ERIE, Pa. – Sophomore Connor Smith scored the game-winning goal to complete the Union College men's hockey team's comeback victory over Mercyhurst on Saturday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Union trailed 3-0 midway through the second period but scored five straight goals to remain unbeaten on the season.

Smith's game-winner was his second score of the season and third of his career. He earned the memorable tally by dicing his way through the Lakers defense and beating Mercyhurst's goaltender, Michael Chambre, who made 42 saves on the night. 

"He's been playing really good hockey," head coach Josh Hauge said about Smith after the game. "That was a highlight-reel goal. He went through basically their whole team to win it…glad for a guy to get rewarded who has been playing well for us."

However, three early goals from the Lakers were the reason Smith needed to put the team on his back and find the late game winner. 

Union trailed 2-0 after the opening period and came out of the first intermission with 1:44 left on the penalty kill. While the Garnet Chargers did successfully survive Mercyhurst's third power play of the game, the Lakers tacked on a third goal 10 seconds after the teams were back at even strength with 18:06 left in the second.

Then the Union comeback was officially on. 

The physicality of the game picked up shortly after Mercyhurst built its 3-0 lead, and Union earned a power play at the 9:29 mark of the second. 

Union broke through in more ways than one on its second extra-skater opportunity of the game. Senior Colby MacArthur worked the puck down the left side with a quick pass to senior Parker Lindauer. Then Lindauer fed senior Brandon Buhr in front of the net for Union's first power-play goal of the season. It was also MacArthur's first point of the year. The forward from Summerside, Prince Edward Island was one of Union's two leading point scorers a season ago. 

Union trailed by two at the start of the third period as junior Jacob Jeannette was serving a penalty. Once Jeannette's two minutes expired, he came out of the box and got into the box score with his first goal of the year, burying a loose puck in the crease. Then, 34 seconds later, Buhr collected a puck in front with his back to the net, turned and fired, and tied up the game with his second goal of the night. Union's leading goal scorer from a season ago had three multi-goal games in 2024-25, including a pair of hat tricks. 

"There's a guy we look to. He leads by his work ethic [and by] example," Hauge said of Buhr. "He's a proven scorer, a proven player that can be elite."

But even though Buhr led the team with two goals and scored the game-tying tally, it will be Smith's goal that gets remembered most from Union's comeback victory. Junior Carter Rose set up Smith for his game-winner, and Smith has now already surpassed his goal total from his first year in Schenectady. The Hugo, Minn. native has also recorded a point in all three games this season.

Sophomore Cameron Korpi added two saves to his total in the final 8:11 after Smith's goal. Korpi finished the night with 11 saves. He is 2-0-1 for the Garnet Chargers this season in net. 

On the opposite side of the ice, the Laker goaltender Chambre made a career-high 42 saves but took his second loss of the season.

There was no one in net for the Lakers when sophomore Riley Brueck polished off the game with an empty netter from almost the full-length of the ice. Brueck recorded three points in the series sweep for Union, marking his highest tally in any two-game stretch in his career so far. 

Union extends its win streak over Mercyhurst to five in a row. Union swept the Lakers for the second consecutive season and are unbeaten in eight straight games against AHA opponents.

The Garnet Chargers have a chance to extend that streak beginning on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. against Niagara when they return home to M&T Bank Center in Schenectady.