BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – For the second time this season, the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team erased a multiple-goal deficit against Mercyhurst. This time around, it was not quite as dramatic as the three goals in 21 seconds the Pios found on the road on Nov. 4, but the timing more than made up for it on Thursday night. SHU dug out of a three-goal third-period hole in the Atlantic Hockey contest at Total Mortgage Arena to send the game to overtime. Senior Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) needed just 19 seconds to take care of things from there, as the Pios snatched a 4-3 (OT) victory from the jaws of defeat in the weekend opener.
With the win, SHU improves to 9-7-1 (8-4-1 AHA), while Mercyhurst falls to 6-11-2 (5-4-2 AHA). The two teams wrap up their four-game season series on Friday in Bridgeport, with a 4 p.m. puck drop.
Trailing 3-0 and with their starting goalie chased from his crease, the Pios went to work in the final 15 minutes on Thursday night. Things started innocently enough, as junior Grant Anderson (Plymouth, Minn.) took a shot from the middle of the blue line, which first-year Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) deflected home out front at 6:41, for his seventh of the year.
From there, things got interesting in a hurry, as SHU needed just 70 seconds to close the gap to 3-2. First-year Blake Humphrey (Penfield, N.Y.) intercepted a clearance attempt on the right-wing half-wall and threw the puck out front for graduate student Ryan Steele (Stratford, Prince Edward Island). Steele's initial attempt was stymied by Mercyhurst first-year goaltender Owen Say, but the Canadian finished his own rebound at the right post for his sixth of the season, at 7:51.
The equalizer came directly off a faceoff play at 16:19. Steele won the draw in the left circle and then headed to the slot to provide a screen. Meanwhile, senior Patrick Dawson (Medway, Mass.) drifted to the middle of the blue line and then put a long shot cleanly through the traffic for his second of the campaign.
It all set the stage for overtime, which did not take long. The Pios controlled the opening faceoff, and eventually worked the puck to Shea. He built a head of steam down the right wing, beat a defender around the outside, cut out front and snapped home his seventh of the season to touch off the SHU celebration.
"You don't want to trail 3-0, but it shows a lot about our team that we were able to come back and get a win," said Shea after the game.
The goal made a winner (1-0-0) out of first-year goaltender Brandon Milberg (Thornhill, Ontario), who made his collegiate debut in relief and stopped all four shots he faced over 17:20.
Earlier in the game, Mercyhurst built the 3-0 lead with a goal in each period. At 5:06 of the first, a shot from the right wing by senior Gueorgui Feduolov slipped past senior goaltender Luke Lush (Sherwood Park, Alberta), and sophomore Dustin Geregach cleaned it up for his first collegiate goal. At 17:29 of the second, junior Steven Agriogianis found senior Eric Esposito behind the defense on the rush for the latter's fifth of the year. At 2:27 of the third, junior Carson Briere banked a shot off Lush from behind the net for his third of the season, which spelled the end of Lush's day. It was all for naught for the Lakers though, who came away with just one point, after SHU set out on the comeback trail.
"We talked with the guys about digging a little deeper," said head coach C.J. Marottolo, regarding his message to his team in the second intermission. "I thought we played fine in the first two periods, but fine isn't good enough."
Lush finished with 20 saves against 23 shots over 42:27 of work. Say (4-5-0) piled up 37 saves against 41 shots in defeat for Mercyhurst, which was outshot, 41-27, on the night. It was Mercyhurst's first loss in five all-time trips to Harbor Yard.
