BUFFALO –Freshman goaltender Colin DeAugustine made 39 saves and five different Mercyhurst skaters scored goals as the Lakers defeated the Canisius College hockey program, 5-1, Friday in Atlantic Hockey Conference action at KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER.
DeAugustine made 32 of his 39 saves over the final 40 minutes of the contest to propel
Mercyhurst (5-8-0, 5-5-0 AHC) to the victory in the first of two regular-season meetings with the Griffs (5-8-2, 4-3-2 AHC). The rematch is slated for Feb. 23 at HARBORCENTER.
James Anderson staked the Lakers to a 1-0 lead late in the first period when he beat Canisius keeper Charles Williams with a slapshot from the left faceoff circle for his first collegiate tally.
The Lakers doubled their cushion just 78 seconds into the second. Jack Riley forced a turnover behind the Canisius net and found Kane Elliott alone in the slot, where Elliott fired a wrist shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
Freshman Jesse Pereira cut the Griffs deficit in half a little more than two minutes later, deflecting a feed from freshman Nick Hutchison past DeAugustine and inside the left post for his third goal of the season.
Mercyhurst carried its one-goal cushion into the third and expanded its margin to 4-1 midway through the fame with a pair of goals just 1:58 apart.
Joseph Duszak made it a 3-1 contest when he potted his first career goal with an assist from Jonathan Charbonneau at the 6:56 mark. Charbonneau increased the Laker lead to three by notching his team-leading eighth goal of the season with a power play tally.
Nathan Ferriero closed out the scoring on an empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining.
Head Coach Dave Smith’s Postgame Comments
“All the goals came off the rush. One was a transition that ended up in our zone and in the net. Their speed was hard to adjust to as they came out with a lot of pace early. We didn’t defend off the rush nearly as well as you need to in order to beat them.”
Game Notes
– Hutchison extended his point-scoring streak to four games with an assist on Pereira’s second-period strike. He as amassed six points (4g, 2a) in those contests.
– Canisius saw its consecutive penalty killing streak snapped at 27 with Charbonneau’s man-advantage tally in the third period. It was the first power play goal surrendered by the Griffs since Oct. 29 at Penn State.
– Mercyhurst now leads the all-time series by a 42-33-10 margin and the division I era series by a 29-26-9 mark.
– Canisius suffered its first loss of the season at HARBORCENTER. The Griffs are now 3-1-2 on home ice this season.
– Ian Edmondson picked up the secondary assist on Pereira’s goal. The helper was his fifth of the season, putting him in a tie for the team lead in that category.
Up Next
– Canisius completes its five-game homestand Dec. 2-3 with a visit from league foe Bentley. Opening faceoff for both contests at HARBORCENTER is slated for 7:35 p.m.
