The Muskegon Risers opened up the season on Saturday with a 9-7 comeback victory on the road at Cincinnati.
James Dutcher opened the scoring for Muskegon when he netted a goal off an assist from Ryan Zietlow.
Later in the first quarter, Miguel Flores netted an unassisted goal to give Muskegon a 2-0 lead.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied 2-2 after Cincinnati scored two unanswered goals.
In the second quarter, Cincinnati scored four straight goals to take a 6-2 lead before Zietlow netted an unassisted goal to send Muskegon to halftime down 6-3.
Michael Schmitt scored off an assist from Dutcher to open the second half scoring before Adam Knight scored off an assist from Mendez to make the score 6-5.
At the end of the third quarter, Cincinnati held a 6-5 lead.
After Cincinnati extended the lead to 7-5, Zietlow scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:49 remaining.
Mendez scored the game winning goal with 6:58 remaining before Caue Oliveira scored an insurance goal with 1:21 left.
Zietlow led the Risers with three goals and an assist on the night while Mendez finished with one goal and two assists.
The Risers are now 1-0 on the season and will next travel to Chicago for a road match on December 18.