ERIE, Pennsylvania - The American International College ice hockey team played to a 4-4 draw with Mercyhurst University in Atlantic Hockey Conference action on Saturday, January 20.

FAST FACTS:
Final score: AIC 4, Mercyhurst 4
Records: AIC moves to 9-14-3 and 8-10-3 in conference play; Mercyhurst is now 12-10-3 and 9-7-3 in Atlantic Hockey.
Where: Mercyhurst Ice Center

STATS LEADERS:
AIC:
Stefano Durante (35 saves)
Janis Jaks (one goal, one assist, +2)
Nicolas Luka (two assists)
Joel Kocur (one goal)
Johno May (one goal)
Blake Christensen (one goal)

Mercyhurst:
Bryan Sienert (one goal, one assist)
Derek Barach (one goal, one assist)
Brendan Riley (two assists)
Brandon Wildung (30 saves)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Mercyhurst got on the board early, at the 6:24 mark, but sophomore left wing Blake Christensen made it a 1-1 game with a power-play goal just 1:22 later.
• AIC jumped into the lead at the 10:28 mark when sophomore center Joel Kocur contributed his fourth goal of the year, and senior right wing Johno May made it a 3-1 game in the Yellow Jackets' favor by the 3:04 mark of the second period.
• The Lakers' Derek Barach brought his team back within 3-2 with 24 seconds to go in the second period, and just 1:02 into the third frame, Joseph Duszak had the game tied again.
• Sophomore defenseman Janis Jaks scored his seventh goal of the year at 7:21 to give AIC the lead back at 4-3.
• However, with just 51 seconds left, Bryan Sienerth notched the game-tying goal to send the game to overtime.
• Mercyhurst outshot AIC 3-0 in the extra frame, but freshman goaltender Stefano Durante came up big with stops on all three to preserve the tie for the Yellow Jackets.

BUZZWORTHY:

• AIC has not lost an overtime game since February 2016.
• Christensen continues to lead the team after scoring his ninth goal of the year. This is the third time this season he has recorded goals in back-to-back games.
• After recording his first goal of the year on January 12, May has now posted three goals in his past four games.
• With an assist on Christensen's goal, freshman defenseman and Hobey Baker Award nominee Brennan Kapcheck pushed his team-leading assist total to 13; that total already matches the team-high assist total from the 2016-17 season.
• Saturday marked the first multipoint game of sophomore defenseman Nicolas Luka's career.
• One night after facing just 15 shots and making 12 saves, Durante nearly tripled that number of saves with a career-high 35 stops.
• This game ends a five-game road trip for the Yellow Jackets, with AIC posting a 2-2-1 record in that span.

COACH'S CORNER:

• "It's kind of a funny one for us," said AIC ice hockey head coach Eric Lang. "When you get up 3-1 in this league, you feel like if you don't close it out and you don't come away with two points, then it's disappointing, and it was. But I look at it from a little positive angle here. It's 3-1, and then it's 3-3 and they're all over us, but I like that we showed resiliency to get back on top 4-3. And credit to Mercyhurst, I think that's the fourth time this year that they've come back inside a minute to tie an opponent. We're aware of that, and they get a little puck luck. But you earn your luckthat's hockey. I feel like we left a point on the table, butwe did some things well."

NEXT UP:

• AIC returns home for a pair of games with Robert Morris University on Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27.
• Puck drop at the MassMutual Center for the first game will be at 2:05 p.m., and Saturday's game will begin at 1:05 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow @AIC_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram, and like American International College Ice Hockey on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.