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ROCHESTER, NY – Mercyhurst (3-5-0, 2-3-0 Atlantic Hockey Association) scored four third period goals to erase a 3-2 deficit and defeat the RIT men's hockey team 6-3 in front of 1,481 fans at the Ritter Arena on Friday in an Atlantic Hockey Association match-up.

 

Brandon Coccimiglio scored the hat-trick to lead Mercyhurst, who trailed 3-2 heading into the final period. 

 

Coccimiglio's second goal of the game 2:23 into the third period tied the game and shifted the momentum. Coccimiglio skated through the neutral zone and unleashed a harmless looking shot from the blue-line that handcuffed Tiger met-minder Louie Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ), bouncing off his glove and popping behind the goal-line.

 

Neil Graham scored the go-ahead goal with 5:45 left, as his shot from the side of the net deflected off a host of bodies and past Menard.

 

Just 25 seconds later, Bobby Phillips pounded a rebound home for Mercyhurst's fifth goal.

 

Coccimiglio salted the game away with 1:06 left, as he scored an empty net goal.

 

RIT dominated play throughout the evening, out-shooting Mercyhurst 42-22. Matt Lundin was excellent in net for the Lakers, stopping 39 shots. Menard finished with 16 stops.

 

Tiger Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with how his team played tonight, and acknowledged the goaltending was the difference.

 

“We generated a lot of great opportunities tonight, but the goaltending was the difference,” said Wilson. “Louie has played well for us all season, but tonight wasn't his best game and their goaltender played very well. I was happy with how we played tonight and thought we out-played them all evening.”

 

Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) scored two goals for RIT in the loss.

 

Both teams scored two power-play goals. Mercyhurst was 2-for-7 with man-advantage, while RIT finished 2-for-5.

 

The Tigers held a 16-7 shot advantage, but trailed 2-1 after one period of play.

 

All three goals in the period were scored on the power-play.

 

Mercyhurst got on the board first, five minutes in, as Ben Cottreau escaped a defender in front of the RIT net and got Menard to commit. Cottreau then slid a shot past the fallen Menard for his fifth goal of the season. Scott Pitt and Coccimiglio assisted on the goal.

 

Lambert tied the game at 1 a few moments later, as he took a feed from Al Mazur (Burnaby, BC/Merritt Centennials) (Burnaby, BC), skated out from behind the Mercyhurst net and tried to stuff the puck in. Lundin made the initial save, but Lambert was able to stuff his own rebound in. Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON) also assisted on the goal.

 

The trio of Coccimiglio, Cottreau and Pitt combined again with the man-advantage with just over five minutes left in the period to give Mercyhurst the lead. Pitt found Cottreau behind the Tiger net, then Cottreau one touched a pass to Coccimiglio in front. Coccimiglio one-timed the shot past Menard, who had no chance on the goal.

 

The Tigers had a five-minute man-advantage to close out the period, as Mercyhurst's Kirk Medernach was whistled for a hitting from behind major and a game misconduct. Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to find the back of the net. Lambert had RIT's best chance right away, as he found himself alone in front of Lundin. Lambert deked Lundin and had an open net, but Lakers defenseman Bobby Phillips dove back to keep the puck out of the net.

 

The Tigers scored the only two goals of the second period to pull ahead 3-2.

 

Lambert tied the game at 2 on a power-play 4:22 into the frame, as Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON) won the face-off to Sean Murphy (Rochester, MN/Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN), whose shot was stopped by Lundin. The rebound came right to Lambert, who roofed a shot from in close past a fallen Lundin for his second goal of the year and fourth of the season.

 

Lundin made a great save on Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, ON/Owen Sound Greys) while the two teams were skating 4-on-4 midway through the period. Raymond ripped a shot from the high slot off a rebound and Lundin slid across with his pad in midair, foiling the chance.

 

Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) (Hamilton, ON) put RIT up 3-2 late in the frame, as Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON) picked off an errant pass in the Mercyhurst zone while fore-checking.

Sarazin found Walton in front and Walton put a shot between Lundin's pads for his third tally of the year. 

The Tigers led 27-14 in shots after two periods.

 

RIT now leads the all-time series between the two clubs 19-12-3 and is 3-3-0 against the Lakers since RIT moved to Division I in 2005.

 

Last season, RIT went 3-1 against Mercyhurst, winning a pair of games in Erie last December. The two teams split at Ritter Arena in February. RIT out-scored Mercyhurst  18-13 in the four match-ups a year ago.

 

The two teams meet once again on Saturday night at the Ritter Arena, starting at 7:05 p.m.