Box Score

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Junior forward Nardo Nagtzaam scored two goals and an assist and sophomore Kyle Cook had a goal and two assists as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team earned a 6-2 victory at Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday night at the Frank Ritter Arena in Rochester, N.Y. The Lakers, who also got 43 saves from junior Jimmy Sarjeant, improved to 17-12-5 overall and 15-4-4 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. The Tigers dropped to 8-17-5 overall and 7-13-3 in conference play.

The Lakers remained in first place in the AHA standings with four games remaining. Mercyhurst still holds a two-point lead on Bentley, which defeated Army 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night.

It marked the second time in the all-time series that Mercyhurst has swept a regular season series against RIT – the first since winning a pair of games against the Tigers in the Division III ECAC West days during the 1990-91 season. It was, however, the first time in program history that the Lakers swept a weekend series against the Tigers at the Ritter Arena. The Lakers improved to 18-30-6 lifetime against RIT and 8-14-2 at the Ritter Arena.

Sarjeant made his first start since leaving midway through the second period against Canisius on January 25 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. He didn't miss a beat, turning aside 43-of-45 shots to remain unbeaten in conference play (13-0-3) and he improved his overall record to 15-4-4 on the season.

Mercyhurst drew first blood on Saturday night when Nagtzaam scored his second goal of the weekend and his sixth goal of the season with 7:11 left in the opening period. Freshman Kyle Dutra found Nagtzaam from the left wing corner with a beautiful centering pass and the junior from Nijmegen, Netherlands beat RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby for the only goal of the first period. Cook had the other assist.

Shots were dead even in the first period, 11-11.

Sophomore Anthony Mastrodicasa gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead at the 5:06 mark of the second period with a slapshot from the left point that beat Ruby. Senior Daniel O'Donoghue provided a screen in front of the RIT goal and Ruby never saw the shot from the point that gave Mastrodicasa his fifth goal of the season. Dutra and junior Matthew Zay had the assists.

The assist by Zay was his 40th point of the season, establishing a new career-high.

The Lakers would take a 3-0 lead with 2:11 left in the middle stanza on the fifth goal of the season from freshman Stephen Hrehoriak. The rookie sprinted up the right wing boards, catching the RIT defense flat-footed. Hrehoriak went wide, cut hard towards the goal, and slid a backhander through the five-hole of Ruby for his first goal since a victory over Sacred Heart on December 6. Sophomore Mychal Monteith and freshman Philippe Drouin had the helpers.

The goal was reviewed as the net came off of its pegs as the puck crossed the goal line. However, the officials, who signaled goal on the ice, determined the puck went in before the goal became dislodged.

RIT outshot Mercyhurst 14-10 in the second period, despite being outscored by the Lakers in the middle twenty minutes 2-0.

Mercyhurst's lead ballooned to 5-0 on goals by Nagtzaam and Zac Frischmon in the first 8:30 of the third period. Nagtzaam scored his second goal of the game, and sixth of the season, at the 4:13 mark of the final period thanks to an errant slapshot by RIT inside the Mercyhurst zone. The long rebound came all the way out to the neutral zone where it was picked up by Cook, who started a 3-on-1 rush. Cook hit the trailer, Nagtzaam, with a centering pass that the junior one-timed past Ruby for a 4-0 advantage.

The lead became 5-0 at 8:30 when Frischmon scored his third goal of the weekend after a turnover inside the RIT zone. Forechecking by Frischmon, junior Chris Bodo, and freshman Alec Shields forced the giveaway, ending up on the stick of Bodo. Rudy came well out of his net to stop the shot from Bodo, but Frischmon was there to poke in the rebound for his eighth goal of the season.

The Tigers ended Sarjeant's shutout bid with a pair of goals to make it 5-2 – the first coming with 9:45 left in regulation. Anthony Hamburg redirected a shot past Sarjeant for his second goal of the season to get RIT on the scoreboard. Then, with junior Tyler Shiplo in the penalty box, serving a five-minute major for facemasking, Alexander Kuqali beat Sarjeant on the short side to give the Tigers some hope with 5:21 left.

Sarjeant and the Laker defense settled down at that point and Cook would add his ninth goal of the season, jamming home a rebound after a shot taken by Nagtzaam on a 2-on-1 with 18 seconds remaining.

The difference was Sarjeant, who stopped 43 shots in a triumphant return from injury. Ruby and Ken McLean combined to stop just 23-of-29 Mercyhurst shots. Ruby was pulled after Frischmon scored to make it 5-0.

RIT was 1-for-4 on the power play while Mercyhurst had just one opportunity and failed to convert.

Mercyhurst will play a home-and-home series against the Purple Eagles of Niagara next Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22 in the next-to-last weekend of the regular season. The teams will play at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday night and then will travel to Niagara Falls on Saturday. Both faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.