Box Score ERIE, Pa. -- Steven Ipri raced down the right wing and snapped the overtime winner past St. Lawrence goalie Emil Zetterquist to lift Mercyhurst to a 3-2 victory over the Saints in the Lakers home opener Friday night.
"We had a 2-on-1 the whole way down and I decided to shoot it," said Irpi. "I was happy to see it go in."
The game was a see-saw match that saw the Lakers get on the board first with a power play goa just 30 seconds into the contest. Josh McDougall held in an attempted clear and threw a puck to the net. It trickled through the goalie before Dalton Hunter pounced on it and put the puck in the net.
The Saints answered with 2:55 left in the opening period with a Zach Risteau goal sending the teams into the first intermission tied at one.
Gueorgui Feduolov gave the Lakers back the lead just 1:54 into the second period when he chipped home a rebound off a Joseph Maziarz wrister from the point. The Lakers held a 2-1 lead going to the third. Saint Lawrence knotted the game 2-2, 1:52 into the third and the teams skated scoreless the rest of the way setting up Ipri's overtime heroics.
"We did some good things and the best thing we did was find a way to win in overtime," said head coach Rick Gotkin. "With the being said, we need to be a lot better tomorrow. I thought St. Lawrence played great and we bent, but we didn't break and in the end we found a way to win the game."
Hunter recorded a pair of points on the night with the opening goal and an assist on the game-winner. Ipri scored on his only shot of the night and four other Lakers picked up a point on the night.
Garrett Metcalf made 36 stops to backstop the Laker effort improving his record to 2-1 on the young season.
The Lakers and Saints wrap up their weekend series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center at 7:05 p.m. Ticket are available by clicking here.
