WATERTOWN, Mass. – Seniors are supposed to step up in big situations. That is exactly what happened on Friday night at the John A. Ryan Skating Arena in game one of the Atlantic Hockey Conference quarterfinals.

Senior defenseman Ryan Misiak scored his seventh goal of the season at the 4:46 mark of overtime to propel the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team to a 1-0 victory at Bentley University and a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three quarterfinal round. The Lakers moved to 17-14-4 overall while the Falcons dropped to 16-14-5.

After a Bentley flurry just moments earlier, senior defenseman Tyler Shiplo was able to chip the puck to senior Daniel Bahntge up the right wing boards. Bahntge found Misiak in the neutral zone and the Shelby Township, Michigan native beat Bentley freshman Jayson Argue through the five-hole from the left wing circle to commence the celebration from the Laker bench.

Misiak was honored with a spot on the All-Conference Second Team on Thursday afternoon. Bahntge, who picked up the primary assist, was a Third Team honoree.

It was just the fourth 1-0 overtime victory in Atlantic Hockey playoff history. Last season, Niagara defeated American International 4:43 into double overtime. Holy Cross defeated American International in 2009 and Canisius defeated Quinnipiac during the 2004 postseason – both of those instances were single overtime periods.

Misiak's goal gave freshman netminder Brandon Wildung his first collegiate shutout – a 40-save gem, including five saves in the overtime period. Wildung improved to 9-8-3 overall on the season.

The freshman won the battle of the two rookie netminders – last week Argue was awarded the All-Rookie Team goaltender spot with a unanimous selection. But, Wildung got the better of his counterpart on Friday night, turning aside 12 shots in the first, 13 in the second, 10 in the third, and five in the overtime. Argue finished the night stopping 27-of-28 Mercyhurst shots to drop to 7-6-4 on the season.

The teams played a scoreless opening twenty minutes but it wasn't without plenty of excitement. The Falcons came out strong with four shots on Wildung in the opening twenty seconds of the game. But, the Lakers weathered the storm, and cut the shots on goal differential to 12-10 when the dust settled after the final horn sounded.

There were a number of big hits in the opening period – a frame that provided a lot of end-to-end action. Mercyhurst had a golden opportunity to draw first blood when Bahntge found himself all alone in front of Argue with 9:23 left. However, Bahntge's backhander was stopped by the Falcon netminder to keep the Lakers off the board.

Wildung also made a big stop later in the frame, stoning Bentley sophomore Max French with a glove save on a shot from in between the circles.

The Lakers also played solid defense in front of Wildung, blocking a dozen Bentley shots in the first period. Redshirt freshman Jack Riley led the squad with three blocks in the frame.

The second period saw much of the same with both goaltenders, in particular Wildung, making some big saves during the twenty minutes. The freshman from Nassau, Minnesota robbed Bentley leading scorer Andrew Gladiuk midway through the frame and then stopped second-leading scorer Brett Switzer on a redirection later in the period.

Argue came up with a gem of his own late in the period when he robbed sophomore Kyle Dutra from the right wing circle on a one-timer. Dutra looked as though he had an empty net but Argue came out of nowhere to make the stop with his facemask.

Bentley outshot Mercyhurst, 13-10, in the second period and held a 25-20 advantage through forty minutes.

Ditto for the third as both rookie netminders stood their ground.

Bentley came close as Gladiuk fired a snapshot from the left wing circle that beat Wildung but hit the crossbar with 5:30 left in regulation. Riley had an opportunity early in the third but Argue robbed him from point-blank range. Both teams had flurries late in regulation but neither team could dent the scoreboard.

Shots favored Bentley, 10-6, in the third period, which extended its shots on goal margin through sixty minutes, 35-26.

There was just one minor assessed in the entire game – a second-period penalty to Mercyhurst's Jack Riley. The Lakers killed off the man advantage, allowing just one Bentley shot in the process.The Lakers will attempt to close out the quarterfinal series and punch their ticket to Rochester next weekend when they take on the Falcons for game two. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.