Mercyhurst clinched the regular-season championship in the MAAC for a second straight season Friday night with a 4-1 win over visiting Connecticut.
The Lakers won for the 10th time in their last 11 games as they improved their overall mark to 19-7-3 and their MAAC record to 18-0-3. The Huskies fell to 11-12-6 overall and to 10-7-4 in the conference.
After a scoreless first period, Connecticut got on the board first when senior defenseman Mike Boylan cashed a power-play goal at 8:25 of the middle period. The tally was assisted by freshman defenseman Adam Rhein and freshman forward Matt Grew. It was Boylan’s sixth goal of the season.
Mercyhurst tied it on a power play of its own as sophomore forward Peter Rynshoven scored his 11th of the year, from senior Louis Goulet and freshman Rich Hansen at 14:21 of the second. Freshman forward David Wrigley scored what proved to be the game-winner later in the period at 18:38, assisted by linemates Brad Olsen and Mike Carter.
The score remained 2-1 Mercyhurst until Mercyhurst senior defenseman Marc Varteressian scored an empty-net tally at 19:02. Senior forward Tom McMonagle ended the scoring with his seventh of the season at 19:11.
Mercyhurst outshot Connecticut 28-22 as senior goaltender Peter Aubry won his 15th game of the season and remained unbeaten in the conference. UConn sophomore netminder Artie Imbriano took the loss.
Mercyhurst will entertain Quinnipiac Saturday night, while Connecticut travels to Buffalo to play Canisius.
