The Mercyhurst Lakers scored seven second-period goals to break open a tight game and went on to defeat the Fairfield Stags, 10-5.
Mercyhurst jumped to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Adam Tackaberry and Jody Robinson, but Fairfield got back in the game late in the period when senior captain Tim Viens scored his ninth goal of the season at 18:54.
Mercyhurst got five unanswered goals from five different skaters to start the second period, three within the first 4:08, to take control.
Eric Ellis scored at 1:05 followed by Marty Rychley at 3:47, Tom McMonagle on a power play at 4:08, Adam Rivers at 5:20, and P.J. Hiscock shorthanded at 8:06.
Fairfield’s Blaise Silka and James Lubinski stopped the bleeding with goals at 10:44 and 14:06, respectively, to cut the Mercyhurst lead to 7-3.
But the Lakers struck for two more tallies: Hiscock again at 17:43 and Mike Carter at 18:06, to take a 9-3 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes.
With the drama over, the Stags outscored the Lakers 2-1 in the third period as Casey Laflamme notched a power-play goal at 4:24 and Tim Desmarais scored at 12:40 to sandwich McMonagle’s second of the night at 4:58.
Mercyhurst outshot Fairfield 32-25 to inmprove its overall record to 20-11-2. Fairfield ended its season at 11-19-2.
Eight different skaters had goals for Mercyhurst, with Hiscock and McMonagle scoring two apiece. Five different players scored for Fairfield.
Peter Aubry picked up the win between the pipes for the Lakers while Craig Schnappinger absorbed the loss.
The victory improved Mercyhurst’s overall mark to 6-0 against the Stags and put the Lakers in the MAAC semifinals against Canisius next Thursday at UConn. The other semifinal will pair Quinnipiac and Iona.
