Complete Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - Mercyhurst scored two third period goals to break a scoreless tie, and senior goaltender Max Strang earned his first career shutout, as the Lakers blanked Connecticut 2-0 on Saturday for their fourth consecutive victory. After starting the season 0-4, the Lakers have evened their overall record at 4-4-0 and, more importantly, kept their perfect record intact in conference play (3-0-0). Meanwhile, the Huskies dropped to 3-4-1 overall and 2-2-0 in Atlantic Hockey action.

Strang was brilliant again, stopping all 41 shots he faced, to earn his fourth straight win and his first career shutout. He made double-digit saves in all three periods, stopping 15 in the first period, 14 in the second, and 12 more in the third.

Strang's counterpart, Huskies' goaltender Garrett Bartus, was equally as impressive through the first two periods, as the score was deadlocked after 40 minutes of play. Bartus made 35 saves on the night in suffering his fourth loss of the season.

The Lakers finally dented the scoreboard at the 8:03 mark of the third period when freshman Matthew Zay buried his second goal of the season. With the Lakers on the power play, freshman Ryan Misiak took a shot from the left point that was stopped by Bartus. Unfortunately for Connecticut, the rebound squirted free not once, but twice. Sophomore Daniel O'Donoghue took the initial rebound from point blank range, which was also stopped, but Zay was there for the second rebound, giving the Lakers the offense they needed.

Senior Derek Elliott would put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal at the 19:59 mark, with the assists going to defensemen Patrick Goebel and Charlie Carkin.

But, the story of the night was Strang, who would not be denied his first career shutout. He had a shutout bid brewing against RIT in the conference opener last Friday, but the Tigers ended the bid with 4:52 left in regulation. His 41 saves against Connecticut on Saturday mark the second time this season he has surpassed 40 saves, with the other being the 49-save performance against RIT last Friday. The Gilbertsville, Pa. native has stopped 117-of-121 shots in three conference games this season (.967), leading the Lakers to a 3-0-0 mark to begin conference play.

Mercyhurst, entering play as the least penalized team in the country, was whistled for just two minor penalties all night, one of which was a coincidental minor. UConn went 0-for-1 on the power play. Meanwhile, the Lakers were 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Mercyhurst has won its first three conference games for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when the Lakers started the year with four straight wins to begin conference play. Mercyhurst went 22-13-1 that year, losing in double overtime to Bentley in the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinals.

The Lakers will return home next weekend to host Robert Morris on Friday night, November 11 and then conference-leading Air Force on Saturday night, November 12. Both faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.