ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's hockey team fell 7-3 to Canisius College in front of 1,428 fans at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday after the visiting Golden Griffins scored five goals in the third period.
Nathan Bryer,
Jonathan Charbonneau and
Joseph Duszak scored goals for Mercyhurst (4-4-2, 2-2-2) while
Matthew Whittaker and
Patrick Piacentini had assists.
Dylan McLaughlin led Canisius with three goals and one assist while Ryan Schmelzer, Cameron Heath, Jesse Pereira and Jeff Murray added single goals for Canisius (4-4-1, 4-4-0).
McLaughlin scored 17 seconds into the first period to give Canisius an early 1-0 lead before Bryer evened the score for Mercyhurst three minutes later.
A shot by Piacentini rebounded toward Whittaker who passed the puck across the ice to Bryer for the goal. Bryer's shot beat the glove of Canisius goaltender Daniel Urbani for Bryer's first collegiate goal.
Later in the first, Charbonneau benefited from a Canisius miscue for his goal. After a failed clearing attempt from the Griffin defense, Charbonneau picked up the loose puck in front of the net and beat the Griffs' goaltender to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Canisius tied the game 2-2 with McLaughlin's second goal of the game.
Mercyhurst took its final lead with 51 seconds remaining in the second period. Duszak carried the puck from behind the Mercyhurst goal line and through the Canisius defense before shooting past Urbani's glove side. That score was a power-play goal as the Lakers went ahead, 3-2.
About five minutes into the third period, McLaughlin completed his hat trick. Later in the period, the Griffins scored four goals in a 7:57 span, including three in 3:42.
Schmelzer capitalized on a 5-on-3 advantage to put Canisius ahead, 4-3. Health added another goal on the 5-on-4 power play to take a 5-3 lead before Pereira tallied an insurance goal and then Murray planted an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining.
The Lakers went 1-for-9 on the power play while the Griffs finished 2-for-6.
Goaltender
Brandon Wildung had 14 saves for Mercyhurst while Urbani stopped shots for Canisius. The Lakers held a 40-21 shot advantage.
The Lakers will return to action on Nov. 25-26 for a two-game non-conference series at Wisconsin.
