Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Things started and ended well for the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team on Sunday night against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. However, it was the time in between that did not go well for the Lakers, as the hosts completed the sweep of Mercyhurst, 7-2, in front of 3,242 fans at the Value City Arena. Mercyhurst dropped to 9-9-2 overall while Ohio State improved to 10-6-0 on the season.

Mercyhurst dropped to 1-4 lifetime against the Buckeyes and finished the 2013-14 season with a 2-8-1 record outside of conference play. The Lakers remain in a tie for first place, with Bentley (7-2-1) in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings with 15 points (7-1-1). Mercyhurst does, however, have a game in hand on the Falcons.

The Lakers took a 1-0 lead, scoring just 18 seconds into the contest when junior forward Daniel Bahntge notched his eighth goal of the season, beating Ohio State netminder Christian Frey. Senior Daniel O'Donoghue and junior Matthew Zay picked up the assists, starting new scoring streaks after seeing their lengthy streaks come to an end on Saturday.

Zay then finished the scoring on the night with just one second left on the clock in the third period - his 11th goal of the season. O'Donoghue and Bahntge had the assists.

The Ohio State offense, however, controlled a majority of the night and took it to redshirt junior goaltender Jordan Tibbett and the Laker defense. Tibbett, making his first start since losing at Canisius on November 9, allowed six goals on 46 shots before being pulled with just over 13 minutes left in regulation.

It did not take Ohio State long to tie the hockey game at 1-1 after Bahntge gave the Lakers the lead. David Gust responded at the 2:02 mark on an assist from Nick Oddo.

Things settled down until the Buckeyes scored two goals in the final minute of the first period to break the Lakers' back. Alex Szczechura scored at the 19:18 mark, followed by a goal by Oddo at 19:50, giving Ohio State a 3-1 lead after the opening period.

Tibbett stopped 20 of Ohio State's first 21 shots in the opening period before the Buckeyes scored on their final two shots of the frame. Ohio State outshot Mercyhurst 23-12 in the first.

The contest evened out in the second period with Ohio State scoring the lone goal of the middle stanza to take a 4-1 lead after forty minutes. Nick Schilkey beat Tibbett at the 6:40 mark for his second goal of the weekend. Ryan Dzingel had the lone assist.

Shots were dead even in the second period, 14-14.

But, things went from bad to worse in the third for the Lakers. Curtis Gedig and Chad Niddery scored 43 seconds apart, at 6:50 and 7:33 respectively, to give the Buckeyes a 6-1 advantage and ended the night for Tibbett. Freshman goaltender Spencer Bacon earned his first collegiate action in relief and allowed the final goal for Ohio State, a tally by Alex Lippincott at 10:36, on ten shots in his 12:27 of playing time.

Ohio State attempted 19 more shots on goal in the third period and finished the contest with a 56-33 shot advantage over the Lakers. Frey stopped 31-of-33 Mercyhurst shots to improve to 2-0 on the season. Tibbett suffered the loss, dropping to 0-5 on the year. He stopped 40 shots while Bacon added nine saves in relief.

Mercyhurst, for the second consecutive night, had just one power play opportunity. The Lakers went 0-for-1 while Ohio State was 1-for-3.

The Lakers will return to conference action next Friday and Saturday, January 3 and 4, when they travel to West Point to take on the Black Knights of Army for a weekend series. Faceoffs from Tate Rink are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights.