ERIE, Pa – The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team won its third straight game on Friday night with a 5-2 win over visiting Niagara University in an Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC) game at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers improved to 15-10-4 overall and to 13-7-3 in the conference. Niagara, winless in its last 17 games (0-14-3), dropped to 3-23-3 and 3-17-3.

The Mercyhurst win, coupled with a Canisius loss, catapulted the Lakers into third place in the conference, just two points behind second-place Bentley.

The Lakers jumped on the Purple Eagles with a pair of goals 71 seconds apart midway through the first period. Redshirt freshman Jack Riley lit the lamp at 11:42 after flipping home a rebound past Niagara's sophomore goaltender Jackson Teichroeb. His eighth of the year was helped by freshman Zach Todd and sophomore Kyle Dutra. Senior Zac Frischmon struck shortly thereafter with his sixth of the season, redirecting a shot from the point by senior Ryan Misiak, at 12:53. Senior Nardo Nagtzaam earned the other assist.

Riley's goal was his first in the last eight games, dating back to a home loss against Canisius on January 13.

The Purple Eagles closed to within one when Chris Lochner tallied a power play goal, jamming home his own rebound past freshman goaltender Brandon Wildung, for his fourth goal of the season with about four minutes left in the period. Derian Plouffe and Vince Muto had the assists. Moments later, freshman Bryan Sienerth was awarded a rare penalty shot but was denied by Teichroeb with the right pad keeping the Mercyhurst advantage at 2-1. 

The Lakers outshot the Purple Eagles 13-8 in the first period.

Niagara tied the game late in the second period when Hugo Turcotte danced through the defense in the neutral zone and slid a backhander past Wildung, the reigning AHC Goaltender of the Week, at the 16-minute mark. But Lakers' senior captain Matthew Zay scored his first of two goals on the night less than three minutes later to give Mercyhurst a lead it would never relinquish. Zay got help from seniors Daniel Bahntge and Kyle Just.

The goal proved to be the game-winner - Zay's first of the season and eighth of his career.

Mercyhurst had a slight 10-9 advantage in shots in the second.

The Lakers then put the game away with a pair of goals in the third, highlighted by Todd's first collegiate score at 1:59. The Lakers put together a brilliant passing play during a 3-on-2 break with Zay and Bahntge combining to find Todd cutting down the slot. The freshman ripped a one-timer from point blank range just under the crossbar to give the Lakers a two-goal advantage.

Not only was it Todd's first collegiate goal, but it also gave him his first career multiple-point game, and doubled his season point total from two to four.

 Zay completed the scoring at 15:05 with his second of the game and eleventh of the season after a brilliant redirection off an initial shot from senior defenseman Grant Gettinger. Just had the other assist.

It was Zay's first two-goal game of the season, and only the second of his career. His first came at home in game three of the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals against Holy Cross on March 11, 2012 - his freshman season. Meanwhile, Just recorded his third consecutive two-assist game and moved to within four points of becoming the 20th member of the 100-point club during the Division I era at Mercyhurst.  

The Lakers outshot the Purple Eagles 10-7 in the third and 33-24 for the entire sixty minutes - the fourth consecutive game that Mercyhurst has outshot its opponent. Wildung improved to 7-4-3 overall after turning aside 20 Niagara shots. Teichroeb fell to 3-15-3 on the season with 28 saves in the loss.

Niagara blanked the Mercyhurst power play in five tries and was 1-of-2 with the man advantage.

The Lakers are now 10-11-2 lifetime against Niagara and improved to 5-4-2 at the Ice Center. The two teams conclude the weekend series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.