Nov. 4, 2006

Stats

Milford, Conn. - Junior forward Alexandre Parent's power play goal, with 1:16 left in overtime, completed a miraculous comeback as Sacred Heart edged Mercyhurst 5-4 Saturday night to complete a two-game weekend sweep. The Pioneers, 6-4 victors Friday night, improved to 4-3-1 overall and to 3-1-1 in Atlantic Hockey. The Lakers left town with 2-6-0 and 2-4-0 records respectively.

Mercyhurst got on the board at 15:34 of the first when senior forward Scott Champagne scored his third of the season with help from linemates Ben Cottreau and Kyle Gourgon. Junior winger Ryan Toomey made it 2-0 at 14:46 of the second when he cashed his first marker of the year. Forwards Chris Trafford and Matt Warren assisted.

The Lakers extended the margin to 4-0 in the third when Trafford and Champagne banged home power play goals. Trafford's first tally of the year, at 3:01, was assisted by Gourgon and Cottreau while Champagne's second of the game, at 13:27, was assisted by Trafford and freshman Matt Fennell.

That's when things turned sour. SHU senior Pierre-Luc O'Brien brought the Pioneers to life with a power play goal at 15:57. It was still a 4-1 game with less than two minutes to play in regulation when freshman forward Dave Jarman lit the lamp at 18:04. Mercyhurst was assessed a minor penalty following the ensuing face-off and, with the Sacred Heart net empty, O'Brien scored at 18:30 to draw his team to within 4-3. The Pioneers pulled senior netminder Jason Smith again in the final minute and the move paid off once more when O'Brien notched his third of the game, all within a 3:50 span, to force the extra period.

With momentum clearly in the Pioneers' favor, Parent ended the affair with his game-winning shot with 1:16 left. The goal came with just three seconds left in a Mercyhurst minor penalty.

The stunning loss ruined what had been a great effort by senior goaltender Jordan Wakefield. Wakefield, who hadn't started between the pipes since a 6-3 loss at Yale November 22, 2005, or a span of 32 games, had silenced Sacred Heart for nearly 56 minutes. The Pioneers, thanks to a 5-1 advantage in overtime, outshot the Lakers 39-37. Sacred Heart has won five of the last six meetings between the teams and now leads the all-time series 12-10-2.

Mercyhurst will be idle until November 17 when it travels to Buffalo for a conference game against Canisius, the first of a home-and-home weekend series.