Fairfield, Ct. —  The Lakers came up short against Sacred Heart in game two of the series, falling 2-1 to the Pioneers and locking in a series split.

How It Happened
The beginning of the game started relatively quiet, despite the Lakers hopes to get a ferocious start similar to last night's. Sacred Heart controlled the puck early on and had the most attacking threat with netminder Owen Say looked sturdy, making 7 saves within the first ten minutes of the period. The roles reversed in the closing half of the period with Mercyhurst being on the front foot of the attacking presence. The Pioneers switched it up in goal today starting Justin Robbins after the 7 goal onslaught Clark faced last night. Robbins was even more active than Say in the period, going on to make 14 saves in the frame with the Lakers peppering the goal. Mercyhurst picked up a penalty in the closing seconds of the period, which would carry over to the start of the second with the game knotted at 0-0.

Sacred Heart looked determined not to waste the opportunity to start the period with the man advantage after being held 0/7 on power play attempts last night by Mercyhurst. They finally were able to capitalize on it a minute into the period as John Jaworsky flipped it in on a backhand off a rebounded long-range shot from Mikey Adamson. The Lakers weren't going to let the lead stand for too long, being able to tie it back up only five and a half minutes later. Will Margel picked up the goal rifling it in the back of the net right in front of goal after Garrett Dahm feathered it perfectly over to link with him. 

Tyler Nasca started the whole sequence when he stripped the Pioneers in the defensive zone and passed it up to Dahm. The assist was Nascas first point of both the season and his career, while Margel picked up the opening goal for Mercyhurst in the second straight game. Both teams swapped power plays in the following minutes with each of them also picking up a penalty kill. The Lakers again dominated the attack in the period, but weren't able to muster up another goal to go in front, losing another power play opportunity in the last five minutes as well. Robbins tallied 9 more saves in the period, keeping it tied at 1-1 to head into the final period of play.

Both teams came out aggressive with hopes to find a winner. After swapping shots, Jaworsky ended up on a breakaway for Sacred Heart. He threw a heater at goal that Say was able to handle, but Tyler Spott came flying in to smash the rebound in the back of the net before slamming into the boards. The Lakers continued to relentlessly pepper the net through the period but seemingly weren't able to breakthrough the sturdy Robbins who was putting in a solid shift for the Pioneers. Mercyhurst emptied the net for the final minute and ten seconds of the game, doing everything they could to send it to overtime. The final whistle would end up blowing after a couple more shots, solidifying a 2-1 final in favor of Sacred Heart as the boys head back to Erie on a series split.

Highlights
Will Margel scored his 4th goal of the season.
Garrett Dahm tied the team lead in assists with his 11th today.
Tyler Nasca added his first career point with an assist in today's game.
Owen Say had 20 saves on 22 shots.

Scoring Summary

P2: 6:36 - Will Margel from Garrett Dahm and Tyler Nasca

Next Up
Mercyhurst will get back in action shortly, with a midweek matchup in Buffalo as they travel to face Canisius on Thursday, January 11th at 7:00pm.