ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team dropped a 4-2 decision to Air Force during Atlantic Hockey play on Saturday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
 
Sophomore Matthew Whittaker scored two goals while freshman Joey Duszak had two assists and sophomore Josh Lammon had one assist for Mercyhurst (8-12-1, 7-8-1).
 
Erik Baskin had two goals while A.J. Reid and Matt Serratore had one for Air Force (13-6-3, 10-3-1).
 
Whittaker scored his fifth goal of the season to get the Lakers on the board first in the first period. Lammon and Duszak assisted the goal.
 
Duszak took a shot from the point, Lammon redirected the puck in front of the net and Whittaker tapped it home.
 
During the second period, Baskin scored for the Falcons and tied the game at 1-1 before Whittaker scored his second goal of the game with an assist from Duszak.
 
From the Lakers' zone, Duszak passed the puck up to Whittaker who found the five-hole open and sent a rocket to the back of the net.
 
During the third period, Air Force capitalized on a 5-on-3 advantage to tie the game at 2-2 on a goal by Baskin. Reid and Serratore had power-play goals to give the Falcons the lead for good.
 
The Lakers went 0-for-6 on the power play and the Falcons were 3-for-9.
 
Mercyhurst freshman goaltender Colin DeAugustine stopped 34 out of 38 shots while Air Force goaltender Billy Christopoulos saved 20 out of 22 shots on net.
 
The Lakers are back in action Friday and Saturday when they travel to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army West Point. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. both nights.