ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst ACHA Men's team had a pair of CHMA games over the weekend, looking to make a splash in the standings. The Lakers traveled to Indiana, Pennsylvania on Friday to face off against the Crimson Hawks of IUP for their first matchup of the season.
 
Mike Mankowski got the start in net for the Lakers, his 2^nd of the year.
 
In the 1^st period, IUP unleashed a barrage of early goals that saw Mankowski being replaced by Henry Hunt after the Lakers let in 3 goals in under 9 minutes. Hunt then remained in the game for the remainder of the 1^st period, stopping 9 of his 12 shots faced. The Crimson Hawks led the game by a score of 6-0 heading into the 2^nd period.
 
The Lakers made another goalie change at the beginning of the 2^nd period. Senior goaltender Connor Bridges came in at the start of the frame, looking to be a consistent last line of defense for the Hurst. While IUP managed to bury another goal under 2 minutes into the period, graduate student Hayden Cox scored his 3^rd goal of the year at 8:22, with the assist coming from Conner McCusker, his 6^th assist of the season.
 
In the 3^rd period, the Lakers managed to score the only goals of the frame, with the first coming from Nicholas Botzenhart, his 2^nd goal of the season, with the assist coming from McCusker and Kaden Bolter. McCusker was then able to score his 1^st goal of the season at 11:50, with the feeds coming from Cameron Glance and Nathan Chung.
 
The Lakers would eventually fall 7-3, with Bridges stopping 26 of 27 shots.
 
Mercyhurst then looked to host West Virginia for another CHMA matchup the following night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
 
The Lakers were aiming to turn their fortunes around as they hit the ice against the Mountaineers. Bridges got the start for the Lakers after a strong performance the night before against IUP.
 
In the 1^st period, West Virginia was looking to dominate early in the period, but the determination of the Lakers outshined the visitors as Cox scored his 4^th goal of the season off a stellar feed from Bolter at 14:05. Despite holding the score at 1-0, the Lakers were feeling confident going into the 2^nd frame.
 
In the 2^nd period, Bolter scored an early pair of goals off of beautiful chip feeds from William Neeld and Nickolas Eberhardt on each goal. These would unfortunately end up being the last goals of the game for the Lakers, as a power play goal by West Virginia would halt the Laker momentum heading into the 3^rd period.
 
In the 3^rd, West Virginia would score 4 goals within the first 10 minutes to shut down the Laker offensive efforts. Despite some opportunities on the power play throughout the period, the Lakers were unable to mount a comeback.
 
The Lakers would fall 5-3, with Bridges stopping 29 of 34 shots.
 
The Blue and Green will next travel to Olean, N.Y. for a Sunday matinee game against St. Bonaventure November 16.