Erie, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey came up on the losing end of a high-scoring affair, falling to Mercyhurst 7-4 on Friday night.

The Colonials came out firing, scoring two goals in the opening five minutes. The freshman line of Matthew Graham, Daniel Mantenuto and Luke Lynch combined for the first score of the game, less than two minutes in. Graham worked the puck up the boards to Mantenuto who made a neutral zone pass to Lynch who fired the puck past Colin DeAugustine to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.

RMU's second goal came at the 4:20 mark and was the career first for Elias Ghantous. The junior defenseman shot from his knees on a give and go play, driving to the front of the net. Timmy Moore and Alex Tonge earned assists, working the puck to the front side of the net where Ghantous was able to punch the puck home to make it 2-0 Robert Morris. Ghantous blocked a team-high three shots on the night, to go along with his first career goal.

Mercyhurst cut the lead in half with a goal by James Anderson. Daniel Leavens pushed the lead back to two with a power play goal, assisted by Tonge and Brady Ferguson to make it a 3-1 game just 15 seconds after the Lakers goal. Mercyhurst was able to cut that lead to one again with a power play goal of its own with less than three minutes to play in the first.



The Lakers scored four goals in the second period to take a 6-3 lead. Mercyhurst controlled much of the play, leading shots 33-21 at the end of the frame with a 21-8 advantage in the period. Colonials goaltender Francis Marotte left the game following the Lakers fifth goal and Dalton Izyk entered, making his seventh appearance of the season. 

Lynch was able to end the Lakers scoring streak at five goals with his second tally of the game, 4:22 into the third. Freshman defenseman Sean Giles made a nice play to set up the goal, his third career assist, sliding the puck to Mantenuto who passed off to Lynch for his second assist of the game. For Lynch, this marks his second career two-goal game, the first coming in a 4-4 tie with then 11th ranked Ohio State.

But the Colonials would get no closer, the Lakers adding an empty net goal with 3:14 to play to make it 7-4.

Robert Morris was 1-for-8 on the power play and the RMU penalty kill allowed two power play goals for the first time in 18 games (vs. Dartmouth, Nov. 27).

The Colonials (16-11-4, 12-10-3 AHC) return home for the second half of the weekend series with Mercyhurst, for a 7:05pm puck drop Saturday night. Robert Morris will honor its four seniors -- Dalton Izyk, Daniel Leavens, Rob Mann and Ben Robillard -- with a ceremony prior to the game.


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