PITTSBURGH – Mercyhurst College remains alive in the Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs.

The Lakers advanced to next weekend’s quarterfinals with a 5-1 win against Robert Morris in front of 1,202 at RMU Island Sports Center on Saturday night. Scott Pitt led the way with two goals and an assist.

Taylor Holstrom (goal, assist), Derek Elliott (two assists) and Paul Chiasson (two assists) had two points apiece for the Lakers (15-16-4), the fifth seed in the conference’s West Scheduling Region.

Jesse Echternach and Mike Gurtler also scored goals and Erie native Ryan Zapolski made 30 saves for the Lakers, which handed the Colonials their only two losses on home ice this season.

Pitt’s two goals sparked the Lakers’ run to a 3-0 second-period lead. Trevor Lewis scored short-handed 1 minute, 59 seconds into the third to move the Colonials (18-12-5), the West’s fourth seed, within 3-1.

But Holstrom and Gurtler scored late in the game to seal the victory.

The Lakers will play at Connecticut (13-17-4), which had a first-round bye as the East’s No. 2 seed, in a best-of-three quarterfinal series starting with Game 1 on Friday. Game 2 is Saturday, followed by Game 3 (if necessary) on Sunday. All three games begin at 7:05 p.m.

The other quarterfinal series include American International at defending champion Rochester Institute of Technology, Sacred Heart at Air Force and Canisius at Holy Cross.

- Victor Fernandes

Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament

First round – Saturday

East Scheduling Region

No. 6 American International 6, No. 3 Army 3

No. 5 Sacred Heart 6, No. 4 Bentley 3

West Scheduling Region

No. 6 Canisius 6, No. 3 Niagara 3

No. 5 Mercyhurst 5, No. 4 Robert Morris 1

Quarterfinals (best-of-three series)

Friday-next Sunday

No. 8 American International (8-22-1) at No. 1 Rochester Institute of Technology (16-10-8), 7:05 p.m.

No. 7 Sacred Heart (6-23-6) at No. 2 Air Force (16-11-6), 9:05 p.m.

No. 6 Canisius (12-17-6) at No. 3 Holy Cross (15-14-5), 7:05 p.m.

No. 5 Mercyhurst (15-16-4) at No. 4 Connecticut (13-17-4), 7:05 p.m.

Note: Teams re-seeded based on overall regular-season standings; times apply to all three games.

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 5, Robert Morris 1

Mercyhurst  1  2  2  —  5

Robert Morris  0  0  1  —  1

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Scott Pitt 17 (Holstrom), 7:02. Penalties — Brooks (R) hooking, 2:31; Pitt (M) slashing, 15:34.

2^nd Period — 2. Mercyhurst, Pitt 18 (Chiasson, Jensen), 8:36. 3. Mercyhurst, Jesse Echternach 2 (Elliott), 12:43. Penalties — Pitt (M) tripping, 3:06; Hervato (R) elbowing, 4:16; Jones (M) slashing, 5:32.

3^rd Period — 4. RMU, Trevor Lewis 10 (Urban), 1:59 (sh). 5. Mercyhurst, Taylor Holstrom 9 (Chiasson, Pitt), 16:35. 6. Mercyhurst, Mike Gurtler 9 (Elliott, Noble), 17:59 (en). Penalties — Kushneriuk (R) high sticking, :48; C. South (R) tripping, 7:09; Jones (M) hooking, 7:35.

Shots on goal — Mercyhurst, 6-15-13—34; RMU, 5-15-11—31.

Goaltenders — Mercyhurst, Ryan Zapolski 13-13-3 (31 shots, 30 saves); RMU, Brooks Ostergard 14-9-2 (28 shots, 24 saves), Eric Ferber (5 shots, 5 saves).

Power plays — Mercyhurst (0-4), RMU (0-4).

Referees — Jim Visconte, Chris Foote. Linesmen — Zach Roberts, Josh Deleman.

Attendance — 1,202.

What: Mercyhurst College (13-15-4, 11-12-2 AHA) vs. Canisius (10-16-6, 9-11-5)

When: Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m.

