ERIE, Pa. – Kyle stepped up "Just" in time.

Redshirt senior forward Kyle Just scored two third period goals – one a power play, the other shorthanded – and senior goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant atoned for a sub-par performance the previous night by stopping all 41 shots as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team blanked #17 Robert Morris, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Robert Morris lost for only the second time this season (11-2-3) and saw its Atlantic Hockey Conference mark fall to 9-2-3. The Lakers improved to 8-5-2 and 6-3-2 respectively.

It was the second time this season that the Lakers have knocked off a team ranked in the top twenty at the time of the matchup. Mercyhurst defeated then-#4 Colgate by a 2-1 final on November 1 in Hamilton, New York. 

Although Robert Morris and Mercyhurst combined for eleven goals Saturday night, seven by the Colonials, neither team was able to score against netminders Terry Shafer of Robert Morris and Sarjeant for the first 40 minutes on Sunday. Aided by three power play chances, the Colonials outshot the Lakers by a sizeable 31-13 margin over the first two periods.

But, helped by a late second-period penalty on the Colonials, Just gave the Lakers the lead when he scored on the power play just 48 seconds into the third frame. The Arnprior, Ontario, native's fourth of the season was helped by junior defenseman Anthony Mastrodicasa and senior forward Daniel Bahntge.

The lead grew to 2-0 when Just, helped by senior forward Matthew Zay, beat Shafer at 17:27 while the Lakers were down a man. Zay blocked a shot inside of the Lakers' zone which led to a 2-on-1 break. Zay, skating down the right wing, slid a pass to Just cutting down the slot and the redshirt senior one-timed the feed for his second goal of the game. It marked his first collegiate multi-goal contest.

Senior forward Ryan Misiak finished the scoring, and the Colonials, with an empty-net marker, nearly the entire length of the ice, at 18:17. Sarjeant picked up his second career assist on the play while red-hot redshirt freshman Jack Riley also helped.

Sarjeant stopped 17 shots in the first, 14 in the second, and all 10 in the third to record his second shutout of the season and third of his career. Just had the first two-goal game of his career and helped kill six Mercyhurst penalties. His shorthanded goal came in the final minute of a major penalty and took the wind out of the Colonials' sails.

Robert Morris had scored 31 goals in its last five games (4-0-1) and hadn't been blanked since a 2-0 loss at Air Force January 25, 2013.

Just's shorthanded goal was the second of his career and the team's first of the 2014-15 season. The Lakers led Division I last season with ten. Mercyhurst finished 1-of-3 on the power play and scored three times on just 17 shots.

Mercyhurst improved to 7-5-6 lifetime against Robert Morris.

The Lakers are off now until January 2 and 3 when they entertain Ohio State in non-conference games at the Erie Insurance Arena at 7:05 p.m. and 2:35 p.m. Tickets are available for the first annual Snowtown Throwdown, with information being found here.