Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team looked to earn an opening weekend split with No. 16 Ohio State but came up short as they fell 4-1 at home on Sunday.
How it Happened
The Buckeyes started the game strong as they scored just 59 seconds into the game. The shot on goal was just their second shot and first shot on goal. Ohio State wasn't done in the first period as they scored once again at the 16:33 mark to make it 2-0.
After the first period the Lakers were trailing 2-0 after being outshot 15-6 in the frame.
With the Lakers on the power play early in the second period, the Buckeyes struck again, this time shorthanded to make it 3-0. About two minutes later the Buckeyes scored again to make it 4-0 with more than half of the game remaining.
Mercyhurst started chipping away at the lead less than 20 seconds later. Dalton Hunter fed the puck to Rylee St. Onge and the captain took a shot. Carson Briere was driving to the far post and cleaned up the rebound for his first goal of the year and the Lakers first of the day.
After 40 minutes of play, OSU led 4-1 and were outshooting the Lakers 32-13.
In the third period, neither team put a puck across in the third period but Ohio State outshot the Lakers 12-6 in the final period.
By the Numbers
The Lakers did not convert on any of their five power plays while Ohio State scored twice on six attempts with 15 shots on goal. Tyler Harmon made 40 saves in the loss after making 40 saves in the opener. Briere led the team in shots with three while Jonathan Bendorf and Brendan Michaelian each had two.
Welcome Back Maz
Captain Joseph Maziarz made his season debut for the Lakers after missing all of last season with an injury. Maziarz went 573 days between games, in his first game of 2022-23 he registered one shot from the from the blueline.
Hear The Team
Up Next
The Lakers go on their first road trip of the season as they head to RPI for a weekend series that starts on Friday at 7:00 PM.
