ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team got clutch goals from redshirt senior Kyle Just and junior Kyle Cook and 31 saves from sophomore goaltender Spencer Bacon on Friday night to edge visiting Holy Cross 2-1 in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game played at the Ice Center. Just scored in the second period and Cook in the third as the Lakers rebounded from a Tuesday night loss to visiting Canisius to raise their overall record to 11-7-3 and their conference mark to 9-4-2. Holy Cross lost its third straight as its records dropped to 8-9-5 and 7-4-5 respectively.

The win propelled Mercyhurst into third place in the 11-team conference with 20 points, one more than Holy Cross and one fewer than second-place Canisius.

Both teams went to reserve goaltenders Friday. Bacon (2-1-1) hadn't played since absorbing a 5-4 overtime loss at Bentley on November 15. The Crusaders, meanwhile, opted to give freshman Paul Berrafato (0-2-0) his first collegiate start. Berrafato had played only 54:26 this season in two appearances, but 50 of those minutes came in a relief role last Saturday at Canisius.

The inexperienced netminders had a solid first period with each stopping ten opponent shots.

Just got the home team on the board at 12:32 of the second with a blast from just outside the circles that appeared to change direction and fool the Holy Cross freshman netminder. His seventh of the season was assisted by seniors Ryan Misiak and Matthew Zay.

The Lakers had a 14-10 shot advantage in the middle period.

Cook gave Mercyhurst some breathing room at 5:05 of the third with a power play goal, his second of the season and first with the extra man. Junior defenseman Anthony Mastrodicasa took the inital shot from the point and the 6-5, 220-pound Cook caused enough havoc in front to jam home the rebound. Just picked up the secondary assist.

It was Cook's first goal since October 25 in a 3-2 home victory over Merrimack. It was his fourth career game-winning tally but his first since a 5-4 overtime win over the Crusaders last March in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals at the Ice Center.

The goal proved to be pivotal when the Crusaders cashed a power play of their own at 16:28. Junior defenseman Jake Bolton scored his sixth of the year with a one-timer from the point that beat Bacon over the right shoulder, ending the sophomore's shutout bid. The goal was assisted by junior Joe McNamara and sophomore Brett Mckinnon to cut the Lakers' lead in half.

Holy Cross pulled Berrafato down the stretch, but could not get the tying goal.

The Crusaders outshot Mercyhurst 12-6 in the third and had a slight margin, 32-30, overall. The Lakers finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage while the Crusaders were 1-of-2.

Both goaltenders played well. Bacon stopped 31 shots and was named the game's first star while Berrafato turned aside 28 and earned the second star in a losing effort.

Mercyhurst now leads the all-time series 34-13-5 including the last six in-a-row.

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

Notes: Just's two points marked his third multi-point game of the season…red-hot forwards Daniel Bahntge and Jack Riley were held scoreless…the 2-1 loss was the third in succession by that score for the Crusaders…Mercyhurst is now 9-1-2 when leading after two periods while Holy Cross is 0-7-0…the Lakers came into the game with the second-best offense in Atlantic Hockey, 3.40 goals-per-game…the Crusaders came into the weekend with the conference's best defense, 2.10 goals-per-game…the game marked the collegiate debut of Mercyhurst freshman forward Michael Verboom, who joined the team earlier in the week...he took one shot on goal and was a +1 in his first career game