Lazarus, Norton help resurrect Mercyhurst, earn a 3-2 upset victory of No. 20 Arizona State on opening night

USCHO Staff Report
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Mercyhurst men's hockey, March 8, 2019. Photo by Ed Mailliard. (Ed Mailliard)
Mercyhurst senior Jonny Lazarus scored the tying goal late in regulation before teammate Owen Norton scored the game-winner in the closing seconds of regulation for Mercyhurst on Saturday (Photo: Mercyhurst Athletics/Ed Mailliard)

Trailing, 2-1, late in the third period, Mercyhurst was risen from the dead by Lazarus.

Senior Jonny Lazarus tied the game with 2:29 remaining before defenseman Owen Norton buried the game-winning goal with just 18.4 seconds left in regulation to give Mercyhurst the upset victory, 3-2, over No. 20 Arizona State.

Nothing about the victory was easy for the Lakers, particularly late. Even after Lazarus tied the game, the Lakers had to kill a late penalty during which the Sun Devils generated multiple grade ‘A’ chances.

“They took it to us big time in the second period, spending way too much time in our own end of the ice defending,” said Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin. “We were better in the third than the second. When they scored [to take a 2-1 lead] it would’ve been easy to fold the tents, but we score a power play goal to tie it and a defenseman finds a way to bang a puck home to win it.”

Mercyhurst opened the scoring at 6:09 of the first on a James Anderson tally. Just 2:38 later, though, the Sun Devils evened things on Willie Knierim’s marker.

After a scoreless second, Brinson Paschnuk finished off a feed from Johnny Walker with 11:14 remaining giving the ASU faithful hopes of pulling out the victory. That was before the heroics of Lazarus and Norton late powered the Lakers to the upset victory.

Garrett Metcalf earned the win for Mercyhurst making 33 saves.

Around the Nation

Hockey East

Providence 7, Maine 0
In the nation’s only game between league foes, host Providence used four goals and a five-point effort from junior Greg Printz in a rout of Maine, 7-0.

Providence outshot the Black Bears, 59-29, and dominated early holding a 25-6 advantage in the opening period of play. The Providence special teams was also strong, going 2-for-8 on the power play while killing all eight Black Bears man advantages.

Goaltender Michael Lackey, a graduate transfer from Harvard, earn the shutout in his first game with the Friars.

Non-conference

Boston University 7, Union 3
Robert Mastrosimone’s goal 2:02 into the second period broke a 2-2 tie and Boston University never looked back, scoring five of the game’s final six goals to take a 7-3 road win at Union.

Patrick Curry and Matthew Quercia each scored two goals for BU, while David Farrance notched a goal and two assists.

Sam Tucker, a transfer from Yale, needed just 10 saves to earn his first win in a BU jersey.

UMass Lowell 5, Alabama Huntsville 1
Three third period goals, all by freshmen, allowed the host River Hawks to pull away from Alabama Huntsville for a 5-1 victory.

Lowell’s seniors set the tone early as Colin O’Neill and Kenny Hausinger each tallied in the first two periods, respectfully.

After Christian Rajic pulled the Chargers within a goal midway through the game, rookies Matt Brown, Zach Kaiser and Andre Lee all notched their first collegiate goals in the third.

Tyler Wall earned the victory with 18 saves for the River Hawks.

Michigan Tech 2, Robert Morris 1 (OT)
Alec Broetzman scored with 44 seconds remaining in overtime helped lift Michigan Tech to a season-opening victory, 2-1, over host Robert Morris.

Alex Smith got the Huskies on the board in the second before Justin Addamo found the equalizer in the second to force the extra session.

Matt Jurusik was impress stoping 34 shots to earn the victory.

Sacred Heart 3, Connecticut 3
Matt Tugnutt’s hat trick goal with three second remaining in regulation helped force overtime against in-state rival Connecticut as the clubs battle to an opening night 3-3 tie.

The host Pioneers had the lead for much of the night before Jachym Kondelik and Kale Howarth scored 52 seconds apart late in the second to take a 3-2 lead into the third. That was the way the game stood until Tugnutt’s late heroics.

The Pioneers held a lopsided 48-20 edge in shots on goal, but the difference between a tie and a win for the hosts may have been the inability to convert on any of its six power play opportunities.

RIT 3, Colgate 1
The visiting Tigers scored three times in the games first 23 minutes and that was plenty as RIT earned a 3-1 road win at Colgate to open the season.

Adam Brubacher opened the scoring just 3:11 into the game and Shawn Cameron extended that lead at 8:09.

Josh McKechney pulled Colgate within a goal at 10:06 of the first before Cameron notched his second early in the middle frame to close the scoring.

Logan Drackett made 33 saves to earn the victory in a game that Colgate held a 34-14 advantage in shots on goal.

Lake Superior 6, Merrimack 2
The host Lakers put forth a strong offensive effort with six different players recording goals to skate past Merrimack, 6-2, in the opener of a two-game series.

Hampus Eriksson paced the Lakers offense with a goal and two assists, while Mareks Mitens earned the victory making 32 saves.

No. 2 Denver 4, Alaska 3
Denver’s Cole Guttman scored with 1:03 remaining to break a 3-3 tie and give Denver a 4-3 victory at Alaska, avoiding a major upset for the No. 2 ranked team on the first night of the season.

The game was back and forth with each teams holding a leads. Denver led 3-2 late before Alaska’s Steven Jandric evened the score with 8:00 remaining.

Both goaltenders were excellent as Denver’s Magnus Chrona stopped 30 shots in victory while Alaska’s Anton Martinsson made 32 saves in defeat.

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