Mercyhurst rallied twice from one-goal deficits to turn back visiting Holy Cross 3-2 Friday night at the Ice Center.
Rookie Scott Reynolds finished a three-point night with his second goal of the season, from Johnson and junior forward Mike Carter, at 15:06. It was Reynolds’ first career game winner.
Holy Cross took a 1-0 lead at 19:28 of the first period on a power-play goal by junior defenseman J.R. Walker. Walker’s first goal of the season was assisted by sophomore forward Andrew McKay and freshman forward Blair Bartlett.
Mercyhurst, which outshot the Crusaders 10-7 in the opening session, had a two-man advantage for 1:26 earlier in the period, but could not dent Holy Cross sophomore netminder Matt Norton.
The Lakers’ misfortunes continued early in the middle session when a potential tying score was disallowed because the net was off. But five minutes later, with the Lakers a man up, senior forward Adam Rivers lit the lamp to even the game at 1-1. Rivers’ fifth of the year was helped by freshman forwards Reynolds and Dave Borrelli.
The Crusaders recaptured the lead at 2-1 when junior forward Greg Kealey cashed a power-play goal at 11:23. Kealey’s sixth of the year was assisted by freshmen forwards Pierre Napert-Frenette and Blair Bartlett.
Holy Cross maintained the advantage until 11:53 of the third when Mercyhurst freshman forward Erik Johnson notched his second goal of the season. Senior defenseman Mike Muldoon and Reynolds helped. Johnson used Reynolds as a decoy in a 2-on-1 break and roofed the puck over Norton’s left shoulder on the short side.
After Reynolds’ go-ahead goal, the Crusaders pulled Norton with under a minute to play, but couldn’t get the equalizer.
Mercyhurst is now 9-1-1 all-time against Holy Cross and 8-1-1 since joining the MAAC for the 1999-2000 season. The Crusaders also remained winless at the Ice Center, falling to 0-3-1.
Mercyhurst freshman netminder Andy Franck won his second straight start and evened his record at 4-4 by stopping 19 shots. Norton stopped 25 of 28 as his record dipped to 3-3.
The win improved Mercyhurst’s league mark to 6-2-2 and its overall slate to 6-9-2. The Crusaders dropped to 8-5-0 in the conference and to 10-9-0 overall.
