(Erie, PA) – The Sacred Heart Men's Hockey team battled the Mercyhurst Lakers in a tight contest throughout, but in the end the Pioneers fell 3-1 Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. 

Trailing 1-0 since the 5:46 mark of the first on a shorthanded Laker goal by Grant Blakely, the Pioneers finally tied the game on the power play at 11:32 of the third on a goal by Tommy Castonguay (Rimouski, QC).  From the right of the slot, he one-timed a pass from Drew George (Regina, SK) stick side on the power play.  Alex Stuart (Sauk Rapids, MN) earned the secondary assist.

However, 24 seconds later, the Lakers took the lead for good on a goal by Nick Jones, stepping up from the blue line to knock in a rebound with Daniel O'Donoghue and Kyle Just picking up the helpers.  Daniel Bahntge sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 16 seconds left for his sixth point of the two-game series.

Steven Legatto (Kelowna, BC) made 38 saves in net for SHU, but Laker goalie Max Strang stopped 39 of 40 Pioneer shots for the victory.

Sacred Heart hosts the RIT Tigers at Webster Bank Arena nest Saturday, 1/14 at 4:00 pm and Sunday, 1/15 at 12:00 pm in a two-game series in Bridgeport.  The games are part of a dual-admission doubleheader on both days with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  The AHL games will follow both of SHU's games with RIT.