ITHACA, N.Y. – On a night when goals seem to come from nowhere, the winner wasn't even directed in by a stick.
 
The Big Red men's hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit to take the lead into the final half of the third period before surrendering the final two goals of the game to visiting Mercyhurst in a 5-4 loss in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
 
Nardo Nagtzaam was credited with the winner with 7:11 remaining after a centering pass caromed in off skate. The officials went to video replay, but concluded that the goal was good. Cornell then narrowly missed pocketing the equalizer with the goalie pulled and 16 seconds remaining, but senior captain Keir Ross' shot from the center point clanked off the inside of the left post and harmlessly wide.
 
Big Red defenseman Joakim Ryan had two goals and an assist in his collegiate debut, and classmate John McCarron added a pair of assist. Junior forward John Esposito added a goal and an assist, and junior defenseman Nick D'Agostino and junior forward Greg Miller also had multiple points with two assists apiece.
 
Cornell (0-1) jumped on the board first with senior forward Sean Collins' goal 5:38 into the game. McCarron started the play in the neutral zone by absorbing a hit in order to send Esposito toward the offensive zone. Esposito's pass led Collins down the left wing, then his quick shot from a tough angle kicked around in Mercyhurst goalie Max Strang's skates before sliding over the line.
 
The Big Red killed off the Lakers' first power-play attempt, but capitalized on the next one. Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made a spectacular save on a close-range one-timer by Nagtzaam, but Mercyhurst was able to regain control of the puck and cycle it around to the right point. With traffic swirling around the slot, Nick Jones sent a shot just inside the far post to knot the score.
 
Mercyhurst then took the lead with 2:11 left in the frame on Nagtzaam's first collegiate goal. Once again, Jones took a shot from the right point that created havoc – only this shot sailed wide of the near post. The problem for the Big Red was the puck's carom off the backboards. Derek Elliott misfired on a quick jam-in attempt from the left post, but ended up sending the puck to Nagtzaam cruising across the top of the crease for an easy conversion.
 
Cornell's deficit grew to two goals just 1:27 into the second period on another goal from close range. On a faceoff to the right of Iles, Mercyhurst center Daniel O'Donoghue intentionally won the puck forward to the back wall near the cage. He got free and retrieved the puck himself, then wheeled a pass back to the slot for Matthew Zay to slam home.
 
The Big Red got a goal back with Ryan's first strike. The play came just 21 seconds after Ryan's shot from the right point was kicked away by Strang, then Mercyhurst's goalie made a sparkling stretch to the right to rob a shot from D'Agostino crashing on the weak side. But Cornell re-gathered in the neutral zone with D'Agostino sending McCarron into the zone on the right side. The freshman winger alertly found Ryan wide open in the high slot, and he rifled a shot past Strang's catching glove at the 11:41 mark.
 
The goal marked the end of the scoring in the frame, but a late penalty proved noteworthy. Mercyhurst was whistled for too many players on the ice at the 19:41 mark, giving the Big Red a power play that carried over onto a fresh sheet of ice in the third. Set up in the Lakers' zone, Ryan and Miller worked the puck down to Esposito stationed a few feet off the right post. Esposito stepped toward goal and roofed a shot from an improbable angle over Strang's shoulder, pulling the hosts even. It was Cornell's only power play of the night.
 
The Big Red then surged ahead on Ryan's second goal, which – like the first – came on a perfectly placed wrist shot. The play started in the right corner of the Mercyhurst zone, where Miller won a faceoff back to D'Agostino along the boards near the blue line. D'Agostino eluded a defender, then set up Ryan at the center point. He moved forward into some space in the high slot and sniped a shot just inside the far post under Strang's blocker with 12:53 remaining.
 
But Mercyhurst (2-4) would have the final say. Five seconds after the Big Red went short-handed, the Lakers won a faceoff and cashed in with Paul Chiasson's rebound goal. Nagtzaam netted the winner 2:07 later.
 
The Big Red hits the road for its opening two weekends of ECAC Hockey play, starting with next weekend's trip to Yale (7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4) and Brown (7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5). 

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