WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-The Mercyhurst Lakers used a three-goal third period to overcome the American International College hockey team, 5-2, at the Olympia Ice Center to sweep the weekend series.

AIC falls to 3-20-7 overall and 3-14-7 in Atlantic Hockey Conference play, while Mercyhurst improves to 14-10-4 overall and 12-7-3 in the AHC.

AIC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period as sophomore left wing Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) swung the puck up the near-side wall for freshman right Johno May (Mahtomedi, Minn.), who was able to protect the puck from a Lakers defenseman and pass it into the slot for senior center Alexander MacMillan (Calgary, Alb.), who ripped the puck home at 2:44 for his fourteenth of the season and seventy-fifth career point.

From there, the two teams had chances but the goalkeepers, Lakers senior Jimmy Sarjeant (Aurora, Ohio) and AIC freshman Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) kept the pucks out of the net, with Murray turning aside ten pucks in the period.

Mercyhurst put good pressure on in the early part of the second and found a way to break through at 8:25, as senior center Nardo Nagtzaam (Nijmegen, Netherlands) potted his second of the year to tie the game at 1-1.

On the very next shift, however, MacMillan sprung May and Orszulak on a two-on-one, and Orszulak finished with a shot that went five-hole on Sarjeant at 9:16 for his team-leading nineteenth of the season.

The Lakers made a change in net after the subsequent shift after Sarjeant went down with an apparent lower-body injury, turning to freshman Brandon Wildung (Nassau, Minn.), and the change sparked the Lakers to play much better; they tied the game on a goal by senior defenseman Tyler Shiplo (Oakville, Ont.) at 11:40 of the period, setting up a 2-2 score heading into the third.

Though American International continued to play well, it was all Lakers on the scoreboard as senior left wing Chris Bodo (St. Thomas, Ont.) broke the deadlock by deflecting the puck into the net at 5:50 for his ninth of the season.

The Lakers added valuable insurance late in the period as senior right wing Daniel Bahntge (Westlake, Ont.) hit the back of the net at 16:27 with his thirteenth of the year, and then senior left wing Matthew Zay (Glendale, N.Y.) hit the empty net at 19:12 to salt the game away and provide the 5-2 final with his ninth of the campaign.

Murray absorbed the loss, making 34 saves but falling to 2-13-5; Sarjeant played 29:41 and had 14 saves on 16 shots, remaining at 6-5-0, and Wildung stopped all 17 in 30:04 of play to improve to 6-4-3.

AIC next travels to Colorado for a pair of games with the Air Force Falcons; the Jackets hit the ice Friday, February 13 at 9:05 p.m. and Saturday, February 14 at 6:05 p.m.