ERIE, Pa. – After falling into a 2-0 deficit early, the Purple Eagles hockey team knotted their game against the Mercyhurst Lakers at two goals apiece in the final period. With all the momentum midway through the third period, Niagara was held off the scoreboard, and Mercyhurst scored twice in a four-minute stretch, taking a 4-2 win Tuesday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Mercyhurst started off the game with two goals in the first seven minutes to seize a 2-0 lead. Jonathan Charbonneau started the scoring 33 seconds in, and Charbonneau doubled up the scoring with a rebound from the low slot at the 6:08 mark. Sean King had Niagara’s best chance of the first period. On a 2-on-1 chance, Tanner Lomsnes’ shot was turned away by Mercyhurst’s Brandon Wildung. King had an open net on the rebound from the right wing, but his shot narrowly missed wide. Joe O’Brien had a tremendous second period, stopping all 17 Mercyhurst shots to keep the deficit at two.
Niagara earned a late 5-on-3 chance with a pair of separate penalties on the same play; Phillipe Drouin was booked for hooking, and during the delayed play, Jack Riley picked up a five-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head. Nine seconds into the power play, Tanner Lomsnes fired home a one-time shot from the right dot to bring Niagara within one. Nick Farmer and Niko Kovachis assisted on the play. Starting the third period with 4:25 of power play time, Niagara was held off the board. Shortly after the penalty expired, however, Derek Brown scored the first goal of his Niagara career with 14:44 to go in regulation. After attempts by Vinny Muto and Sam Rennaker, Brown potted a loose puck over the right pad of Mercyhurst’s Brandon Wildung, tying the game at two. Niagara continued to pour on the offense, holding a 6-2 shots on goal advantage through the first 10 minutes of the third period. Mercyhurst scored the eventual game-winning goal with 7:39 to play, as Josh Lammon redirected Zach Todd’s point shot past O’Brien. Just over four minutes later, Derek Barach added an insurance tally for the Lakers four minutes later.
Niagara heads to the Albany area to start non-conference play this coming weekend. The Purple Eagles will face off against the RPI Engineers on Friday at 7 p.m. before a 4 p.m. matinee on Saturday against the Union Dutchmen. Jeremy White has the play-by-play of both games on 1340 AM WLVL.
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