Pictured Above Are Both Laker Captains With the Ship's Wheel Trophy
The Mercyhurst Lakers won the inaugural "Laker Showdown" this past weekend at the Mercyhurst Ice Center against the Oswego State University Lakers by a score of 8-4. The "Laker Showdown" was the brainchild of Mercyhurst Video Coordinator John Baranowski who came up with the idea to create an ongoing rivalry between the two ACHA teams nicknamed the Lakers (Mercyhurst Lakers/Oswego State Lakers). After pitching the idea to both respective head coaches, the "Laker Showdown" was born with a promise to return home and home visits between the two clubs for years to come.
In the inaugural "Laker Showdown", Mercyhurst opened the scoring late in the first period off a goal from freshman forward Josh Mandic. The second period saw the game open up a little bit as the Hurst jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a balanced scoring attack off goals from Kenny Hunt, Pat Leone and Jeff Monnin before the Oswego State Lakers mounted a comeback of their own tying the game at four just minutes into the third period.
Jeff Monnin added his second goal of the night mid-way through the third period in what turned out to be the eventual game winner. Kevin Melnik, Chad Thompson and Charlie Revett would continue the balanced scoring attack adding a four goal cushion on route to claiming the first ever "Laker Showdown" trophy which was donated by John Baranowski. As part of the agreement, the Ship's Wheel Trophy will be engraved and retained by the winning team year after year and for the duration of the Laker Showdown rivalry.