ERIE, Pa. The American International College men's ice hockey squad dropped a, 5-3, contest to Mercyhurst University in Atlantic Hockey Conference action this evening from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
AIC falls to 5-20-2 on the season and 5-14-2 in conference play while the Lakers move to 13-12-1 overall and 11-8-1 in Atlantic Hockey action after securing a crucial four points in the conference standings.
The Jackets opened the scoring following the first media timeout of the opening period as freshman classmates Travis Douglas (Osgoode, Ont.) and Johnny Mueller (St. Louis, Mo.) played a little tic-tac-toe over the blue line and Mueller found himself closing in on the goalie down the right slot and fired high glove to light the lamp for the 1-0 lead at 6:48 of the period.
Mercyhurst then used a pair of goals in just 2:31 to grab the 2-1 advantage as freshman Derek Barach (Glenmont, N.Y.) sent a wrist-shot on net that beat sophomore net-minder Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) blocker side at 10:57 before classmate Chris Markowski's (Dix Hills, N.Y.) wrister from the left dot also found the back of the net at 12:28 of the first.
Freshman Mitch Mueller (Bakersfield, Calif.) then continued his stellar weekend play and sent a slap-shot on net, after a clean face-off win by classmate Marc Dubeau (St. Lina, Alb.), that deflected off a Laker stick and past sophomore goaltender Brandon Wildung (Nassau, Minn.) at 18:38 sending the teams into the intermission tied 2-2.
The Lakers then used the momentum of a successful penalty kill to regain the lead with some offensive zone pressure and a lucky bounce it was Barach getting credit for his second of the game at 5:24 for the 3-2 edge.
Sophomore Andrew DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, Mich.) then skated hard to create the tying goal as he found junior Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) out front for the point-blank score and 3-3 tie at 9:27.
However, in a back-and-forth affair, sophomore Michael Verboom (Iona Station, Ont.) gave Mercyhurst the lead again as he slipped on past the left pad of Murray at 12:36 for the 4-3 margin.
The Lakers then used an early penalty in the third period to extend their lead to two goals as freshman Josh Lammon (Jackson, Mich.) sent a floater on net from just inside the blue line that took a bad bounce off Murray's blocker and landed behind him in the net for the 5-3 score at 2:27 of the final frame.
The Jackets had some quality chances late, but weren't able to capitalize even opting for the empty net with a little over a minute to play they were unable to put another one home as the final horn sounded.
Murray falls to 5-14-2 after making 19 saves in the setback while Wildung runs his record even at 7-7-0 after stopping 22 shots in the victory.
The Lakers went 1-for-2 with the man-advantage while the Jackets were 0-for-2 and held the slim 25-24 edge in shots.
AIC returns home next weekend as the welcome the Niagara University Purple Eagles to the Olympia Ice Center for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday night.
