WATERTOWN, Mass. – Freshman Taylor Best scored twice and sophomore goaltender Brandon Wildung stopped 27 shots as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team opened up conference play on Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the Falcons of Bentley University at the John A. Ryan Skating Arena. The Lakers improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Conference standings. The game was the first of the regular season for the Falcons.

After a scoreless first period that had the Falcons outshoot the Lakers by a slim 11-10 margin, Best got Mercyhurst on the board just 1:50 into the second period with his second goal of the young season. Redshirt sophomore Jack Riley had the lone assist

Sophomore Jonathan Charbonneau gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead with 8:45 left in the second period with his second goal of the season. Freshman Derek Barach and senior Kyle Cook had the assists on the eventual game-winning tally. Charbonneau now has both of Mercyhurst's game-winners this season as he picked up the winner in last Sunday's 9-7 victory over 20th-ranked Colgate at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Mercyhurst outshot Bentley in the second by the same 11-10 margin.

Wildung lost his shutout bid with 3:20 left in regulation when Andrew McDonald got the Falcons on the board with a power play tally. Ryan McMurphy and Kyle Schmidt had the assists.

But, Best buried his second goal of the game, this time into an empty net with 25 seconds left to seal the Lakers' victory. Freshman Jeremy Wu and sophomore Kane Elliot had the assists.

Mercyhurst held an 8-7 shot advantage in the third period and outshot the Falcons by a 29-28 margin for the contest.

After a shaky start against a strong Colgate offense last weekend, Wildung was sensational on Friday night by turning aside 27-of-28 Bentley shots to improve to 2-1 on the season. Jayson Argue suffered the loss for the Falcons, stopping 26 Mercyhurst shots.

Mercyhurst was 0-for-6 on the power play while Bentley converted 1-of-5 of its opportunities.

The teams will conclude the weekend series on Saturday night. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.