UTICA, New York - For the second consecutive game, Blake Bennett scored a hat trick, leading the American International College ice hockey team to a 5-4 win over Mercyhurst University in the Atlantic Hockey Association Championship Tournament Semifinal on Friday, March 18.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score: RV AIC 5, Mercyhurst 4
Records: AIC improves to 21-12-3; Mercyhurst falls to 16-19-4
Location: Adirondack Bank Center, Utica, New York

KEY STATS:
Mercyhurst:
Rylee St. Onge: Two goals
Dante Sheriff: One goal, one assist
Austin Heidemann: One goal
Kyle McClellan: Loss (12-13-2), 44 saves on 48 shots in 58:01

AIC:
Blake Bennett: Three goals
Brett Callahan: Two assists, +3 rating
Zak Galambos: One goal, three blocked shots
Elijiah Barriga: One goal, 15-of-21 on faceoffs
Brian Rigali: One assist, 16-of-22 on faceoffs
Julius Janhonen: One assist, 11-of-18 on faceoffs
Alec Calvaruso: Win (9-4-0), 17 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• For the first 10 minutes of play, the puck was under AIC's control as the Yellow Jackets took the first 13 shot attempts. However, it was the Lakers who lit the lamp to initiate the scoring as Dante Sheriff swiped the puck in the right circle and rifled it in at 12:32.
• AIC killed a penalty to start the second and then quickly tied the game. Off of a defensive zone faceoff win by Julius Janhonen, Brett Callahan fired the puck off the right side glass. Bennett raced up the ice to beat the defense to the puck and made a move to pull Kyle McClellan down before tucking home his 15th of the year at 2:28.
• Another long pass from Callahan to Bennett led to AIC taking a 2-1 lead, as Bennett found linemate Austen Long, who then returned the puck to him. Bennett drove toward the right side of the net, getting nearly to the goal line before backhanding his 16th goal of the season under the crossbar at 8:34.
• The Lakers fought back and regained the lead on two goals in 1:59 as Austin Heidemann popped in a tally at 11:29 before Rylee St. Onge put the puck into the cage at 13:28 on a power play deflection. Despite further AIC pressure, the Lakers held that lead heading into the third.
• In the third, AIC tied the game up in unusual fashion. Brian Rigali fed Chris Van Os-Shaw, who drove to the left side of the net and took a shot. McClellan saved it, but as Zak Galambos was crashing the net, he was tripped from behind, and slid into the net, taking the puck with him. Owing to the interference by the Mercyhurst defender, the officials ruled the play a good goal even after a video review, giving Galambos his fourth of the season at 3:48.
• With a potential overtime looming, AIC won another defensive zone faceoff and Bennett had more magic in him. He stayed to the right side of the zone as Long drove the net and Janhonen provided a trailer. With all of the possible options available, he fired the puck through McClellan's feet and into the net at 14:44 for his 17th goal of the season and second straight game with a hat trick.
• As time wound down, the Lakers pulled McClellan for an extra attacker, and it proved costly. Justin Cole was able to push a puck forward for Elijiah Barriga, who hit the empty net at 17:41 with his ninth of the year. That empty-net strike wound up being the deciding tally as St. Onge notched his second of the game at 18:40, but the Lakers did not find a fifth goal as AIC advanced to the AHA Championship Game.

BLAK3 B3NN3TT:

• Bennett's hat trick was the fourth of the season for AIC, and the second against the Lakers for the team in a month following Barriga's hat trick in Erie, Pennsylvania when AIC clinched the regular season title on February 18.
• Bennett became the second player in AHA history to record two hat tricks in one postseason. Matt Smith of RIT is the other player to do so, recording back-to-back three-goal showings in the AHA Quarterfinals against Holy Cross on March 7-8, 2008.
• His 17 goals are tied with Jon Puskar '14 for third-most all-time in a season for AIC in the DI era; Puskar notched a then-record 17 in his senior campaign. Tobias Fladeby '21, at 18 in 2018-19, is second, and Austin Orszulak '17, with 22 in 2014-15, has the record.

NEXT UP:

• AIC will face either Air Force or RIT in the AHA Championship Game at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York on Saturday, March 19 at 7:35 p.m.