ERIE, Pa. -- Freshman Austin Heidemann recorded his first career hat trick as the Mercyhurst men's hockey team completed the sweep of visting Air Force with a 6-3 victory Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The Lakers trailed 1-0 early, but Michael Bevilacqua rifled a shot past a screened Alex Schilling at the 6:55 mark of the first period to knot the game 1-1.
Air Force retook the lead at 9:50 on a Shawn Knowlton power play marker, but Heidemann netted his first of the game pouncing on a rebound created by Joseph Maziarz with 5:30 remaining in the first.
Heidemann gave the Lakers their first lead of the contest 10:53 into the second period when he redirected a Carson Briere pass behind Schilling.
Jonathan Bendorf extended the lead with a man-advantage marker at the 13:32 mark before Heidemann completed the hat trick on the power play just 1:31 later to give the Lakers a 5-2 lead going into the second intermission.
Dante Spagnuolo chipped a puck past Schilling with 11:45 to play in the game to extend the lead to 6-2. The Falcons would score once more on the power play with 3:04 to play to set the final.
Heidemann's hat trick was the first for a Laker since Joseph Duzsak scored three times against Holy Cross on Jan. 4, 2019.
Six Lakers scored multiple points on the night. Bendorf and Spagnuolo added a helper to their goals for a pair of points while Gueorgui Fedulolov, Rylee St. Onge and Maziarz each tallied two assists.
Kyle McClellan made 28 saves in his collegiate debut to pick up the win in net for the Lakers.
Mercyhurst is back in action on Thursday when they travel to RIT for a 5 p.m. matchup with the Tigers.
