ERIE, Pa. -- Jack Riley scored two goals during the Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team's 5-3 loss to Atlantic Hockey opponent Sacred Heart on Saturday in front of 1,006 fans at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Taylor Best also scored for the Lakers while single assists were credited to James Anderson, Derek Barach, Jonathan Charbonneau, Patrick Piacentini and Michael Verboom.

Brandon Wildung had 18 saves in net for the Lakers (6-6-2, 3-3-2).

For SHU (4-10-2, 2-7-2), Jason Cotton scored twice. Vito Bavaro, Jordan Kaplan and Kory Kaplan also had goals. Ruslan Rakhmatov and Matt Tugnutt made two assists each while Marcus Joseph, Zach De Concilys, Zach Tsekos and Marc Johnstone had one assist apiece.

For the second straight night, Sacred Heart spotted itself a two-goal lead -- this time, it held the lead for good.

Bavaro put the Pioneers ahead with a first-period goal before Cotton extended the visitors' lead to 2-0 early in the second.

Best struck back for the Lakers, getting assists from Anderson and Piacentini, but a SHU power-play goal by Kennedy put the Pioneers ahead 3-1 less than two minutes later.

Riley scored a short-handed goal later in the second, closing MU's deficit to 3-2. Verboom stole the puck from SHU goaltender Brett Magnus and found Riley, who finished the play into a vacated net.

Cotton pushed SHU's lead back to two goals early in the third as he tallied on the power play with a deflection. Kaplan made it 5-2 midway through the period.

Riley pulled the Lakers within 5-3 with 8:13 to go. He received assists from Barach and Charbonneau.

Magnus had 25 saves in earning the win for Sacred Heart.

The Pioneers were 2-for-4 on the power play while Mercyhurst went 0-for-3. The Lakers held a 28-24 shot advantage.

Mercyhurst will return to action next weekend with a pair of contest at Atlantic Hockey opponent American International.