WEST POINT, N.Y. – Mercyhurst forward Matthew Whittaker scored 33 seconds into overtime to give the Lakers a 3-2 victory over the Army West Point hockey team in game two of the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals on Saturday night at Tate Rink.
The Mercyhurst win forces a deciding third game tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at Tate Rink with the winner moving onto the semifinals at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Tickets are available now for tomorrow night’s contest.
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
The Black Knights dropped to 18-16-5 after tonight’s loss.
Army heads to a deciding third game in a home series for the second-straight season as the Black Knights did it against AIC last year in the first round and prevailed by a 4-0 score.
Brendan Soucie netted his third goal of the playoffs after tallying two last night in the 6-4 win.
The Black Knights scored their second power play goal of the postseason with Conor Andrle’s goal.
Brendan Soucie netted his third goal of the postseason which tied things up at 2-2 late in the third period and forced the extra time.
Ryan Nick, C.J. Reuschlein and Trevor Fidler each recorded assists in the game. It was Nick’s 10th of the year, while Reuschlein picked up his seventh and Fidler his 11th.
Parker Gahagen made 33 saves in net with 20 coming in the third period.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lakers struck first in game two with Matthew Whittaker scoring on the power play 11 minutes in.
On their second power play of the game, the Black Knights netted the equalizer with 4:10 remaining in the first frame.
Nick passed the puck to Andrle from the blue line and he was able to fade left and beat Colin DeAugustine on his glove side.
The second stanza featured a lot of back-and-forth action with no goals. Alex Wilkinson found a hole from the blue line with under five minutes to go, but DeAugustine caught it out of the air.
Nick DeCenzo had a chance to take a 1-0 lead with three minutes left in the period in front of the net, but it was deflected wide by a Laker.
Gahagen opened up the third period with a slew of saves, including the first coming on a 1-on-1 with Taylor Best.
Mercyhurst took a 2-1 lead at the 10:27 mark, but Army tied things up five minutes later.
Soucie evened the score with 5:42 on the clock off a tip in from Reuschlein and Fidler. He skated to the top of the slot and redirected Reuschlein’s shot from the top of the right circle.
The Black Knights were shorthanded for the final 4:09 of regulation after a five-minute major was issued to the Cadets along with a game misconduct.
With one minute left, Gahagen’s stick went flying, but was returned to him by Nick just in time to make a save.
The major continued into the overtime period for the first 51 seconds and the Lakers took advantage. Thirty three seconds in, Whittaker netted the game winner off a rebound in front for the Lakers to force a game three.
TURNING POINT
The Black Knights had tied the game late in the third period, but Tyler Pham was called for a five-minute major with just over four minutes to go in the game, which allowed Mercyhurst to pot the gamewinner 33 seconds into overtime.
UP NEXT
Army and Mercyhurst are back at Tate Rink tomorrow night for the deciding third game of the series. The winner will move onto the Atlantic Hockey semifinals in Rochester, N.Y., next Friday night.
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