The Mercyhurst men’s ice hockey team split itshome weekend series against Atlantic Hockey Association Opponent American International College with a 5-3 loss on Friday and a 6-3 win on Saturday.
Throughout the weekend series, 10 Lakers players recorded points. Six of them had a multi-point night. Sophomore Lester Lancaster led the Lakers in points with two goals and three assists.

Sophomore Derek Barach was close behind with one goal and three assists. Junior Nathan Ferriero and sophomore Matthew Whittaker both tallied three points. Juniors Zach Todd and Jonathan Charbonneau both picked up two points. Senior Kyle Dutra, red-shirt junior Jack Riley, junior Patrick Piacentini and freshman Joey Duszak recorded one point each.

During Friday’s game, the Lakers got on the board early in the first period with a power play goal from Todd, assisted by Duszak.

AIC tied the game at one before the Lakers picked up two power play goals, both from Whittaker. Barach and Lancaster picked up assists on Whittaker’s first goal and Lancaster and Dutra tallied the assists on his second goal.

AIC then scored four unanswered goals to take the first game, 5-3.

“It was obviously a disappointing loss. Every loss we have is disappointing, but it’s a long year and we’ll make the adjustements that we need to,” said Head Coach Rick Gotkin.
On Saturday night, the Lakers scored three goals within 1:14 of each other to take an early 3-0 lead. Lancaster, Charbonneau and Todd scored the goals, while assists were credited to Piacentini, Barach and Ferriero.

The Lakers took a 4-0 lead into the second period, when Charbonneau found a wide- open Barach in front of a wide open net. Lancaster grabbed the other assist on the goal.
“We were all bothered with the way we played collectively on Friday night,” said Gotkin. “Our guys came out determined to try and get a good start on Saturday.”

The Lakers then went on to score two more goals to make it a 6-0 game. Riley and Lancaster recorded the goals in the second period. Ferriero Whittaker and Barach tallied the assists.

AIC fought back with three unanswered goals but it wasn’t enough. The Lakers took the second game, 6-3.

Junior goaltender Brandon Wildung played both contests. He recorded 31 saves on Friday and 28 saves on Saturday.

The Lakers head out on their first road trip of the season on Friday and Saturday to take on Merrimack College and the University of New Hampshire. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

They will be back in action on campus at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Nov. 11-12, when they host AHA Opponent Holy Cross. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.