ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's hockey team saw their comeback bid come up just short in a 4-2 setback to Niagara Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The Lakers trailed 3-1 late in the third when a pair of Purple Eagle penalties put Mercyhurst up 5-on-3 with 2:48 to play. With the extra attacker on,
Jonathan Bendorf jammed home a rebound to trim the lead to 3-2 with 2:01 to play.
Niagara took a penalty after the whistle to maintain the 5-on-3 advantage for the Lakers, but Chris Harpur sent the puck the length of the ice into the empty net to halt the comeback bid and set the final.
Harpur opened the scoring with a tally 2:30 into the contest. The Purple Eagles extended the lead to 3-0 with goals from Ben Sokay and Noah Delmas in the second period.
James Anderson got the Lakers within 3-1 with 1:59 left in the second. Anderson took a backhand feed from
Brendan Schneider and beat the Chad Veltri far side.
The Lakers outshot the Purple Eagles 22-6 in the third period. Anderson finished with a goal and an assist as well as a team-leading seven shots.
Justin Cmunt,
Dalton Hunter and Schneider each picked up a helper for Mercyhurst.
Garrett Metcalf made 26 saves taking the loss in net.
The Lakers are back in action on Friday when they host Army at 7:05 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Tickets are still available
here or at the Ice Center starting 90 minutes prior to faceoff.
