Feb. 15, 2008

Stats

Milford, Ct. - Mercyhurst junior defenseman Bobby Phillips' third goal of the season early in the third period proved decisive as Mercyhurst nipped Sacred Heart 4-3 in an Atlantic Hockey Association contest Friday night. The Lakers (11-15-5, AH 11-7-5) snapped a lengthy dry spell against the Pioneers who dropped to 12-14-3 and 12-8-3 respectively.

Mercyhurst hadn't defeated Sacred Heart since a 3-1 win in Erie November 19, 2005, and was 0-7-1 in the last eight meetings.

Seniors Ben Cottreau and Kerry Bowman gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead in the game's first eight minutes. Cottreau netted his 9th of the year at 3:58 while Bowman collected his first career power play goal about four minutes later. Junior Kirk Medernach and Bowman helped Cottreau score the first goal of the game while Cottreau and freshman Mike Gurtler assisted on Bowman's power play tally. SHU sophomore Dave Jarman brought the partisan crowd to its feet when he scored shorthanded against junior goalie Matt Lundin (9-8-4) at 11:20 of the first. Mercyhurst had 16 of 29 total shots in a lively first twenty minutes.

Freshman forward Steve Cameron restored the Lakers' two-goal advantage at 1:27 of the second when he notched his 9th of the year against SHU netminder Stefan Drew (12-11-1). Medernach and junior Matt Pierce helped. But junior defenseman Paul Ferraro got the Pioneers back to within one again with his 4th of the campaign at 16:27 of the second. The Pioneers owned a 10-7 margin in middle period shots.

Phillips' first career game-winner came at 6:49 of the third following a faceoff win by sophomore Chris Risi. The goal became critical when SHU senior Alexandre Parent collected his 11th goal of the season, on a power play, at 9:06. The Pioneers pulled Drew down the stretch, but were assessed two late penalties (18:41 and 19:04) which hurt their chances for the equalizer.

Sacred Heart outshot Mercyhurst 8-4 in the third and 31-27 for the 60 minutes. The Lakers finished 1 of 8 with the man advantage while the Pioneers were 1 of 6.

Mercyhurst is now tied with Sacred Heart for third place in the conference with 27 points. Army, which defeated AIC 4-0 Friday, inched ahead of RIT for first with 29 points. The Tigers, playing out of conference against Niagara Saturday, are second with 28. The two teams will conclude the weekend series tomorrow night at 7:05.