Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team opened their season at home in front of a sellout crowd of 1,500 as they hosted No. 16 Ohio State. The Lakers fell 4-2 in the opener.
How it Happened
Early in the first period the Buckeyes capitalized on a Laker turnover deep in their own end and made it 1-0 at the 3:52 mark of the first period. Neither team found the back of the net in the opening frame, OSU outshot the Lakers 15-7 in the frame.
After a scrum to end the first period the Lakers had a power play to open the second period. Despite not scoring on the power play the Lakers scored just 3:15 into the period. Marko Reifenberger took a pass from Geuorgui Fedulov and went in on a mini break-a-way. Reifenberger was turned away but Jonathan Bendorf was there to clean up the mess for the Lakers first goal of the season.
The game stayed tied for the rest of the second period and to almost the halfway mark of the third period. At the 9:29 mark of the third period, Ohio State scored to take the lead. Ohio State then doubled their lead and made it 3-1 just under two minutes later.
Down by two goals the Lakers knew they needed to respond. At the 15:08 mark of the third, they did just that. Mickey Burns forced a turnover at the half wall of the OSU zone. Burns walked in and took a shot that left a rebound for Garrett Dahm, Dahm made no mistake as he scored his first career goal in the first game of his sophomore season.
The Laker comeback came up short as Ohio State scored an empty net goal to put the game on ice with ten seconds left.
Laker Debuts
Tyler Harmon got the start in net, he made 40 saves in his Laker debut after transferring to the Lakers from Vermont. Brendon Michaelian, Eric Esposito, Steven Agriogianis, and Adrien Bisson all made their Laker debuts after starting their collegiate careers elsewhere. The skaters combined for five shots, while Michaelian blocked three shots.
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Up Next
The Lakers close out the opening weekend tomorrow afternoon as host Ohio State at 4:05 PM.
