Mercyhurst rode a pair of second-period goals to defeat Connecticut 4-1 in the semifinal round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.<\/p>\n
Even in victory, Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin said the game “was not an easy night for us.”<\/p>\n
[scg_html_aha2013] “That was a tight game right down the stretch,” said Gotkin. “We looked a little tentative and nervous at the start. After we scored to tie it at one, you could feel the bench really get invigorated and come to life.”<\/p>\n
UConn came out aggressively in the first period, controlling play and took an early lead at 7:36 of the opening stanza.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to be on the attack and be aggressive,” said UConn coach David Berard. “We knew that we had to be like that to beat them and got a nice transition play.”<\/p>\n
Shawn Pauley sent a turnover at his own blue line quickly up ice, springing linemates Trevor Gerling and Cody Sharib on a two-on-one odd man rush into the Lakers’ zone. Gerling wristed a hard shot towards Mercyhurst goaltender Jordan Tibbett that pushed through his five hole and barely trickled across the goal line.<\/p>\n
The play triggered the first-ever video goal review in the history of the AHA as the referees affirmed the initial call made on the ice.<\/p>\n
With the Huskies up 1-0 late in the first period, Mercyhurst killed off 1:40 of a five-on-three UConn advantage. The successful penalty kill turned momentum to Mercyhurst’s side of the ice and the Lakers built from there.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t get anything going on that power play,” said Berard. “We lost the first draw and then we tried wrapping the puck a couple of times and it got picked off. They outworked us. Their three guys outworked our five guys. That gave them a lot of jump going into the second period.”<\/p>\n
“The game changed when we killed the five-on-three for almost two minutes,” added Gotkin. “If that goes to 2-0 at that point, who knows? That might have been the difference in the game.”<\/p>\n
Mercyhurst’s offense got going in the second period scoring a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead. The first goal came when Zac Frischmon intercepted a UConn clearing pass at the top of the right faceoff circle. Frischmon turned around and whipped a wrist shot past Matt Grogan at 9:15.<\/p>\n
“We got on our heels a little bit in the second after they scored their first goal and we never really recovered,” said Berard.<\/p>\n
The Lakers’ second goal occurred as Mercyhurst set up in the Huskies’ zone. Nick Zones launched a slap shot from the right point that bounced off UConn defender Sean Ambrosie’s skate and then was deflected into the net by Paul Chiasson at 15:59.<\/p>\n
“We like to get a good forecheck in,” said Chiasson. “I saw we had two guys in the corner and Jonesy is a good shooter. He and I have connected many times before. I tried to get a screen, got a piece of the puck and it trickled in.”<\/p>\n
Mercyhurst added to its lead midway through the third period with a power-play goal by Ryan Misiak. Kyle Just sent a shot down the slot that Misiak deflected at 13:19 to extend the Lakers’ lead to 3-1.<\/p>\n
“In the third, Mercyhurst knuckled down defensively and made it really difficult to get any quality chances,” said Berard.<\/p>\n
Berard pulled Grogan with 2:02 remaining in the game, but just eight seconds later, Chiasson scored his second goal of the game into the empty net to seal the game.<\/p>\n
Mercyhurst, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, will face No. 7 seed Canisius in the championship game on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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