Lakers had a modest two-game winning streak severed and are now 3-2 at the Ice Center.

Thanks to a 22-11 margin in shots in the final period, Mercyhurst owned a 38-34 shot advantage for the 60 minutes. The Lakers finished 3-for-6 on the power play while the Colonials ended 1-for-3. The Lakers still lead the all-time series 6-5-6.

Izyk got the win for the Colonials, improving to 6-1-0 on the season. Wildung, who allowed the fourth and fifth Robert Morris goals, took the loss. He dropped to 1-1-1 on the year.

The two teams will conclude the weekend series on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.