Connecticut took an early lead, then watched as Mercyhurst scored five unanswered goals, storming back for a 7-4 win Saturday in the teams’ Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal Saturday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
UConn jumped out in front when sophomore Bill Magnuson notched a goal 1:49 into the first, from classmate Brian Burns and freshman John Stockler. Just eight seconds later, junior Chris Uber scored the Huskies’ second of the game from sophomore Matt Scherer and Tim Olsen.
Mercyhurst responded with a power-play tally by T.J. Kemp at 9:40 off a feed from Rich Hansen and David Wrigley, cutting the UConn lead in half, but Connecticut earned a man-advantage tally of its own 13:16 into the first as B.J. Crum sent a shot past Mike Ella, with assists going to Stockler and Magnuson, to restore the two-goal lead.
However, the Lakers climbed back to within a goal at 3-2 when Dave Borrelli scored on the power play, from Kyle Gourgon and Denis Kirstein at the 16:29 mark in the first.
Crum notched his second of the game in the second stanza, giving the Huskies back their two-goal cushion from junior Ryan Palmer and Uber 6:12 into the period.
However, Mercyhurst rallied with three unanswered goals, two on the power play, to lead 5-4 after two periods of play. Ben Cottreau netted the first at 9:41, and Kemp tacked on his second goal of the night to even the score at 11:57.
The eventual game winner was credited to David Wrigley, just 50 seconds after Kemp’s goal.
The Lakers added two more in the third by Rich Hansen and Dave Borrelli, the second an empty-net goal, to cement the victory.
Mike Ella made 20 saves for Mercyhurst and sophomore Scott Tomes stopped 28 shots in net for UConn. The Lakers outshot the Huskies, 35-24.
The Huskies finish the 2004-05 season with a record of 11-23-3 while the Lakers advance to the conference semifinals with a record of 16-15-4.
