March 8, 2008

Stats

Erie, Pa. - Senior Kerry Bowman only had four goals coming into tonight's contest against Canisius, but his fifth marker will be his most memorable as the senior scored 1:45 into the first overtime to lead the Lakers past Canisius, 2-1, in Game 2 of the best-of-three quarterfinal series Saturday night. Mercyhurst improved to 13-18-6, while the Griffs end their season at 11-20-6.

The Lakers got on the board first as Matt Pierce scored on the power play, assisted by Jeff Terminesi and Matt Fennell halfway into the first period.

Canisius stormed back in the second period with a short-handed tally from Vincent Scarsella, assisted by Scott Jenks. The goal came with one second left in the minor penalty by Derek Danowski.

The score remained there until Bowman's heroics, but that did not mean either team had chances. Canisius got a strange bounce off the boards in the Mercyhurst zone which left the puck in the middle of the crease. A Griff shot the puck, but junior Matt Lundin made a terrific save. Not to be outdone, freshman Andrew Loewen made a great stick save on a Mercyhurst player early into overtime.

Mercyhurst outshot Canisius, 34-29. Mercyhurst was 1-for-5 on the power play, while the penalty kill unit was brilliant once again, blanking Canisius on nine chances.

The top five teams all won the quarterfinal series. The Lakers (5) will be apart of the play-in game against the winner of Sacred Heart (4) and UConn (7). The Huskies defeated SHU in overtime to send the series to a third game on Sunday.