Mercyhurst men’s hockey coach Rick Gotkin called Friday night’s intense battle with Holy Cross the easiest game of the weekend.
If that’s the case, expect an all-out war tonight. The Crusaders “are not going to go quietly,” Gotkin said.
Mercyhurst and Holy Cross fought for start to finish in the Lakers’ 2-1 win in Game 1 of their best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinal series, played in front of 1,125 at Mercyhurst Ice Center.
“Nothing has been easy with us playing against Holy Cross,” said Gotkin, whose team posted a win and tie – both in overtime – in Worcester, Mass., in late January. On this night, his Lakers (19-14-4) didn’t have many offensive chances. They also had to overcome a relentless attack from the Crusaders.
Mercyhurst had two shots on goal in the first period. But freshman forward Daniel Bahntge’s stellar effort 4 minutes, 59 seconds into the game allowed the Lakers to salvage a 1-1 heading into the second.
“I had an opportunity to take it to the net,” Bahntge said. “I drove hard, shot it and I got lucky.”
The Lakers had a few more shots in that period – eight in all. But they needed only one – Bahntge’s goal from in front – to take the lead at 2-1 at the 1:27 mark of the second. Fourth-seeded Mercyhurst held on to take a 1-0 lead over the fifth-seeded Crusaders in the series into Game 2 today at 7:05 p.m. at MIC.
* News and notes: Holy Cross outshot the Lakers by a combined 85-51 in their two regular-season meetings. … Sophomore forward Daniel O’Donoghue left the ice late in the second after being speared in the midsection by Crusaders forward Jay Silvia. O’Donoghue returned for the third. Silvia received a major penalty and game misconduct. … Junior forward Grant Blakey had an assist on Bahntge’s first goal in his return to the lineup. Blakey missed the final previous games with a lower-body injury. … Lakers senior Patrick Goebel and Crusaders senior Matt Clune exchanged words in the handshake line after the game.
- Victor Fernandes
Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament scoreboard
Game 1 – Friday
No. 4 Mercyhurst 2, No. 5 Holy Cross 1
No. 6 Bentley 4, No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology 1
No. 2 Niagara 3, No. 7 Robert Morris 0
No. 8 Connecticut at No. 1 Air Force (n)
Game 2 – Today
No. 5 Holy Cross (19-14-4) at No. 4 Mercyhurst (19-14-4), 7:05 p.m.
No. 6 Bentley (16-14-8) at No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology (17-12-6), 7:05 p.m.
No. 7 Robert Morris (17-16-5) at No. 2 Niagara (16-10-9), 7:05 p.m.
No. 8 Connecticut (15-17-4) at No. 1 Air Force (17-9-7), 9:05 p.m.
Note: Game 3, if necessary, will be on Sunday at same locations and times.
SUMMARY
Mercyhurst 2, Holy Cross 1
Holy Cross 1 0 0 — 1
Mercyhurst 1 1 0 — 2
1st Period — 1. Holy Cross, Erik Vos 13 (Stockton, Silvia), 2:25 (pp). 2. Mercyhurst, Daniel Bahntge 9 (Nagtzaam, Blakey), 4:59. Penalties — Gettinger (M) holding, :54; Linsmayer (H) slashing, 14:12; Elliott (M) interference, 15:22.
2nd Period — 3. Mercyhurst, Bahntge 10 (Shiplo, Noble), 1:27. Penalties — Fletcher (H) interference, 9:30; Silvia (H) 5-min. spearing (served by McNamara), 17:08; Silvia (H) game misconduct, 17:08; Bodo (M) interference, 19:28; Goebel (M) roughing, 19:51.
3rd Period — None. Penalties — Nagtzaam (M) hooking, 2:46; O’Donoghue (M) high sticking, 10:06; Misiak (M) roughing, 12:36; Linsmayer (H) tripping, 14:52.
Shots on goal — Holy Cross, 12-9-9—30; Mercyhurst, 2-8-7—17.
Goaltenders — Holy Cross, Matt Ginn 16-7-2 (17 shots, 15 saves); Mercyhurst, Max Strang 15-12-3 (30 shots, 29 saves).
Power plays — Holy Cross (1-6), Mercyhurst (0-5).
Attendance — 1,125.
