Oct. 20, 2006

Stats

Worcester, Mass. - Holy Cross, the defending Atlantic Hockey champs, opened a two-goal first period lead and went on from there to defeat Mercyhurst 4-1 Friday night in the conference opener for both teams. The Crusaders improved to 1-1 on the young season while the Lakers dropped to 0-3.

Senior James Sixsmith put the Crusaders on the board with his first goal of the season just six minutes into the contest. Junior winger Dale Reinhardt made it 2-0 with his second of the campaign at 19:36. Mercyhurst outshot Holy Cross 13-9 in the first period.

The middle frame was scoreless although Holy Cross outshot the Lakers 24-9.

The Crusaders stretched the lead to 4-0 early in the third. Junior Cal St. Denis notched his first of the year just 39 seconds into the period and Reinhardt tallied the Crusaders' final marker with a shorthanded strike at 5:46. Mercyhurst sophomore forward Matt Pierce cashed a power play goal at 8:18 to avert a shutout. Pierce was helped by sophomore Brett Robinson and freshman Nick Vandenbeld, his first collegiate point.

Thanks to those 24 second-period shots, the Crusaders outshot Mercyhurst 45-42 in the wide-open affair. The Lakers were penalized six times for a dozen minutes and were 1 of 7 with the man advantage. Holy Cross had seven minor penalties and was 0 for 5 on the power play.

Frshman goalie Tyler Chestnut picked up the Holy Cross win between the pipes while Mercyhurst second-year netminder Tyler Small took the loss.

The two teams will conclude the weekend series Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.