Where: Friday at Buffalo State Sports Arena; Saturday at Mercyhurst Ice Center

On the air: www.americaone.com (Internet video), WMCE (radio)*

Players to watch

Mercyhurst – Sr. G Ryan Zapolski (11-12-3 record, 2.88 goals-against average, .919 save percentage, 2 shutouts), Sr. F Scott Pitt (15-18-33), So. F Paul Chiasson (16-14-31), Fr. F Taylor Holstrom (8-21-29), Sr. F Mike Gurtler (7-16-23)

Canisius – Sr. F Cory Conacher (19-13-32), Sr. F Vincent Scarsella (10-16-26), Fr. D Ben Danford (2-20-22), Sr. F Eric Rex (7-14-21), Jr. G Dan Morrison (7-13-4, 3.50, .903, 1 SO)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – The Lakers, who are winless in their last four games (0-3-1), will clinch the fifth spot in the Atlantic Hockey Association’s West pod with a win in the regular season-ending series with the sixth-place Golden Griffins. … The Lakers will begin the playoffs on the road against the West pod’s third or fourth seed. … Redshirt sophomore F Phil Ginand (upper-body injury) is out for the season. … Senior F Steve Cameron (lower body) could miss the rest of the season. … Freshman F Nick Jones (upper body) will miss this weekend’s games. But coach Rick Gotkin hopes he will be cleared to play for the playoffs. … Junior D Patrick Goebel (upper body) rejoins the lineup after missing the past two weekends. …The school will honor seniors Cameron, Gurtler, Pitt, Zapolski, Jeff Terminesi, Ryan Raven and Jesse Echternach before Saturday’s game. … The Lakers lost 5-2 to Canisius in October, but they lead the all-time series 34-22-9. … Gurtler needs nine points to become the 15^th player in the program’s NCAA Division I history to reach 100 career points and the third this season (Pitt and Cameron). Gurtler also needs two short-handed goals to equal the program’s Division I career record of 10 set by Louis Goulet (1998-2002), now an assistant coach with the women’s team. … Zapolski, an Erie native, has 46 career wins, four shy of being the Lakers’ first goaltender to reach 50 since Peter Aubry in 2002. … The Lakers are tied for ninth nationally in scoring offense (3.53 goals per game), one spot ahead of Air Force (3.56).

Canisius – The Golden Griffins snapped a three-game losing streak (all by shutout) with a 6-3 win at Niagara on Saturday. … They were shut out in three straight games for the first time in the program’s 31-year history. … Conacher is the Division I program’s all-time leading scorer (132 points). … Danford has set a new program record for points by a rookie defenseman. … Fairview native Rex’s 21 points are eight more than his first three seasons combined. … The Golden Griffins have won four straight against the Lakers and five in a row at MIC.

Up next: at Atlantic Hockey Association tournament – first round (TBA)

* Radio broadcast – home game only

– Victor Fernandes

HANOVER, N.H. – The Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team faces the ultimate challenge Friday night.

The Lakers will face Boston College, NCAA Division I’s defending national champion, for the Ledyard Bank Classic championship in the 7 p.m. title game at Dartmouth’s Thompson Arena.

Mercyhurst earned that chance by playing the host Big Green to a 4-4 overtime tie and then winning the shootout 2-0 on Thursday. The Lakers overcame Dartmouth’s three-goal comeback that forced overtime.

Paul Chiasson (two goals), Jesse Echternach and Phil Ginand scored in the second period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead. But Dartmouth’s Matt Reber scored his second goal of the game with 30 seconds left in the second to begin the rally. Scott Fleming’s goal with 9:09 left in regulation tied the score at 4.

But Mercyhurst (8-9-1), which was outshot 47-27 overall, held off the Big Green (6-5-1) late in regulation and overtime to force the shootout. Senior goaltender Ryan Zapolski, an Erie native, made 45 saves – including two in the shootout – for the Lakers. Teammate Derek Elliott had two assists.

Boston College (12-5-0), which won two of the last three national titles, beat Colgate 6-5 in the opening game to secure its first meeting with Mercyhurst since the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Dartmouth and Colgate (3-13-1) will meet in the consolation game at 4 p.m.

- Victor Fernandes